Coyoacan is a large open-air market area near the heart of the city, and we spent an entire afternoon there. It is very beautiful and park-like, with vending booths arranged under the shade of thriving trees, and a large fountain in the center. Our primary purpose in visiting was simply to be surrounded with the people of the city and do a little bit of shopping. To this end, I had no desire to buy anything here, so I went around with teammates Vicki and Cheree in order to help them over the language barrier. It was great to be able to use the Spanish language so much, a language which I have been familiar with since kindergarten, but have never mastered.

Going from booth to booth, I translated prices for them and did my best to barter (most of the time successful).  We did this at booths selling everything from wall decor to sunglasses (Image 1).  Since Vicki had a list about 30 names long of people she wanted to buy gifts for, we spent a lot of time doing this.  It made me feel a little bit guilty since I didn't have plans to bring something back for everybody and their pet parrot, but nonetheless we all had a good time (Image 2).

There was also yet another cathedral at the edge of this square, which we toured very briefly.  After all the shopping was over, I went back to our designated meeting place early to spend some time sketching.  Several others decided to do the same, so pretty soon we had a little journal party going (Image 3).  Coyoacan was a great place, full of life and joy, and it was neat to visit.