Sylvia and Salvador: Music
El Tianguis
In Spanish, the word "tianguistenco" means "village of the marketplace." My mother is from a small village called Santiago Tianguistenco, and when I was a small boy, my parents would take me to the market there. There was so much to see that I hardly knew where to look. Everything was fascinating!
El Tianguis (The Marketplace)
The market will be here today.
They began to set up the stalls yesterday
Installing the tarps and the electricity.
There will be nopal cactus slices and
Fried pig skins, bar-b-que, and cottage cheese,
And hibiscus flower tea.
Flowers of a thousand colors decorate everything.
It is still very early, but there are people already here. Though they come to buy, they always bargain first. They march up and down, until they have completed Their shopping.
Among the things to see, you'll find shawls from
Capuluac, arts and crafts that vibrate with brilliant
Color, and the herbal healers shouting at you
to "Buy health!"
This is a very popular market, and the multitudes
Of people that come always leave, content to have
Found something unusual and very special.
They buy guitars from Michoacán, and boxes made of sweet-smelling olinalá wood.
This is our Mexico, its markets demonstrate our
Values and the cooperation between the people
From the countryside and the people from the city.
There are so many things to see! A great collection
Of gold, and little parrots that imitate the
Unintelligible sounds coming from the loud speakers.
This is the marketplace, our marketplace, and
Very typically Mexican. Come along with me!
Come and enjoy it!