Culture in a Market
by Teresa Castellon

In the market a person hears many types of gibberish, which sounds as if the Asian or Spanish language. People wear Mardi Gras beads around their necks, in the month of June, and an “ It doesn’t get any better than the Big Easy” T-shirts, with the $7.99 tag still hanging on the back, and fanny packs with cameras inside strung around their waists, loaded with black and white film.

Hungry merchants, with tables encircling them, wait for their next victim to surrender to their entreaties. As you walk down the endless rows of sellers, you feel that rush of energy to buy something, such as a small turquoise turtle, shell painted with red and green daisies, head bobbling with the flick of a finger, or an antique African mask made of a caramel colored maple wood with black veining intertwining throughout the face.

In part of the market they sell certain types of food that you can’t buy anywhere else in New Orleans. Huge fresh mangos, the reflection of a yellow sunset infused with the tint of vibrant red roses just picked from the garden. The mangoes as big as cannonballs, stacked on top of another, yet when you walk past them you smell the essence of a sweet tropical island.

Sold in a little white store, paint chipping off due to time, in the front are petite windows not any bigger than a pizza box, and packages of peanuts and seasoning sitting outside of it. As you walk into the store you see numerous types of flavored pralines, chocolate, rum, original, and the essence of melting sugar drifts through the sultry air.  Before you bite in to a praline your mouth begins to water and your eyes pierce at the succulent pecans covered in caramelized sugar not knowing what to expect. As you sink your teeth into the praline a feeling of warmth fills your body, sweet gritty sugar particles rub against your mouth, accented by the crunchiness of the pecans, and your tongue revels in absolute chaos, trying to figure out the flavors of this great delicacy.

The Farmers Market of New Orleans is full of different types of people and cultures; its own little universe, with exotic things from all over the world. Where natives of New Orleans or tourists, can go and roam around and experience different cultures that have been captivated to the great city of New Orleans.