Midtown Market, Native American Center, Mercado Central

We trekked to south Minneapolis yesterday to see these three things and to get the parks and lakes done. Let me tell you, I really dislike south Minneapolis. I grew up around the city, and many of my friends lived in that part of town. It's not a really nice place to live, nor is it to visit.

The Midtown Market is a surprising oasis in the middle of the wreck of a city that surrounds it. The neighborhood for several blocks, even miles around, is filled with rundown houses in various states of disrepair, some of which might not even be liveable. I remember when I was a teenager, the Arby's right down the street got robbed, and the thieves locked the staff in the walk in cooler. Nice town it is there. On the other hand, it seemed like someone plucked Midtown Market right out of a much nicer, though not affluent by any means, neighborhood and dropped it here. The parking was free because we ate at a restaurant inside. The food was delicious, and I ordered way too much. It was traditional Mexican food and I ended up forgetting my to go box on the table.It seems like you could get just about anything, from any culture, right here. Pashmana afghans, felafel, and all kinds of other things.

On the other side, the Mercado Central, seems to cater exclusively to people from Mexico and Central America. We didn't spend too much time here because it seemed like a Mexican version of the Hmong market we had visited a few weeks earlier.

The Native American center was kind of depressing. I've got heritage in the Ojibwe tribe, so it brought up many memories of poor relatives and their half attempts to retain the culture they are rapidly watching disappear. There's a place for powwows and an athletic court, along with a gift shop filled with cheap trinkets. Other than the resources available to people there, I can't see why anyone would want to spend any amount of time there.

It has been neat to see the different ethnic things around the cities. It could make one take a closer look at what is going on around them and experience new things.