Three Wells

The wells are a place to socialize, just as they have been for thousands of years. Though most people in the city have running water, it is not very clean (we don't even brush our teeth with it). The Three wells help ensure a little cleaner drinking water. The first is for drinking (NOT something I would be inclined to sip from, but who knows -- maybe our "purified" water is just filled here.) The second, above, is for washing produce and for cooking.

The third is for washing clothes and cleaning.

...Including your wheels now and then...

Bathing on the sidewalk... I've only seen kiddos doing this, but this is a main street to the market -- and when I walked by his Mama was wearing a towel.
I see this far more often. I guess even the wealthier people do this because on a sunny day water warms much more quickly in a bowl in the sun than in the tank on the roof -- especially after a few days of cold rain!
(Trust me, there have been many days I would have done this if I had a place to!)

For some reason there are hair salons and barber shops EVERYWHERE. If I had to pick a "most common type of business," this would rank up with the fruit and veggie stalls. (Maybe 2nd to the general snack vendors...)

I thought this little guy was exceptionally cute in the chair.

The Fed-Ex Equivalent!

(No Joke!)
It's only natural that the dogs come in for a bite and a rest, too.
Not the least out of the ordinary.

Socializing at the well. (And cleaning veggies, too.)

Grandmas and Grandpas spend their days with the little ones while the Mommies and Daddies work. (Though sometimes the Grandparents are also working -- so they are all together.)

Vegetables and fruits, clothes, dishes, dead and live animals, children -- I've seen them all washed in these handy bowls on the sidewalk.
Hauling where bikes with baskets don't go... only because the next flight (around the corner) is extremely steep. I'm not sure if this is rocks or potatoes. I've seen both.

Little ones who don't go to school help with meals, eat, use the restroom,

brush teeth and make their own fun streetside.

These are the most common mode of travel and hauling. I actually really wanted one so I could haul children AND groceries, but Matt insists that my bike have gears and brakes...

Normal with a Twist

These men are the religious and academic leaders of their clasns. This particular man is super excited about the possibility he has suggested -- giving our girls classes! Probably not going to happen... but interesting nonethless.
Monkeys on chains and in cages are more common than you'd think. Usually up in the mountains, but this one was on the street corner outside our place.

Stray dogs (and dogs who HAVE owners but roam the streets anyway) are very common. Yeah, I didn't think there would be too many pets because they are eaten

(NOT a rumor! The restaurants on one street in town specialize in both dog and cat!)

This pup was a bit unique in that A) He was cute and B)He followed Emmy for blocks.

She really wanted to find out who owned him and buy him! We would love to get our girls a dog - for protection, play, and just the sheer affection - but they are VERY expensive!

Two more things that are very common - clothes and meat hung out to sun.

(Another use for the sidewalks!!)

However, it struck me to see them hanging together. It's not that it's necessarily uncommon, but it made me laugh to see the little baby split pants hanging with the sausage and the duck carcass.

The Random "Normal"

I love the novelty of constantly seeing all kinds of random "costumes"

(really everyday clothing) about town!
Sidewalks are not so much for walking as for driving, putting cars on blocks, maintaining personal hygiene (or lack thereof), cooking, building things and expanding your workspace!
I actually took this one for my Daddy, though.

Oh, and I forgot -- outside every restaurant is a dishwashing station!

People generally hang out in front of their shops or those of their friends. Sidewalks also doubles as playground, ballfield, and study hall.

This pic is a little ABnormal because this Momma has a stroller. But the Coke Machine you may have noticed in the background is pretty standard. They're not actually refrigerated because they wouldn't waste the money on electricity and, besides, it gets cold enough at night that even on the warmest afternoons things stay lukewarm.

Emmy loves to help roll out tortillas. Our clothes washer is to her left, and the stove is immediately to her right. (unfortunately, this is my only workspace, or I'd put her and her sisters to work and make tortillas a lot faster!)
This is another common sight, at most of the nicer restaurants the cooks wear full chef garb.


More of Emma making tortillas in our wok. It has also been used to make pancakes, spaghetti sauce, pizza, and an imitation fettucini alfredo :)

This guy is on my way to the market. He makes rice noodles and the guy next to him boils them. All morning long... It's pretty neat, and their place is always packed. People eat the noodles covered in MSG and red pepper.

