La marin, an adventure in shopping

I awoke Saturday to another gorgeous morning in Quito-it seems that mornings here are always sunny and in the 60s and I can generally count on rain in the afternoon. I had made a list of a few things I needed to buy, such as a cable to upload pictures from my camera and a radio alarm clock (a necessity if I am going to be waking up at 7 am to go to work). Before I left work on Thursday, one of my colleagues who is from Quito had recommended I go to a mall near the office called Americas. He had explained how to get there, but since I had only been in the city for one day and am horrible with directions, on Saturday morning I decided to ask someone working at my hostel, who told me about an area called La marin that is closer to where Im currently staying.

He explained that la marin would have anything I was looking for and all I needed to do to get there was walk down the street and hop on a bus with the destination La marin marked on the front (which come at least once every minute and cost 25 cents per ride). I decided this would be a better alternative than getting lost trying to find the other mall, and packed my bag with my camera and a few dollars and made my way to the street where I caught the bus. On the bus, several women warned me to hold my bag tightly before I departed into the bustling market area. I happily obeyed their orders, and felt comfortable walking around the crowded streets. 

I walked into the main mall area and found window after window of little one room shops with glass display cases on the wall facing the hallway and barely enough room for the owner to sit inside. And everything was incredibly inexpensive, from jewelry and cell phones to digital cameras for less than $80, the guy at the hostel seemed to be right-I could find anything there. I managed to bargain my way around the stores, leaving if I thought the price was too high and within 2 hours I had completed my shopping and was on a bus back to my hostel. I think I was the only non ecuadorian in the market-definitely a culture shock. When I came into work on Monday my boss asked me how my first weekend in the city was and I began to tell him about my trip to the market. As soon as I mentioned la marin, he let out a gasp and couldnt believe that I had gone there. He informed me that he considers it to be the most dangerous area in Quito (dangerous in the sense that I am likely to get pickpocketted, not harmed). Although while at the market I was conscious about people around me and where my possessions were at all times, I felt perfectly safe there. I guess if I need electronics in the future, Ill have to be more careful about where I shop, or at least who I go with, but Im glad I had that experience. While Quito is filled with malls that resemble those near my house in the US, la marin was a first.