fusionscoop: Shopping " A Lo Criollo" in SDQ

Good day fusionistas!

It has been a while. Today I am feeling the vibe for posting typical, Dominican things.
Let's take a stroll through the stores and markets in our city at Duarte con Paris, a main street intersection where a melting pot of locals come and go, work, live, eat, have businesses, and try to make it day by day to satisfy their basic needs at the mercy of buyers who are always bidding or negotiating prices at their convenience.
A lot of business is done here, casual, informal and oh so picturesque, in a very typical, yet unusual kind of way.
Thanks to my son , Jose Juan Calzada for walking me through these streets with his camera, and his love for the Dominican culture...

This is a typical indoor store, in the area. Here you can see the dresses mommies love to use on their little girls.
I'd like to describe these dresses as "suspiritos" (merengue) or "Bizcochitos de Nitin" (Extremely decorated cakes from a Dominican cakeplace, Nitin).
I mean, the are puffy, colorful and from what I can perceive, they must itch A LOT...
OMG, I would not want to be in one of those right now with this tropical heat we have in our island.
The fabric seems pretty warm, what do you think? It's like tafetta, lace, organdy, polyester, flowers and the biggest crettone, all put together in one dress. One word, uncomfortable. Oh, and let's not forget the hair decorations, more flowers!

We're shopping...

Let the shopping begin! People go havoc with all the variety offered here. Seems like its payday in this side of town. The scorching heat doesn't seem to bother them.
Browsing, finding bargains and shopping is what they are doing.

Juguetes!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures, The toy store at Duarte con Paris.
You really need to dig in to find what you really want for your kid, or else, just choose randomly from all the items mounted on a pile.
Brace yourself if your toy has additional pieces or separate parts.
I don't see a single box there, so it's practically luck if you find exactly what you want.

Motoconchos

Now this...this is really cool, the "motoconcho".
Yes you have taxis in the shopping district, but they are motorcycles.
They Zig-Zag through local traffic like mosquitoes, but they can sure take you places in a jiffy

Let me introduce to you a Dominican staple men use a lot, the Samurai sandal.

This is practically a classic or an iconic item I've been seeing on the less privileged ever since I arrived in this country, back in the 70's.

They are made out of rubber and used a lot by gardeners, car washers and lazy sundays.

Curiously, Dominicans like to use them with socks. That, I don't get.

Chancletas Samurai

Cel. Phone display

Here we have Cel. phone vendors.
I see a lot of Nokias, in this particular display case, and a few covers down there.
Interesting.
As a fact, I know Nokias are very sturdy and difficult to destroy.
Here they tend to call them "guayis", referring to the cheese grater,
( guayadores de queso), or "kukika"
(piece of trash).
Obviously, there are no smartphones.
These are most likely pre-used, refurbished, unblocked and most definitely use the pre-paid system.
Smartphones are extremely expensive here, and with the internet and data prices soaring, only the privileged ( in most cases) get to have one.

At the "Duarte con Paris" shopping district you can also find food,
the typical fresh provisions consumed by most dominicans, plantains (platanos), yuca, yams (ñame), yautias, Pumpkin (auyama), pigeon peas (guandules), a big variety of beans by the pound, etc...

Plantain vendors

Fresh provisions

La Guandulera

La Guandulera, as they like to call these women here (The Pigeon Peas lady), has her stand also.
She sells fresh vegetables as well as "sopita", it's the chicken bouillon, an item highly consumed here in the Dominican Republic for cooking.
These ladies usually sell everything retail, as in taking the cubes out of the box and selling each cube separately.
It is very common that people only buy what they need for the day, it is easier to mantain, carry and because sometimes we have blackouts (apagones), the refrigerators then don't work. This happens with the meat mainly.

And let's not forget, if you want a bite to eat, you will find vendors with frituras Dominicanas, (fried food) such as yaniqueques, tostones, quipes, longaniza (sausage), chicharron (pork rinds), bolitas de queso, etc..

You don't have to go hungry on your shopping spree. Beware though, and make sure it's a clean place, because unfortunately, in some areas, sanity is not a prerogative.