"Día del Trueque" in Cholula

As reported before, since several weeks there's a fair in Cholula. Big wheel, roller coaster... whatever you want.

Today, there was a special day, called "Día del Trueque" (Day of Exchange). It revives the common practice of the olden days when people didn't pay with money, but exchanged goods instead.

Looots of buses for the mass of tourists who came just for this special day. In the foreground smiling C., a French fellow student, yet from another faculty.

Although as a visitor you can't just exchange your waterbottle for an ice cream, among each other the vendors do still hold up the tradition.

How about exchanging a flower-shaped mango for some... Valentina sauce?!

As it's said to be a very special day, people from all over Puebla come here. I was lucky having chatted with the nice restaurant owner yesterday, who gave me the tip to go there. Incredible, never saw so many people on one place here in Mexico...

I thought THIS was crowded... erm... no, not yet...

THIS was crowded!

Actually, it was a bit too crowded. You couldn't move at all anymore. Which on the one hand was annoying, being stuck in the middle of the street. But on the other hand it was funny to listen to the ridiculous "advices" the Mexicans (preferably women past their prime) gave each other:

"Aváncense! Aváncense, por favor!" ("Go ahead! Go ahead, please!")

Good joke...

Another favourite:

"No caminen en más de una fila!" ("Don't walk in more than one line!")

Erm... which line?!

At least, there was plenty of time to savour different food. Fabian in his element :-D

What do we have here?

Coconut candy! Could have been one of my favourites, but, well, the Mexicans really love sugar A LOT... *gasp* Where did I put my insulin pump?!

First time I saw pecan nuts still in their shell.

Somebody in Mexico must have a monopoly on ice cream flavours, as you get the same ones everywhere. From right to left: "Three milks" (evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream), soursop, mammee apple, "Angel's kiss" (cacao cream with milk and cherry), walnut, pine nut, café cappuccino, cheese, piña colada, lime.

Sweet (ladies and) yeast dough buns filled with either condensed milk, or...

..."cajeta": Caramelized sweetened goat's milk. Well, the dough was REALLY good, but still VERY sweet...

The corn cookies were less sweet, but more crumbly...

Skipped the "christmas cookies"...

... and went for the corn bread instead, which had a great taste of marzipan. Much better than expected.

By the way, in the last picture you can see a very common thing in Mexico: Different words for the same thing. Corn in Spain is called maíz, which is understood here if you are lucky. But the Mexican word for corn is elote. Not even similar...

There are a lot of these different words, or at least different meanings. I was for example a bit puzzled when my roomie told me, that he was just about to bañarse, which for a Spanish-speaking person would mean "to take a bath". Hmm, we don't have a bathtub here. But Mexicans use bañarse instead of ducharse, that is for "to take a shower". For what did I learn Spanish, anyway ;-)

Original handicrafts and very original clients.

At first I thought it was a pine, but actually this is the plant itself (agave)... Just look at the man's hand for a size comparison!

Reminded me of one of my favourite Thai desserts: Khao Niao Plaa Hang (Sticky rice with sugar and salty dried fish). But well, lacked the sticky rice and everything... Mexico won't make it into my favourite cuisines, I'm pretty sure already :-/

Hmm, how far is the next coast?!

Now, the handicrafts are really nice!

Loved the contrast between the ancient church built by the old generation and the little chairs built for the young generation.

In total, a great day, yet exhausting for sooo many people. And, C. "lost" her camera...