May
05
One of the most fascinating aspects of living here is how specialized a person's job can be. In the photo is a man who walks around carrying his bicycle wheel knife sharpener and about 50 different kinds of pot/lid handles. The knife sharpening I can understand but the handles caught me off guard. Is it even possible to buy new ones in the States? If you have a broken pot handle where would yo go to get it repaired?
Fortunately he was on our street yesterday because we did indeed have a broken pot handle! This same guy also spends the mornings in the market in Barranca where a couple of weeks ago we had him make some double pointed knitting needles for Hannah.
We first experienced this specialized market in Arequipa, where men would walk around covered in thousands of shoelaces for sale. It seems like a pretty good system at first until the day we needed to buy shoelaces and we couldn't find one of those guys and the stores didn't carry them.
Our afternoons are filled with several such venders shouting "brooms and dustpans", "madarines and plums, very sweet, if not sweet they're free", "buying iron, buying iron, buying iron." Some just whistle or ring bells and you have to determine that bell means bread, empanadas or cake.
Fortunately he was on our street yesterday because we did indeed have a broken pot handle! This same guy also spends the mornings in the market in Barranca where a couple of weeks ago we had him make some double pointed knitting needles for Hannah.
We first experienced this specialized market in Arequipa, where men would walk around covered in thousands of shoelaces for sale. It seems like a pretty good system at first until the day we needed to buy shoelaces and we couldn't find one of those guys and the stores didn't carry them.
Our afternoons are filled with several such venders shouting "brooms and dustpans", "madarines and plums, very sweet, if not sweet they're free", "buying iron, buying iron, buying iron." Some just whistle or ring bells and you have to determine that bell means bread, empanadas or cake.
I'm just commenting away on your blog tonight! When we lived in Indonesia, the specialized sellers rode motorcycles with all of their stuff strapped on. They made house calls.
Our most frequent visitors were guys selling seafood (carried in small jugs on the sides of the motorcycle) and antique salesmen who somehow rode around with all sorts of treasures (including large clocks and urns). The antique guys would unwrap all of their stuff on our porch and have a bargaining session with my mom. Needless to say, my parents have a lot of Indonesia antiques.
Not quite as specialized as shoelace salesmen, but it's still an interesting way to do business.