July 7 - Saturday Market Tales

This morning the men made us breakfast and that was complete gold! We headed out to the market in Chinatown and then the market in the rocks. The Chinatown market has tons of stalls and great souvenirs for people. Would you like to hear a funny story? Here it goes. One of the stall women in Chinatown had given me change for what I bought, and I, stupidly, just thanked her for helping me with my purchase, and she gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek. I was ecstatic. I walked away with Shayna and Ben and 2 minutes later checked the change she gave me and she ripped me off a couple dollars!! That’s why she was so nice afterwards. Unfortunately, by the time I foiled her evil plan, she had already escaped. We went back to get the money back and she had vanished. This actually was equally funny and creepy at the same time. The dollar amount didn’t matter but I was ripped off so I wanted to confront her, and waited 5 whole minutes and she did not come back to her stall. I never got the money back, but learned a valuable lesson- always check your change before you leave a vendor! Here is a picture of me and the woman- shaking my head at this in hindsight lol.

Afterwards we went to the market at the rocks, which was so splendid I can’t even tell you! Some of the most gorgeous art pieces, jewelry and artisan chocolates and barks. We ate at the market and listened to some nice live music and simply enjoyed walking around being out with everyone on a Saturday afternoon. Reminds me of taking walks around art fairs or markets back at home.

There were food trucks galore at the market. Don't worry, I took off the cilantro!

Our last sight of the day was seeing some of the inside of the opera house. It was pretty industrial looking actually, and this sufficed for seeing the opera house.

mom in red <3

We went home and had an incredible dinner of all the food we had leftover from the week.

We hung out and packed this evening- our last night all together. I’m very sad that mom and dad are leaving. I don’t get homesick often but this was definitely one of those times. There is something indescribable and comforting about being with the closest people in your life. I didn’t want them to leave but these are decisions you make when you leave home for an extended period of time. We had an absolute blast on the trip. Family time and exploring. This won’t be the last time I’ll say it, but one of my favorite things in life is exploring the world with people I love.