Do you all know Novica, the fair-trade artisan marketplace that finds artists and craftspeople from all over the world and hooks them up with a means of commerce in association with National Geographic?

Talavera-style bowl from Novica

You should; they're great.

It's sort of like Etsy, except the stuff isn't terrible, overpriced or made out of felt and tampons.

I try to be as conscientious as a I can about where I do most of my shopping. It's just the decent thing to do, plus it lets me be ridiculously smug and might even burn off a few minutes of purgatory if the Catholics actually end up being right.

*sideeyes the 100 pack of  totally game-changing Okamoto Crown condoms*

Ahem.

I live in these 10 months out of the year

Last summer I was fortunate enough to befriend a family of indigenous Zapotec artisans from Oaxaca. 

Every day on my walk from the fruteria, past the guy who sold live canaries and dried shrimp snacks, to the panaderia, we'd stop and chat and I'd make faces at their baby while mama and auntie weren't looking.

They were always there, working on a narrow loom or knotting intricate bracelets. Sometimes they'd do embroidery. We talked about my omnipresent basket which I'd woven myself several years earlier (Let me stop you right there. The underwater joke you want to make? Heard it.) and how frustrating it is that such time-consuming work can be valued so little.

What I love about Novica is they work with the artisans. They give them a voice and a presence, and still manage to keep their prices extremely --bordering on scandalously-- competitive.

When I look at my little black soapstone calavera (Day of the Dead skull) I like it better because I know the guy who carved it. I've kissed his baby and shared a packet of truly revolting dried shrimp snax with his wife.

Novica gives a bit of that same feel. Right now they're offering $7 off your first purchase.
No shrimp snax required.