Thursday Market in Padina

Yesterday was my last market day in Padina. :( Although my family at home might not agree, time has gone by so fast! I would have loved to take more pictures at the market but even without my camera, I stand out in this town. People know almost as soon as they see me that I am not from around here. It was just too awkward taking such public pictures in a place that never sees tourists. I saw the brother and sister-in-law of one of my students at the market. (It is impossible to go there without seeing someone you know!) I said hi to them and continued walking through the market. They told me later that day that a stranger came up to them and asked them who I was because they could tell I wasn't from around here. So you can see why I didn't take too many pics!

My first stop at the market was to buy a few things from my favorite vendor. He sells the best tomatoes from Macedonia. Who knew Macedonia produced such great tomatoes? I always go to him because I can trust that he will give me a fair price on everything, plus he is really nice. He is my favorite because he has such a vibrant personality. The people here are wonderful, but they are quiet. This man is definitely an extrovert. He happily shouts out the prices to his customers with a big smile on his face as he weighs their selections. The first time I bought something from him, he proudly said "thank you!" He knows enough English to say the price and thank you, always with a smile of course. I told him I was leaving next week and then said "bye bye Padina" so he would understand.

Liljana went to the market later that day to buy things from the same man. He told her he was sad this interesting period in his life was over. I never thought selling fruit and veggies to an American once a week would be so interesting! He then gave Liljana a "special" price on whatever she bought from him because she is my host. There is one picture of him in the slide show below.

I always love to see the baby chicks and ducks at the market. They are too cute - especially the ducks! I would buy one as a pet, but there people here buy them to raise them for food. People only buy special processed meat at the stores. The majority of people here raise their own chickens or even pigs. You can see two pics below of the boxes of chicks. They are 35 dinar, or about 45 cents.

I have so many pictures to post, so there will likely be multiple posts per day over the next week. Make sure you scroll down so you don't miss anything!