Central Market Stop

I'm pretty much open-air market obsessed.  Drop me any place in the world and I want to see the fruit and vegetable market.  The colors, the smell, the bustle.  You find a small portal into the way life works; what does it take to get the basic task of feeding family done?  What goods and products are available?  Today I had to go downtown Tunis so I decided to do my shopping at my all-time favorit, the central market.  I will probably write more on the central market at a later date, but suffice it to say the produce is the freshest and cheapest you'll find anywhere and it's beautiful.

Added bonus today is I met a new friend who is the one who should be writing this blog post!

Hamza told us that he is a fellow photographer.  He greeted us with a warm smile and offered us some of his bouquet of daffodils.  I bought a pound of lemons and some fresh garlic from him for the equivalent of a dollar.  He then gave me his real treasure...he has been photographing the central market for quite some time with a small camera.  His speciality was photos of people napping in the market (indeed, on exit I saw an old man napping holding plastic sacks, on his shoulder was a sign "150 millimes for my sacks...I guess it's self-service).   The photos made me smile, the personality and warmth he conveyed about his market where evident in each one.  I snapped a shot of a few of his photos on his lemons, I would like to credit that the photos within this photo are taken by Hamza Ayari.    

I didn't have that long to spend today, just enough time to pick up some asparagus, mushrooms, mandarins  and fresh cheese.

Definitely the highlight of the day was meeting Hamza.  I will have to come back and see his entire series of the central market...he photographed us as we were leaving so I think we're part of the story now!

When I got home and was cooking lunch I had to have a little fun with all the pretty things I bought.

Okay, I'm a nerd, I get it.  Thanks central market for the beautiful morning!