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.