This shaky pedestrian bridge crosses a choked, intense boulevard that divides Mercado Merced and the Merced metro stop and Mercado Sonora, a sorta freaky place. It's the market where the "brujas" gather to sell charms, candles, voodoo dolls, masks, beads, magical herbs and ointments, images of Saint Death, and animals. Lots of animals. Puppies, chickens, roosters, snakes, frogs, parrots, even goats. The smell is generally revolting. Lots of people in white, indicating an adherence to santeria. Apologies but I was not courageous enough to take photos inside -- at least on my first visit.
I went with the hilarious Quetzal Rangel, 22, half of the indie fashion-designing duo Marvin y Quetzal. Quetzal was on the market for a new pet. He came away empty-handed, but we enjoyed what turned out to be a 14-hour interview.
* A small blog note: I recently removed the tagline above "A blog (formerly) from Los Angeles" in exchange for a shorter tag that reflects a simple reality: A blog is a blog, anywhere in the world.