Second Hand

I went to the Cancha (a second hand market in the rough parts of Cochabamba) yesterday with Amy, a cool Missionary girl I met here through Ken. She's actually a former punk rock band manager, but now has her own Mission that reaches out to kids on the street. She describes her job as respondnig to random chaos everyday. Rewarding, but challenging.

Oh man, is there a lot of crap from back home. Most of it is from the US, but there's tons from Canada, too. Apparently, when in Tanzania, Adam saw t-shirts from Edmonton a few of the guys. Even crazier is how many shirts are brand new. Most are ugly participaction shirts and a few have their Target tag still on.

Anywho, the market was crowded with people, garbage and literally towering piles of clothes - neatly separted into male/female and adult/kids. Some venders has small shops displaying their product on hangers, but when a shirt was on a hanger you'd know the price was inflated - around 20 Bs. (CAN$3.50). The real bargains are found in the 5 Bs. bins (CAN$0.90).

After digging - literally digging - around for a few hours I walked away with a knife, 4 Reeces Peanut Butter Cups and a thin, soft, blue t-shirt from one of the 5 Bs. bins - woot woot! I gotta remember to wash it before wearing! And the Reeces, you gotta understand how rare a find that one is. Thanks Amy!!

Aside of the clothes, it's really like garage sale shopping back home. The exact same plates, pots, X-mas decorations - even kids books in English. Oddly, it's all priced equal to the brand new stuff here. I think that's cause the new stuff is poorer quality, less durable. God bless plastic. :P With that considered, if I were to live here my flat would be decked out with sweet vintage swag.

written by  ryanmyers on May 28, 2009 from Cochabamba, Bolivia
from the travel blog: Ryan's First Sabbatical
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