We're for real!

Today, we had an impromptu trip with friends to some of the local markets.  I've been wanting to visit the markets, but I'm definitely not adventurous enough to go by myself.  Tony texted a friend to ask for some pointers, and they decided to join us.  So the nine of us piled into the van (It's Panama.  There are no seatbelt laws) and headed to the markets.

We decided to hit the seafood market first.  I was very excited about this because I love seafood.  I've become a bit of a fish junkie since we moved to Panama.   The market did not disappoint.  It was well organized, by Panamanian standards, and had lots of friendly vendors.

All the fresh seafood was so amazing!

 Our friend posing with the sea bass that we took home.  He filleted it for me!

Chloe and the shrimp selection.  We ended up getting 2lbs of the big shrimp on the left.

The seafood market wasn't as cheap as I had hoped it would be.  The sea bass averaged out to about $8/lb.  I'm not sure how the compares to the local grocery stores because I've never bought sea bass.  The shrimp was a better deal at $3/lb.  We laughed they we would be hosting Panama's first ever Low Country Boil!

Unrelated, but stinkin' cute, picture of the Bits.

After the seafood market, we piled back into the van to travel to the produce market.  I was warned on the way over that the produce market isn't near as well organized as the seafood market.  That was accurate.  Stands appeared haphazardly around a cramped field.  Kind of like a very junkie, very crowded county fair.  But the selections of fruits and veggies was varied and inexpensive.  If you forget about the 8 or so teens desperately trying to kill the rat, it was a downright fun experience.

One of the several lime vendors.  The price?

.10/lime or $10/bag for the large bags in the background on the right.
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Here we are choosing pineapples (2/$1) and cantaloupe ($1 each).

The deal of the market was this bag of oranges- 40 pounds for $6!

It was a great afternoon.  It was the first really we-live-in-Panama thing we have done, and I'm thrilled we took the time (and found the courage) to do it.  All told we ended up with: sea bass, shrimp, 10-limes, 40#-oranges, 5#-potatoes, a couple red and yellow bell peppers, cilantro, 7- cucumbers, 4- zucchini, 2- cantaloupes, green onion, and 2- pineapples. for about $45.00.  I think that is a pretty good price, but even if the deals weren't that great, the time we had feeling connected to our new home was priceless.