La Vega is an enormous open-air market located at the southern tip of the district of Recoleta, Santiago. Think Costco but bigger, cheaper (hard to believe), and with ten times more shoppers on your typical Sunday.
I woke up early this morning to make the trek to La Vega, about a 45-minute brisk walk from Providencia, to explore the market in hopes of finding a cheap and good avocado and also of immersing myself in the bustling market culture of Santiago.
For you readers who have yet to visit La Vega, here’s the breakdown:
The produce is CHEAP. Like…really cheap. We’re talking ten fresh avocados for less than $2.50, a large carton of strawberries for $1.50, and an armful of nectarines for $2. Take notes, Boston.
People. A lot of them. People yelling prices, people dragging shopping carts, people husking corn in the aisles. Once in a while you’ll see a stray cat sitting on top of a mound of potatoes or a pigeon flying through the crowds.
Not a good place for indecisive ones (me). How do you choose the best place to buy a box of nectarines when thirteen back-to-back tiendas seem to sell the same nectarines? Hint: just choose one.
Empanada and hot dog heaven. More on this:
I’ve had some pretty decent empanadas while in Chile (ranging from goat cheese to classic chicken to black beans and sweet potatoes), but I’m always on the lookout for more great empanadas. That’s why when I ran into a small stall in the middle of La Vega with a huge crowd of locals eating freshly-made empanadas, I dashed over to purchase a Chilean hot pocket of my own.
Honestly, I don’t know how to insert myself in some situations, and going through a large group of empanada-eaters to order my own is one of them. Instead of pushing my way through the crowd, I turned to a man enjoying his empanada next to me and asked him what flavor he ordered (he got Pabellon, a mix of beans, meat, and plantain). Turns out, this was the exact interaction I needed to make my way up to the front of the empanada line because this man proceeded to call out to his wife at the front of the crowd who then called out to the empanada man that I’d like to make an order.
The empanada from this tiny stall in La Vega, as one can imagine, was fantastic, but what was even better was that this lovely Venezuelan couple instructed me on how to eat the empanada without burning myself and even showed me around the entire market for thirty minutes with their insider knowledge - from where to get the best perro calientes to how to choose the best tuna (cactus fruit).
Small experiences like these remind me that help is always a question away, and that I should never be afraid to ask for it. So far, our adventures in Santiago have proven that people are always willing to help - from translating a word from English to Spanish when teaching to asking for directions to Plaza de Armas to inquiring how to order an empanada. It’s just a matter of making the first move.