It's kind of a strange subject for me. I used to adore grocery shopping, but abhor clothing shopping. (Maybe there is a connection between those two. Hmm...)
Anyway - here in Xela, I still generally feel the same way, only everything is infinitely more complicated. Why? Because nothing in Xela is easy - includuing shopping. Allow me to explain.
Shopping for Food:
You can go to the market. Actually, one of several markets. These are total assaults on the senses, but also super fun, and the best place in the world to find fresh everything at a really good price. (I've seen foods there I've never seen before.)
If you're not looking for a physical and emotional workout, though, you can always go to a dispensa, or Walmart, which are more expensive, but more familiar.
Note - Walmart here is kind of the big, fancy, expensive store, because it's a brand name. (I know - strange, right??) Maxi Dispensas (of which there are several in town) is owned by Walmart, and sells almost exactly the same stuff as Walmart, but it's a little cheaper. Then, of course, there are the privately owned dispensas, which are smaller and cheaper still.
We usually buy our fresh things at the market, and our meat and packaged food at Maxi-Dispensa, and our bread (fresh - not sandwich) at the panaderia (small, family-owend bake stand) right ouside the gate to our apartment.
Shopping for Household Goods:
(For our purposes, I'm mostly talking about toilet paper, paper towels, dishes, small appliances, etc.) Again - most of these can be found at the market, but you can never be 100% sure, and you're going to have to work to find them, all while being solicited every 10 steps, carefully guarding your pockets and backpack, and being sure not to step off a rough step or trip over a cobblestone.
Walmart, Maxi-Dispensa, and the smaller dispensas are good choices for these things. But, there are alternatives.
What alternatives?? (I'm glad you asked.)
The places that most people shop for general household goods are small neighborhood tiendas. They are EVERYWHERE. Like, in the 3/4 of a mile it takes us to get to the end of our street, we pass by at least 4 or 5 tiendas, and we're in a very residential area. Elsewhere, they are literally every 2nd or 3rd building. Each one carries toilet paper, little bags of chips, soap, and so on. You can also exchange your empty 5 gallon water jug for a full one at most tiendas. I don't know how people choose which tienda to go to, or if there's a very big price difference among them all. So far we've purchased some T.P and had good luck getting our water at Tienda Yumely. (16Q and a smile!)
Shopping for Clothing:
This is where things get trickier. Walmart and Maxi-Dispensa do carry clothes, and the prices aren't horrible. (You can buy dress shirts on sale for $5 for, example.) But, the quality, selection, and fit kind of are.
We do have a mall, which does have name-brand clothing stores, though I haven't been to any of them. I believe that they're even more expensive here than they were in the States, and I have a hard time paying for a label.
Most people choose to buy 2nd hand clothing that comes from the states in big bales or packs - known as pacas (say: pa cause - emphasis on the 'pa'). Some stalls in the markets are set up by people who spend their hard-won money to buy a single paca, and sell the items for 5 to 8 Q each (that's $0.75 to around $1). There are larger paca places in the market, and dozens and dozens of little, ma-and-pa paca stores set up around town.
And then there's the mega paca...
It's a huge building with rows upon rows of used American clothing and shoes. Much like my beloved Goodwills in the U.S.A., clothing is assigned a tag color and a price when it arrives. At MegaPaca, the clothing is put on the racks by tag color. At the end of every week, they rotate which color is on the deepest discount. (When I say deep, I mean deep. Discounts run from 10% to 90%!). It is very possible to find clothing items for under $1, but you're going to work for it. Remember - these are the clothes that:
- Americans have purchased and worn
- Donated to their 2nd hand stores
- Were picked over by 2nd hand shoppers (and rejected)
- And then sent to Guatemala.
Some things are in decent shape... most are not. Shoes, especially, are very expensive here. I found it to be nearly impossible to find a pair of shoes for the girls under $10, and they were pretty worn out. On the plus side, Mark did find a niiiiiiice pair of python Tony Lamas boots for around $20. We do have a Payless Shoe Source, but shoes are even more expensive there - usually $25 to $30.
Shopping for School Supplies
One last shopping adventure we've recently had has been shopping for school supplies. I've got to be honest - it's a little surreal. Again - Walmart and Maxi-Dispensa were our go-to places where we found most things we needed. (Notebooks, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, etc.) The selection is extremely limited (one type of markers... two types of glue) and things are more expensive. Oh, and, they only sell pens one at a time. No 20 packs of Bic blues here!
What couldn't be found at those places had to be hunted for (with our very limited Spanish!!) at the many, many local little papelerias or librarias (corner paper and book stores). Some are relatively big, and well stocked (like Papeleria Evangelica). Others (like the two or three on our street) are much smaller, and sell strange things - like paper by the sheet, used binders, etc.
Eventually, after MUCH hunting and expense, we did finish buying all of the girls' school supplies, except for one thing - folders with pockets. I don't think there's a single place in town to buy those!
And on that note (and since it's Saturday, and we're all out of food and dangerously low on toilet paper) it's time for the Farriers to once again head out into the wild jungles of the Demo market. Wish us luck. We'll need it! After all - nothing is easy in Xela, especially shopping! :)
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