Go shopping!

In the last two blog posts, I wrote about money. Today I will discuss what to do with that money: go shopping! The truth is I do not enjoy shopping like I once did. It’s more of a chore, something I sometimes have to do. It is rarely something I get excited about doing anymore. Unless I am traveling.

Shopping in local stores and markets, browsing through locally made artwork and handicrafts is a wonderful way to get a taste of the local culture when you are traveling abroad. And it’s a great way to find souvenirs for friends, family and yourself. It is also a way to find things you forgot or didn’t realize you would need. This happened to me in Guatemala, where the evenings and early mornings were ever-so-chilly (see this post here for info on that). I really felt I needed some more clothes for layering to keep warm. That is when Mercado Minerva came to my rescue.

Minerva Market in Xela, Guatemala is a large, open-air market that is open a couple days a week, Saturday being the busiest. Minerva is a bus terminal, where you can catch a bus to anywhere, or to a point where you can then catch another bus to anywhere. So if you are ever a traveler in Xela, you will undoubtedly be there at some point. But the market is another adventure altogether.

You can buy anything there: fresh produce, batteries, kitchen utensils, toys, hair accessories, live (or not) chickens. If the booth you’re browsing in doesn’t have what you're looking for, another one will. The market is crowded with people. You get pushed and shoved as you try to make your way through the crowd. Mayan women, who were so much smaller than I, were experts at getting through a crowd. They pushed passed me like determined rugby players, while I was merely an empty, cardboard box to be flung aside, not a woman who towered over them like a Sequoia tree. It was quite impressive.

I was specifically searching for the part of the market where they sell used clothing from the U.S. (and perhaps other countries as well). Evidently this practice is quite common all over the developing world, although in Latin America I have only seen it in Guatemala ... but that could be because I was looking for it. Organizations, such as Goodwill, sell their surplus inventory of donated clothing to merchants in developing countries at a bulk rate. The rate must be very low because these items are sold at a price that shames any sale at Macy’s. The L.L. Bean thermal, long-sleeve shirt I found was only 3Q (three quetzales). That was about 50 cents at the time. Take that, Macy’s!

Here I am in that 50¢ shirt from the market.
It is not nearly as cute as Estrella here, one
of the students in our afterschool program.  

The booths with the used clothes don’t have any fancy displays. There are usually just piles of clothes that you can go through. You don’t have to refold anything and put it back on a shelf all nice and tidy. No sirree. You can sometimes just climb onto the pile of clothes and sit there, searching comfortably for as long as you wish. If any of you ever heard of the wedding dress sales that used to take place at Filene’s Basement in Boston, I imagine it is comparable. Only much more affordable. With no overly eager brides clawing out your eyes.

Some local shops in Xela also sold these used clothes, but in nicer storefront settings. One day, I was walking in town and saw an awesome t-shirt hanging in the doorway of such a shop. I just had to buy it for my friend, Laurel (you can read more about Laurel here). Since I hadn't packed many clothes, I wore it during my time traveling. She knew it was used. She knew I had worn it. All of that was part of the charm, part of the experience that she appreciated (maybe not all people would appreciate such a gift, but Laurel is cool like that). 

Like I mentioned in my very first blog post, when you’re traveling, there is no time or space for being overly fashion-conscious. But you should make time to shop and search for that special something you just can’t live without ... at least until you get home. Or until you pass it on to a friend! 

I have mentioned this green t-shirt before, and you have seen it in other photos. But I am showing you again
because this is the shirt I got for Laurel, but that I wore throughout my time in Guatemala. The irony of the shirt
was not lost on my volunteers, shown here with me,  Miss Brightside.  Miss Brightside indeed.

Show me the money, Part 2.

Last week I wrote about money when you travel and some tips on how to use it with as little drama as possible (see this post here). But sometimes a little drama cannot be avoided.

When I was in Guatemala a few years ago, quetzales (the local currency) were hard to find for several weeks. One day I went to five or six cash machines/ATMs with a friend and they were all empty of money. So I had no cash. And there were no places that would just swipe a credit card for payment, especially in the local stores, restaurants and markets. We continued to try, day after day, but to no avail. Luckily my host family lent me some money until I could get cash. But it was a problem for a few weeks, and there were travelers running around Xela in a panic because they had no money. “Help me, I cannot even purchase a liquado de sandía or hot chocolate because I have no cash!!” (Of course, the locals were having the same problem, but as I discussed in this blog post, they take it, and any inconvenience, all in stride.)

Evidently the Guatemalan government was having new money printed in Europe somewhere. But before the printing job was complete, they retired a bunch of old bills, thereby leaving an inconvenient and incomprehensible void. True, sometimes one goes to a cash machine in the U.S. and there is no money left, especially on weekends. But on Monday morning, it’s full again. We don’t even think about it. Believe me, when it goes on for days and days and you are in a place where you don’t have your own bank, it is a little disconcerting. This is another one of those instances where you just adapt, deal with it, and realize it is part of the experience. Luckily, part of my experience was living with a kind and generous family.

When using local currency, you will sometimes find it hard to get change for bigger bills. The smaller stores will often not be able to change the larger notes, thereby making it impossible to buy that pack of gum/local paper/bottle of water. They will just tell you, “No change. Sorry.” And you lose out on that candy bar, and they lose a sale. Much like in the U.S., the ATMs I’ve encountered in other countries don’t spew forth a wide variety of paper money. Stateside it’s 20s all the time. Never any larger, never any smaller. The lack of denominational variety is sometimes the case in other countries, too ... thus the issue of getting/not getting change. The smaller businesses, which most of them are, just cannot keep up. So any time you can get small bills, do. It is worth making the effort so you can buy what you need, when you need it (or what you want when you want it). 

