Swami Photos

My last post was about our local Sunday swap meet, or swami , as the locals call it. Some of the comments were asking for photos. Well, this week I remembered to take my camera.

I had no idea how much fun it would be with a camera! Since we are semi-regular patrons, many of the merchants recognize us and were quite willing to pose and have some fun. As a result I had a lot of photos, over 72 of them! Here are just a few that I thought my readers might like.

First, here is a photo of the beautiful view from the center of the markets. The island is the largest of the offshore Islas de Coronado, or Coronado Islands.

As I said, you can find almost anything you need:

Paper products:

A pet store:

And pets:

Not so real pets:

Remember those chickens, I talked about? Breakfast and dinner?

Here are some of the merchants:

The friendly man with all of the dried products, like chilies, rice and beans:

The fish monger, who will fillet your fish right before your eyes:

The cheese sellers having a little fun:

Here is one of our favorite cheeses, Queso Oaxaca:

Need some hardware? This is just one of the tables:

Or perhaps, some candy?

Another name for the Swami is the Mercado, or Market. It truly lives up to the name! You can find almost anything there, although some things may only appear until they are sold, since they are one of a kind…

I hope that these photos will help you to realize that, despite the media of the United States, Baja and most of Mexico is a pretty safe and fun place to be. When you accept the culture, it will accept you.