after getting a wet becak ride back to our hotel and waiting for most of the rain to subside - over omelettes and toast - we decided to head to the local pasar, or market. i’ve never taken a camera to the pasar in salatiga because i hate being looked at as a tourist in my own city. but i’ve always wanted to. pasar is always so vibrant and full of colors and smells and sounds and motion and people selling things and people buying things. it kind of reminds me of going to a flea market back home. so i was excited to head there with my camera. of course, the rain started up again almost exactly at the same time that we arrived there. perfect. i did get a chance to snap a few pictures of the hustle and bustle though.
looking down one of the many crowded alleys at pasar. they had tarps up over everything to keep some of the rain out…
ok, i have to say, the salatiga pasar is way more graphic than this. they stack the guts in one pile, the feet in one pile, the bodies in one pile, and the heads in another. maybe we just use more of the parts here… also, here, if you ask for a kilo of white meat, they’ll take a knife and hack off the breasts, then dump the rest of the mangled chicken in another pile, presumably in anticipation of someone coming along asking for dark meat. all the chickens in this market looked like this. clean cut. if you can call a dead chunk of meat clean cut.
fresh veggies. and usually organic too!
tempe! one of my favorite indonesian foods! you cut it into slices, rub it with garlic and salt and fry it. it’s fermented, congealed soybeans. so appetizing! : ) but seriously, if you ever get a chance to try it – DO IT! and then tell me what you think.
a table of sweet snacks. the stuff wrapped up in the banana leaves is squished up rice mixed with coconut milk. sweet and tasty!!
a clothes store in the market! ok, i don’t know if i’ve lived here too long or if i just have some strange fashion tastes, but jilbabs are CLASSY! if i were a muslim woman, i think i’d own at least 30. as it stands, i currently only own 1. classic black. haha.
two women who own what we call a warung in the pasar. a warung is kind of a catch all place. need something? just go to a nearby warung! you can find them quite literally anywhere. they sell everything from packets of shampoo (hanging over their head) to wrapping paper (in the bucket on the right), from fresh eggs to flipflops!! we chatted with these 2 ladies for quite awhile while it rained. they were super sweet and were trying to think of who they could set me up with. but not until after they interrogated me about what i look for in a man.
we also met this guy, a carpenter. he was selling goods at the pasar with his wife and granddaughter. his granddaughter is 16 and has some kind of debilitating illness. the frail grandma was sitting on the dirty ground in a dress holding the granddaughter, who is both physically and mentally handicapped, in her lap. we went and bought them some food and brought it back for them. sharon told them in sundanese that Jesus loves them. that might be the first time in their lives they’ve heard those words. sadly, it might also be the last.
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