Eating mangoes until we're sick

And avocados, pineapples, papaya, dragon fruit and so much more! 

Mangoes have been coming into season for the past month or so and this past week they seem to havereached a whole new level! There are trucks parked around town with their beds overflowing with the most enormous mangoes I have ever seen. The really crazy part?? They are 20 cents apiece!! The smaller ones (that are the size you’d see in the US) go for around 10 cents. Every time I see a truck, I stop and buy some and now we are eating mango every.single.day! YUM!

Avocados here are amazing too – often you can get them 8 for $1. We are seriously trying to make ourselves sick of them, but haven’t managed to do so yet. Have you ever gotten tired of eating guacamole? We can't do it!

This week, we saw our first dragon fruit (or pitaya) coming into season (Can I tell you how much I LOVE living in a place where there are seasonal fruits? It makes the item seem so much more special and you kind of go into a frenzy, knowing you won’t be able to eat this particular thing again for nearly a year – luckily, avocados are available year round!) We haven’t had dragon fruit since leaving China and I was excited to see a woman selling these out of her basket. I was really surprised when I cut into it however! I was expecting it to have white flesh – not this incredibly bright fuchsia color! I didn't think natural foods came in this color! Color aside, it tasted how I remembered and looked really pretty with the mango.

I am really going to miss all of the fresh produce here, and especially how inexpensive it is. All the fresh herbs for 12 cents a bunch, instead of $2-3 a piece, lettuce, tomatoes, pumpkin, etc … ALL unbelievably cheap.  

Here's a few photos of our open-air market -- vendors set up everywhere. Many have regular booths inside or out, but some just bring a basket of what they have on any given day and sit all day long on the sidewalk. 

And always ... the men & women carrying bundles of wood.