Nicaragua: Just what she needs
One aspect I enjoy about the informal business sector here in Nicaragua is something I had never seen in Minnesota: walking vendors. At least, I'd never experienced walking vendors to such a high degree before. These people walk around town day after day selling everything including remote controls, vegetables, mattresses, hammocks, hot dogs, and coconut bread.
The other day I ran into my favorite coconut bread lady while we were both at the market. I bought two small loaves from her. Once home I sat down to enjoy my coconut bread when a creole man walked by selling banana cake. He yelled from the street in English, "You want banana cake?!" Not today, I told him in a true test of self control. I already had coconut bread.
Some vendors carry big buckets of baked goods on their heads, others strap up to five folding mattresses to their backs, and others (like the hot dog man) carry their product with bicycles. Each vendor has his or her own "catchphrase" or word they yell out to let people know they are open for business.
From blocks away a person can hear the hot dog man coming as he yells, "Lleva el hot dog, lleva el hot dog, lleva el hot dog, HOT DOOOOOG!" A foreigner probably would not understand that he is saying "hot dog," but all the locals know exactly who he is and what he sells. Then there is the quesillo lady who hangs out at the bus stop chirping "quesillo" to travelers and non-travelers alike. (Quesillos consist of a tortilla and cheese wrapped up inside a plastic bag and topped with cabbage and cream...a local favorite) There is another quesillo vendor who pushes his quesillo cart around all day long calling out, "Hay quesillo, chavaloooos." Get your quesillo, kids.
The downfall of this kind of business is, what if you aren't home when the coconut bread man passes by? And one question that has been sitting on my mind since I came to Nicaragua is the following: how many mattresses do those men actually sell in a day, and is it really worth it for them to walk around for hours a day, under the hot sun, with mattresses on their backs? Regardless, this kind of business is characteristic to this place, and it's a characteristic I've come to appreciate.
The other day I ran into my favorite coconut bread lady while we were both at the market. I bought two small loaves from her. Once home I sat down to enjoy my coconut bread when a creole man walked by selling banana cake. He yelled from the street in English, "You want banana cake?!" Not today, I told him in a true test of self control. I already had coconut bread.
From blocks away a person can hear the hot dog man coming as he yells, "Lleva el hot dog, lleva el hot dog, lleva el hot dog, HOT DOOOOOG!" A foreigner probably would not understand that he is saying "hot dog," but all the locals know exactly who he is and what he sells. Then there is the quesillo lady who hangs out at the bus stop chirping "quesillo" to travelers and non-travelers alike. (Quesillos consist of a tortilla and cheese wrapped up inside a plastic bag and topped with cabbage and cream...a local favorite) There is another quesillo vendor who pushes his quesillo cart around all day long calling out, "Hay quesillo, chavaloooos." Get your quesillo, kids.
The downfall of this kind of business is, what if you aren't home when the coconut bread man passes by? And one question that has been sitting on my mind since I came to Nicaragua is the following: how many mattresses do those men actually sell in a day, and is it really worth it for them to walk around for hours a day, under the hot sun, with mattresses on their backs? Regardless, this kind of business is characteristic to this place, and it's a characteristic I've come to appreciate.
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