Market Day

We set today aside to return to the artisanal market in La Mariscal and shop for gifts for ourselves and those we would soon be seeing at home.

Pre-market breakfast was taken at Ethnic Coffee on Avenida Amazonas, which seemed to be a slightly more comfortable and upmarket café to try the Ecuadorian specialties available from simpler stands elsewhere. The higher prices were reflected in the presentation. The patacones con queso (fried bananas layered with cheese), and bolones de verde (plantain ball stuffed with cheese) were both served on a sizzling hot plate.

Patacones

At the market we shopped the colourful objects piled high on the numbered stalls and inexpertly tried to bargain with the stallholders, who offered a one- or two-dollar discount on the price before we had even opened our mouths. However, any further requests for a reduction were met with quizzical looks and a flat refusal. Seldom is anything priced on such stalls - or, indeed, in more established shops - a fact which I still have great trouble even after nearly a year's exposure to the complicated ritual of effecting such transactions. I rarely attempt to haggle - knowing my efforts to be largely futile - but I find the fact that the customer is required to probe the seller not only about the price but also concerning the nature of the item for sale. Some things are obvious, while others might spark further enquiries.

Erm.... shrunken heads?

For some products, a glance is all that is required to ascertain whether further enquiry necessary as to the price. Yet, when it comes to food, a raft of anonymous pies, tarts and other confections are presented without comment, their contents and constituents a mystery. Instead of silently weighing my tastes with the available selection before arriving at a choice, I am forced to ask about each item. "This one contains pork." "I see. And this one?" "That is chicken." "OK. What about...?" And so it continues. A frustrating exchange ensues for both parties, at the end if which I may find nothing to my taste and walk away without purchase. That said, I suspect I may miss such personal engagement with the seller when I return home to faceless supermarket aisles and checkouts.

Our purchases weighing heavily on our arms - I wondered where we might find room to pack them in our already overfull bags - we took lunch again at Manantial on the charmingly colourful square. I largely unexciting but nutritious soup, salad and menestra de fréjoles (bean stew) was the choice of the day.

Plaza Borja Yerovi

Pure greediness and indulgence followed, as we sat down at Sweet & Coffee for a frankly disgustingly sized piece of chocolate cake layered with manjar (dulce de leche).

Pure indulgence

In the evening, the MIVA festival continued from last night and took a turn for the weird as the ushers/performers reprised their improvisation with an interpretation of "el autor y erotismo".

Things get weird at MIVA

There followed an hour or so of dance-related videos, including a selection of stunning shorts from the Fiver Dance festival. Ramo & Ramo presented a performance using a clean, digital aesthetic with Me - Story of a Performance. Igor Krasik lightened the mood with some animated breakdancing. Alex Pinchon's piece, You Will Fall Again, was a powerful and compact short story, while Off Ground delivered an emotional dance between mother and son.