San Juaneros, and expats that have lived here awhile might roll their eyes over my writing a Nugget about shopping in Rivas, because everyone knows about shopping in Rivas, right? But, die-hard Rivas shoppers, I ask you this:
Did you know that you can buy chickens, aquarium fish, rabbits, puppies, livestock feed, dog food and veterinary medicines at the Rivas Purina shop? I didn’t.
Did you know that you can get Vigoron with pork meat instead of fried pork rind but just asking for carne? And that it’s absolutely delicious. And just costs 50 cordobas ($1.50 US), and will fill you up? Did you also know that you can wash your hands after you’re done by pouring water over your hands outside of the barrel? I didn’t know.
Did you know that there’s a new meat shop, SuKarne, that opened in August and has incredible steaks? I bought a package of three t-bone steaks and a package of four ribeye steaks for a total of 568 cordobas ($17.75). And they are delicious!
And then of course there’s all the people watching. And the scene watching! The ox carts and motorcycle taxis and bicyclists crowd the narrow streets snaking between overflowing market stalls. Rivas is a bustling, colorful town surrounded by rich agricultural land, and is the department seat (kind of like a US county seat) of Rivas, of which San Juan del Sur is part.
Thank you Linda Giordano and Tella Sametz for inviting me to tag along last week! And Linda for discovering SuKarne.
