I have only been to La Vega twice (a market in the center of Santiago). This is mainly because I had no idea I lived so close to it and because I almost always do my produce shopping in San Ramon at my suegra's Sunday market. I went for the first time last week with a friend and fellow blogger who led me around so I could see what it's all about.
First and foremost, I think the prices where we went, which is actually farther back from LA VEGA and even La Vega Chica, are unbeatable. I'm a frequent feria shopper (at least once a week) so I'm always checking out produce prices and the prices I saw both Vega trips were lower than anywhere else I've been. I spent around 4.000 to 5.000 pesos each time and saved around 2.000 pesos in total. That's a pretty large amount proportionally speaking so I was pleased. I also liked that there was a lot more to choose from that my San Ramon feria and the smaller one close to where I live.
I think that you can get quality produce at a great price so I will continue to go there since it's a nice walk for me that will continue to get nicer as it finally cools off here. With that said, I think there are some definite negatives to shopping there alone which I did yesterday.
First, I get the feeling (and about 5 billion Chileans have told me) you REALLY need to watch your things there. Yesterday, I was right next to a woman who got her necklace ripped off and the weon culiado took off too fast for the woman to catch him and no one paid the slightest attention to the hijo de puta charging through the narrow stalls of La Vega Chica. I quickly took off my silver necklace that has immeasurable sentimental value to me and stuck it in my backpack that I always wear on my stomach with my arms wrapped around it and kept going. I'm always careful with my things, but never paranoid about being robbed, but I was yesterday.
Second, is that the SMELL walking through the meat section is nauseating. I seriously can hardly take it. It makes me want to vomit and my being nauseated certainly wasn't helped by the fact that I got unidentified meat juice splashed on my feet both times I walked through there.
Third and last, are the catcalls. I never write about them but the obnoxious catcalls the male vendors make bug me enough to say something. In general, I don't like the "casera! casera! que andas buscando?!" at the markets here because I like to take my time and walk though the produce sections a few times before deciding on the best options. But the pressure to buy the vendors' food together with the catcalls make me particularly uneasy.
Basically, I will continue to shop there because I love buying fresh produce at a good price, but I'll always be a little on edge because I'm determined not to get robbed here and I like to associate the words "browse" and "stroll" with my shopping experiences, but I can't really do that there.
3 comments:
Word. The meat vega smells nasty and meat juice on the feet. Ick.
Wow, you saw someone robbed. Suck! I've seen that happen in Valpo but not in the vega.
I went to the first little market the other day and took advantage and went and had an humita in the back of the little vega as an afternoon snack. I was sitting in the aisle eating and I put my backpack straps thru both legs so that it was hanging from my quadraceps and the waiter was like, "oh you don't have to do that, I won't steal from you." His commentary blew me away. I said, "I'm not worried about you stealing from me (which I wasn't until he mentioned it), I'm worried about some random running by and grabbing my backpack." He said, "Oh, that won't happen. I'm here." Who gives you advice to NOT watch your things in the vega? So aside from probably being a thief, he's an idiot too. He was a good waiter though. And the humita with ensalada chilena was tasty as well.
Okay, I don't think I've ever been to la vega in Santiago. I went a few times in Concepción. I think I got a little tired of the smell and the catcalls when I would go in Mérida (venezuela) because there wasn't much else to do.
I love la vega and am sad that we don't shop there anymore...but now that we live farther away, it just wouldn't make sense. I never felt particularly unsafe and would wear my "normal" jewelry (silver but not anything hugely expensive) and carry a purse, although I also always went with Rodolfo, which makes a difference!
My favorite part was getting to know the vendors and going to the same people every week. Not only would they give us discounts, I just enjoyed that if we didn't go for a couple weeks then the next time they'd say "oh, we haven't seen you for a while" and just obviously really did know us. I think I miss that even more than I miss the low prices and quality fruit!
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