It was seven o'clock Saturday morning and the market hall was already getting crowded. The women behind the dairy stalls had arranged their products neatly and were now waiting for customers. They wore white aprons and had white scarves around their heads. One of the women took a bottle of vodka out of her basket, filled a shot glass and passed it to her neighbor. “In order to keep warm,” she said. Although the winter had been unusually mild, it was still cold in the morning hours and it could very well be a long day before they sold out their dairy products, if that would happen at all.

“Could you run outside and count?” one of the women asked me. I left the market hall, passed through the outdoor non-food market and gazed on the other side of the market territory. There were 11 today; 11 women who sold their dairy products illegally outside the area of the market. I went back and reported the number. As expected, the information caused frustrated outbursts inside. “Then we'll have to stay long today,” the oldest of the women said, as she emptied a shot of vodka. “We will have to stay long…”