This is an interesting oven method at a local hotel restaurant, and we've seen it in several homes as well. There is a cinder box that she pulls out, stocks with sticks, and lights. Then she shoves it back in (feeding in more kindling as needed) to heat the tile oven inside. Because the ovens in the private homes are smaller, the cinder box is actually inside. There is a tiled platform in the middle of the kitchen, and on top is the oven with the cinder box at the bottom.

The Slimey Mystery Veggie and the Pilgrim Chefs

It seems that most people have these storefront stoves. They also double as an oven (when you cover them with a hood) and a steamer (with a boiling pot and cover). While this would actually be very handy, we don't have anywhere we could keep one. (They are "vented" by being right in the doorway)

I tried sending a national to the market for me. I learned not to do it again, at least with that particular girl, because she only gave me about six cents change from my hundred and brought back half of my small list. She also brought back some interesting things. For instance, this is what she brought back for "sweet potato." It actually tastes somewhat similar to regular potato when it's cooked, but I was told it might be a water lily root. My guess it is some form of potato or tuber, but its most unique aspect is the amazing degree of slime it produces when peeled.

Because I was deliriously ill on Matt's birthday (and everyone else had diarrhea... AND we were moving into our apartment that day...) the girls and I surprised him with a "pseudo-birthday" a couple of weeks later. We chose his long day of class and made a fantastic family surprise party. We felt really bad that he didn't so much as get a card on the actual day (even the one my mom had me smuggle over in our suitcases), so the girls made a scavenger hunt to lead him to his gifts and cards. They also baked him a cake in a friend's oven. I used my pressure cooker to make refried beans, we rolled out tortillas, and we had an Asian fiesta :) Our language tutor even stayed for the fun.

Can you make out the slime on my hand??

Chloe and Emma were SO responsible. They carried both cake pans (in a box) walked about a block away and up 5 flights of stairs, working as a team (Emma was the door girl), had our friends bake them and went back to pick them up. They were so proud!

The Joy of Cooking...

So I was a little leary about using a pressure cooker for the first time, especially when I couldn't track down an English user's manual. I borrowed Chloe's science safety goggles and stood lurking behind the kitchen door, thankful for once that my kitchen is a tiny closed of box. Nothing exploded, and we eventually had a form of chili! I've used it a lot since. It might take me all day to chop vegetables, but it can cook them in 5-7 minutes! How I got the pressure cooker is its own cultural experience, to be expalined later...

Mmmmm.... snackies. Fried tofu, imitation (????) hot dogs, fried potatoes, and mystery meat on a stick. You see these vendors all over -- they come out in droves at night. They serve up all flavors of pretty molded tofu and several varieties of hot dog, reusing the oil indefinitely. We haven't ventrued to try any more since Matt gave them to the girls and Emma got really sick.

More "tea eggs" steaming on the stoop. Above you see steam baskets for little rice flour dumplings. This is the barrel stove that is so common. They cut a little door flap in the bottom so that they can light a fire inside the barrel, creating the cooking surface on top. This is why I taught my girls never to touch a barrel, as you never know when one is blistering hot.

Another of Matt's shots documenting my first stint with the pressure cooker.

Notice I'm wearing flip flops? This was back before we could see our breath in our place.

This is a nice restaurant in the tourist area. I don't think I've ever NOT seen this man at the stove. He stands there all day, making snacks and meals for tourist, on his fancy FOUR burner stovetop.

Here and There Shopping

On our way up the mountains there are frequent stops for landslides, construction, etc. Many vendors have takedn advantage of the backed up traffic (and how hungry people get when the trip takes several times as long as it should). It almost seems they get called when traffic is about to stop! The haul out their carts and set up shop, pedaling fruits, nuts, honey, dogs, and sometimes trinkets and religious idols.

I've seen purses, vests, hats and gloves made out of pelts at a lot of market stalls, but the form of choice seems to be the entire pelt. Hunters go up the mountain and bring back these treasures.

Lots of duckies and chicks come to market in baskets and on bikes.

This was when I took Laney ot the dentist in a bigger city. Their markets are a lot fancier, with fixtures like conrete "stalls" and actual cages for their livestock.

I think this is some sort of beet, but all of my girls get a kick out of the "huge white carrots"