Okay, so about that nice guy that welcomed me back? Not so much. I re-visited the place, but I have not fished out too much information, or at least as much as I want to know. Over the weekend, I went to the Opa Locka Flea Market. (Somewhere my parents have told me not to go because there's no reason for me to go there) Anyways, they were out of town and I decided to make a run for it.
When I pulled up to the Flea Market, parking was only $1. I haven't paid that parking..ever. As I pulled in some vendors (Mexican, I believe) were pointing me into the direction of a garage. I realized they wanted to change my tires and they weren't pointing me into the direction of the parking lot.
I eventually found the parking lot and walked towards the center of the market. To be honest, the place looked like a poor country. There wasn't a roof on the place, it looked more like tarps. There was a big mix of people and I began to walk, looking down the whole time. I saw a sign that said "Office This Way", and I was surprised to find they actually had an office and SOMEBODY ran that place. I spoke to a gentleman and told him why I was there and he told me he was glad I was there for those purposes and that I would be safe during the day. Umm..what the hell does that mean? Run out before the sun sets?? I don't know, but I definitely left before 2:00 pm.
Anyways, I found a Haitian older man who was selling shoes. He had a lot of trouble speaking English, and I had a lot of trouble speaking Haitian Creole. So anyways, I asked him where he was from and how he ended up in Hialeah-Opa Locka. He explained me that he had been in the US for 20 years and he had been selling shoes at the Flea Market for 6 years now. He was very reserved and told me he wanted to go back to Haiti because it was too expensive here. The rent at the Flea Market is $400 per WEEK!! That's insanely expensive.
I told him I would come back and he didn't really care too, so I continued on. I found an older lady who spoke spanish. Her name is Carmen Leyva. She was a little hesitant to talk to me, but I explained to her that I had never been to a Flea Market and that I was a student trying to learn a little more about where she works. I found out she had been working in this Flea Market for almost 30 years and her son, Michael pretty much grew up there. She told me her son would be there soon, and I could talk to him a little more.
I learned so much from this family. At first, Michael didn't want to talk much. He was nervous and didn't like it when I told him I was a journalism student, but he opened up a little more after about...TWO HOURS. (took him long enough)
He just started talking about how dangerous the place is at night, and how his family was robbed and, at that point, I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Nothing else he was telling me was filtrating through my head. Oh, by the way, he smoke about 9 cigarettes while we talked and the lovely fan next to him was blowing my way. Sorry, my ADD is kicking in. Anyways, we talked about other families that had been there so long and how they are all very close. He talked about some of the benefits his family has since they have been there so long. (they are allowed to have an AC unit and others can't) I was really uneasy having to walk out of there alone, and only if Professor Reisner suggests I go at night, well then, I will.
Michael gave me his cell number and told me to text him if I needed anything. I plan to return next week.
I'll keep you all posted on my adventure at the Flea Market. I might consider a night-time visit.
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