Shopping Adventures

Yesterday I went out to get some things that we need before going to Antigua. More specifically, I was looking for a jogging stroller. I took a cab from the hotel to this large store called Hiper Piaz. The store looked like a really busy farmer's market on the outside, and on the inside looked just like a super wal-mart. In fact it is my understanding that wal-mart actually owns the store. Each of the employees had the wal-mart insignia on their lanyard straps. I guess I should not be surprised that wal-mart has decided to continue its quest for world domination. Anyway, when you first walk in to the store, there is a pharmacy immediately on the left. I decided to visit the pharmacy first in order to get Isa's formula. So, I boldly walked up to the counter and stated "necessito Enfamil uno grande." What I did not know is that Enfamil is actually sold in the main store. So, the pharmacy radioed to the people in the store to bring the formula to me. When it got to the pharmacy, I was unsure of whether or not I was to pay for it at the pharmacy or in the main part of the store. After having told the clerk that I would return to pay for the formula (or so I thought I told the clerk), I found myself walking down the aisle past the electronics with this Guatemalan women yelling "SENIOR, SENIOR!" Apparently she thought that I was leaving without the formula. What I should state here is that an overweight white man does not exactly fit in with a store full of Guatemalans. More specifically, said white man does not fit in when he is walking down the aisle with a Guatemalan clerk yelling at him. Finally I was able to find what I needed and was able to locate the door marked "salida." (Finding the exit was a task in itself)

When I got to the parking lot I found Lucia, my cab driver, waiting on me. We left the parking lot and were in the roundabout outside of the store when I saw a sign for Sears. Having been unable to find a jogging stroller in Hiper Piaz, I asked Lucia, in my broken Spanish, if it would be possible to go into Sears for a moment. The problem was that Lucia, in order to find out what I needed stopped the car...in the middle of a very busy highway! Here we are, sitting in the middle of the street, cars zooming by us, while we are trying to make out what each other is saying. Lucia tells me that it would be possible to go to Sears, so he throws the car in reverse and begins to drive backwards on this one way street as cars are flying by us. We get to Sears and I explain to Lucia what I am looking for. Having come out of Sears without the stroller that I was looking for, Lucia takes it upon himself to find this stroller. There is not a baby store or mega store between the Avenida Reforma and our hotel that he did not try.

Two hours from the time we left, Lucia had given up and was ready to bring me back to the hotel. On the way back, Lucia asked me about my wife. I told him that she was in the hotel, but in two days we would be going to Antigua. As soon as I said this, his eyes lit up. I knew how to tell him in Spanish that we were going to Antigua, but I did not know how to convince him that we could not travel with him. Finally I simply asked him for his phone number thinking that this would appease him. So what does Lucia do? He stops right in the middle of the reforma (the very busy street in front of our hotel), turns off the car and proceeds to write down his telephone number. Thankfully, we did not get hit and returned to the hotel safely where a bilingual concierge greeted us and was able to translate to Lucia. What a day! Who knew that a simple shopping trip could be such an adventure!

Shalom,
Chris