Tonala Tianguis

Tonala- just a few minutes from Guadalajara- is known for its artisans and low prices. Thursdays and Sundays are tianguis days, market days, so Thursday morning we hopped on a bus (Tur- I think 10 pesos each) and got deposited into the craziest shopping frenzy we have ever seen. Both sides of the main highway into the town of Tonala were lined two-deep with vendors' stalls selling every imaginable thing, from ceramics and blown glass to candy and fruit. Furniture, cloth, large pieces of decorative art, jewelry, toys, everything you would expect to see in a Mexican artesian market was on display, and thousands of people crowded together to see, buy and sell.

As well as vendors, there are manufacturers. The prices for hand made everything you need for your home (we have now met two different groups of Americans outfitting Mexican homes with stuff from here) are, we are told, better than anywhere, and the variety and sheer quantity is astounding.

We enjoyed watching the glass blowers make beautiful pieces, and now I understand how there can be SO much "hand" blown glass for sale everywhere in Mexico. The process is broken down into steps and each craftsman is responsible for just one step. It is assembly-line production, but not mechanized in any way that we could see- just really efficient poetry in motion. The guys can crank out hundreds of pieces a day, and there are probably hundreds of shops just like this one in the country.

I think if we had gone to Tonala on a different day, we would have been able to see more. As it was, we were limited to the stream of humanity and goods that lined the highway, and after a few hours were "shopped out". We did buy some hand blown glasses. And we had a drink there that is unique to this region. It is a thick, sweet liquid made of corn, served with ice, and a glob of lime nieve (slushy ice) Very restorative and delicious, it is everywhere sold on the street.