Here are those cool Nicaraguan córdoba bills again. I love that see-through
circle and wonder what it is made of, because I promise
it is not plastic cling-wrap. 

As far as using the ATM, I have used a personal credit card, and one of those prepaid credit cards. The problem is the fees, but I don’t think you can avoid them. On my trip to Nicaragua, I used a prepaid Visa card I bought through AAA and it worked well. But I had all types of fees by the time I got back. Fees from the U.S. side, fees from the Nicaraguan side. It ticked me off, but what can you do? You will probably have some kind of conversion fee whenever you use a credit card, so they will get you one way or another. I do not recommend carrying huge wads of cash around, even though there are no fees with cash. Your fee may be losing it all to a pickpocket, luggage thief, or worse. Just don’t be flashing that money in front of anyone. Ever. (I also discussed this here.)

Before you take that trip, contact your credit card company and/or bank and let them know where you will be traveling so they do not put a block on your card if they see charges from Buenos Aires or San Salvador or wherever you are traveling (which is a great service if your card has been stolen, but not so much if you trying to use your own card in a foreign country). Also, make sure you have on hand the phone number you should call if your credit card is lost. They will most likely have a number you can use overseas. Keep this number separately from your card. Or better yet, email it to yourself so if everything gets stolen or lost (gasp!), you can access those numbers at an internet cafe. You could also email yourself a copy of the credit card so you have all the needed information in an emergency. I know, I know ... you keep everything on your smart phone. It’s so remarkable. It’s so cool. But when your smart phone falls out of your pocket as you jump onto a moving chicken bus, lands in a giant puddle, and is run over by a pick-up truck hauling six water barrels, three goats, and two men sitting on a hay bale, you will feel pretty stupid that you don’t have the information elsewhere.

For me, a few of the interesting things about visiting another country are seeing the colorful, local money, getting accustomed to using it, learning what the conversion rate is and using it in my head (eventually), and getting away from the almighty dollar. It’s just a nice change of pace. Those bills and coins represent a colorful culture and history. There may be many places out there where you can get by with just a credit card. That’s all well and good, but traveling to developing countries isn’t always quite so slick and easy. So if you use the cash, take a close look at it, feel it in your hands. Then let it go. Use it for that ice cream cone or cold cerveza. That’s what it’s there for after all. 

Show me the money, Part 1.

If you have ever traveled in another country, you know about foreign currency (and the Canadian quarters that sometimes turn up in your wallet do not count, unless you were in Canada when they got into your wallet). Money from other countries is very often quite gorgeous. They feature pictures of various historical figures, royalty, national monuments, famous buildings. Yes, we have all that on U.S. money as well (minus the royalty), but not in such bright, beautiful colors. It can be lovely. Frame-worthy even. And dealing with a new type of money is another part of the experience and adventure of travel.

Before you take that trip abroad, I recommend ordering some currency of the country you will be visiting through your bank. And do it well in advance because it sometimes takes a while ... not every bank has a stack of Honduran lempira or Malaysian ringgits lying in their vault.  I suggest doing this because it’s just great to have some cash on hand when you get to the airport (or dock/port or bus station). You don’t have to find an ATM/money machine right away, or money-changing booth, nor do you have to worry about dealing with the money exchange brigade as you exit (people standing there with cash, ready to change your money ... but rarely at the going rate) – you can simply smile and walk on by. Then you can pay for a taxi, or a bus, buy a cold drink, stop and get some coffee, whatever. It’s just one less headache, especially if you arrive at night.

Here are a couple of Nicaraguan córdoba bills. The paper
is shiny and seems to be waterproof. And I love the
illustrations. Thirty córdobas equals $1.29 US, as in
one dollar and twenty-nine cents. 

Another thing I recommend is to take a calculator. Just a teeny, tiny one that will fit into your pocket, purse or daypack. Maybe you can do math in your head lickity-split like Rainman. Not so me. It is just useful as you get used to the conversion of your money to the new money you’ll be using on your trip. Because you will most likely want to know how much something is compared to home. 

“Wow, this rug is 200 quetzales! Are they crazy? I could get a rug at Crate & Barrel for less than that.”

---- Um, no, you couldn’t. Two hundred quetzales is just over $25. Get a half dozen!

A calculator helps put things in perspective.

Sometimes you can use your U.S. paper money, especially for hotels and the like. Even though it’s had some hard times lately, the dollar is still valued in many countries and used with great frequency.* In fact, it is used so often in many countries that they would scoff at my suggestion to bring a calculator because they are so accustomed to converting to U.S. dollars that it is second nature. I have met many foreign travelers who have to exchange their country’s money for U.S. dollars before exchanging it for the local currency of where they are traveling. At home they got U.S. dollars to exchange in a country other than their own and other than the U.S.  Go figure. 

*(Note: Panamá, as well as some other countries, exclusively use the U.S. dollar. Here is some information on the Panamanian balboa, aka, the U.S. dollar, which is quite interesting. )

I should also mention that in my travels to Latin America, I have encountered businesses that are very willing to take U.S. dollars, but only if the bills are nice, clean and as crisp as possible. If a bill is even minutely torn, they will turn it down. If it is worn out with folded edges and corners, they do not want it. I have never understood this, especially since I have paid for things several times here in the U.S., with bills that looked like an old pair of ripped up denim jeans, with nary a blink from the cashier. Why in these countries that are so laid-back are they so uptight about the condition of a U.S. paper bill? If you know, please share. 

Next week I will continue with more information about money and travel. Stay tuned ...