The Feria

You wake up at noon on a Saturday. The late night shawarma, which you ate at 5 a.m. as the birds began chirping, is churning in your stomach and your covers are on the floor. It’s beautiful outside and you want to make the most of the day. Luckily, the feria Recoleta is open and running Friday-Sunday every weekend! The shawarma churns forgotten, you basically leap out of bed (careful of the covers) and get your Feria fit ready: 

• Favorite green shorts
• Green socks
• White boots
• Tank top
• Tote bag (essential)
• Bucket hat (optional)

There are ferias everywhere here—street and park markets ranging from two stalls to two hundred, filled with handmade and not-so handmade jewelry, art, clothing, leather goods and knives. Not sure how I feel about that last one. I love these markets so much because, even though they can get a little touristy, they are an opportunity to learn about Buenos Aires and Argentina in a way that I can’t in the classroom or just walking around. I get to talk to local people about their products and how they made them. 

Take for example, the knife guy. He was surprised to see me, with my green floral bucket hat, approaching him to ask about knives. I was not planning on buying one but they looked handmade so I was curious. And boom, every time I went to the feria after that me and knife guy exchanged hellos. There’s something so communal and accepting about this type of space. Even the churro guy knows me. 

One of my two favorite vendors is this artist who paints pictures of personified cows wearing dresses made out of different plants and vegetables. I don’t think I want that type of art for my personal collection but I think it’s so funny that someone created these beautiful cow portraits and wants to share them with the world. We all have different activities and experiences that we choose to put our energy into, and this person chose something so unique and whimsical. 

My other favorite vendor is one I have bought from before. I am a big ring-wearer, so I’m pretty much a target consumer whenever I go to one of these ferias. This man makes beautiful rings that look like little stained-glass windows on your hands. I was looking at one for two months before I decided to buy it, and now I always go back to show him and talk about how much I love it. 

Although these vendors are specific to the market I frequent, I feel like the general idea is the same, and is teaching me something about living in different places, which is that you will get out what you put in. When I was feeling so nervous at the beginning of my time here, I ventured out like a scared baby bird that day after the unfortunate shawarma consumption and was able to participate in something really nice. And then I kept going back, forming connections and people-watching and eating churros. I highly recommend churros as an outdoor market food, also, because they are very walkable.