By Jerry Davis
Patzcuaro reminds me of Williamsburg, also a former state capitol left stranded in the past when the government was moved to another city.
Its old-fashioned charm is intact, every building painted identically, every sign following the same format, and proudly colonial.
It has long been a tourist destination for those who seek the traditional Mexico of tiled roofs, spacious leafy plazas, and picture postcard views.
Patzcuaro is surrounded by towns that are dedicated to making crafts.
Santa Clara de Cobre makes copperware, Santa Fe de la Laguna black clay pottery, Ihuatzio, woven reeds, and 15 more make furniture, masks, giant water- storage jugs, tablecloths, and napkins of hand-spun cotton, and so on.
You can find it all in the market, and if you arrive early and wander to the very back section, to the left of the church of the Virgin of Guadalupe, you will find a basketball court.
There, every Friday you will find the market that follows the customs of antiquity, the barter (Trueque, a term derived from Catalan) market.
One of Cortez’s soldiers, Bernal de Castillo, recounted his introduction to the great barter market of Tlalelolco, a section of Aztec Mexico City:
“We turned to look at the great marketplace and the crowds of people that were in it, some buying and others selling, so that the murmur of their voices and words that they used could be heard more than a league off.
“Some of the soldiers among us who had been in many parts of the world, in Constantinople, and all over Italy, and in Rome, said that so large a marketplace and so full of people, and so well regulated and arranged; they had never seen before.”
Patzcuaro’s barter market is but a shadow in comparison, with about 20 sellers, is only open from seven until nine on Fridays.
It has existed for hundreds of years and has managed to function despite the ease of buying and selling using the peso.
I interviewed one lady who showed me what she had acquired by bartering her houseplants.
She raises the plants in her back yard, propagating by cuttings and division, plants them in empty tin cans and has almost zero overhead in her business.
She was happy to show me what she was taking home – a dozen rolls, a bunch of spinach, two onions, a bag full of corn to make into tortillas, another bag of beans, and two carrots.
Yes, she has acquired something to eat in the coming week and it did not make a dent in her pocketbook, but she acquired something else too, an intangible benefit.
Buying and selling seems to be in the genes of many Mexicans.
Years ago, in Washington, D.C. there was a large public event and over 100 vendors showed up to sell food, souvenirs, and drinks.
It was reported that every single one was operated by a Mexican.
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