When I am staying at the apartment that I rent, I will often take a fifteen minute walk to the nearest market. The Lázaro Cárdenas Market in the adjacent neighborhood of "Colonia del Valle" is small compared to many of the public market buildings, but it is convenient for me.
(The uniquely shaped office tower in the background is the former headquarters of the defunct Mexicana Airlines. It is now owned by an insurance company.)
I go to this market to buy avocados for breakfast and unsalted cashews for a snack. As in the supermarkets up north, when I go to the nearby Superama the avocados are often days from being ripe. In the market I can ask the vendor for one avocado for tomorrow and another for the day after.
A vendor prepares a stack of marigolds for sale.
Yesterday, when I was at the market, I found a stall selling items for the Day of the Dead "ofrendas". It is traditional to place plates of food on the altar for the souls of the returning departed. This vendor had miniature plates of food made out of clay and paste. There were even miniature six-packs of beer and packs of cigarettes for those spirits who enjoyed drinking and smoking when they were alive.
I brought back these miniatures to add to my "ofrenda" at the apartment.
The little loaves of "bread of the dead" are actually candles.
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