One thing I really wanted to do was visit the San Ignacio Market on a Saturday. We woke up to the rooster next door. The same alarm for the last few days. You could already hear the birds waking and coming alive. More roosters chiming in as the sun starts to come up. (Something We did notice though was once the roosters started they didn’t stop all day. You would hear them in the distance as you are out walking around.)
There were so many different sounds going at once but not in a chaotic way. It was like the sounds synched together making it music to your ears. It was just becoming daylight out. I grab some laundry and start the washer. It was very easy to slip into a morning routine here. Raymond got the coffee started and we started to get ready for the day. We emptied one of our backpacks so we had room for a few purchases we would make. Today we were going to the San Ignacio Market.
We finished our coffee and gathered a few things, a couple of bottles of water and headed out the door to head to the market. We decided to walk the 20 minutes so we can see more of the town and take in the fresh air and sun. Walking through the town could be a little confusing. There were very few road signs so we used google maps. It was constantly changing routes and making the walk longer. I still didn’t mind as we were getting to see restaurants we had not known were so close as well as seeing how people were living here.
We passed by many barber shops, meat shops, and food huts. Walked down a rather steep hill. I thought to myself “please tell me we do not have to walk back this way”. As we approached what I believe was the downtown hub you could feel the energy change. Everything seemed like it was alive. There were people everywhere.
My first impression of the market… It was loud but in a good way. People were bustling around buying vegetables and items for themselves. People were socializing and selling their items. There was fresh produce everywhere. Baskets of peppers, corn, potatoes, carrots, and items I had never seen before.
The side of the market or at least what I assume was the side had small butcher shops lined up. Just outside the market were the fish stalls where people were selling snapper and other fresh fish. People were selling clothing, toys, housewares and all kinds of locally made souvenirs. What I liked most was that families were just out and about enjoying the day. It seemed like it was more of an outing day for people. We did notice people dressed up more than usual but it was very refreshing to see how family oriented a lot of the things here in San Ignacio were.
Taking a walk around we stopped at a couple of vendors. We picked up a few small items to bring back to our friends and family. I found a soursop one more thing off my item list to try. We didn’t barter as we were buying from locals and I didn’t feel right doing that. I know people say you can but it really didn’t feel right at all. By now we were starting to feel hungry and decided to check out some places to find something to eat.
While standing in a line waiting to place an order for some Salbutes, a dish I had put on my list of must-tries A lady started calling out to someone in my direction. I was very confused as It was just Raymond and I standing. Raymond pointed out that he thought she was calling out to me and I should just respond and see if he was correct. I pointed to myself and she smiled and nodded, raising her voice and she started directing me to go sit with her and wait for my food.
I sat down with the lady and had one of the nicest chats. We talked about how she grew up in Belize and then moved to the US and has since moved back. We talked about local foods and what it was like to live there. Raymond joined us with our food and another gentleman sat down and we all got into a talk about moving to Belize. I felt at home sitting there eating one of the simplest foods that was so full of flavor. For a complete stranger to ask us to come sit with her and have our breakfast left me with another feeling of being home. Such a kind gesture that left my heart full. Saying our goodbyes we headed through the market once again
We purchased a few other things and then we went to find some shade as it was getting hot. We ended up sitting in the town center just watching people coming and going. Raymond sipped on a kombucha he had bought from a small shop and I finished off my watermelon juice I had bought at the market.
Once we were feeling refreshed we decided to check out some other businesses and just enjoy the day.
To be continued…
