El Mercado

Last night we went to el mercado, which is where you can buy all kinds of touristy things at a supposedly cheaper price. Supposedly. 
El mercado is in this really sketch part of town, and I'm very glad we had Olga and Virginia take us because we would've had no idea what we were doing, and then would've stood out even more for looking around wide-eyed at all the shops. There were so many shops though! Anything dominican that you could possibly need. And I spent entirely too much money.
We've gotten really good at haggling though! The good thing is if you can speak Spanish pretty well they usually charge you less.  I've decided if you can't get them to below half of what they start with you're not really trying. Lauren's favorite thing to do is to look offended after they say a price and then say, "Ya tú sabes es tan caro..." (You know that is too much).  Mine is to say, "Bueno, pero sólo me queda un mil." (Okay, but I only have a thousand left.) and then start laughing and say nevermind when they try to ask for more, and wave your hands and start walking away. 
The price tag on one painting said RD$4,500, but he offered it to me at a "precio especial" for RD$2,500, and I convinced him to take RD$1,000. That was my win of the day. :] And it's a beautiful painting too.
I've bought quite a bit of paintings, I'm afraid... I'm interested to see how I'll manage to transport them all back home.  I'm glad that I've really only bought things that'll last, not just little bracelets or knickknacks. Maybe I'm growing up...

I wish I had pictures of all the paintings to show you! Maybe I'll be able to take some before I pack them all up.