The search for good sandals

Hardly any rain last night and it’s been sunny all day. Yesterday, we went in to Guadalajara and Costco for the first time in over a month (66 kms each way). We were low on wine; they have cases of 6 bottles of Chilean wines for $4 - 5 per bottle. We did buy other things. While there we went to the Mega supermarket. In addition to groceries, almost half the store is given over to appliances, furniture, some hardware, clothing, etc. (i.e., like Wal-Mart). One interesting feature was at the front, they had 2 identical carts of groceries and were claiming that the cost in their store was about 20% less than at Wal-Mart, which has a big store just across the street. This is of interest because they are building a huge Wal-Mart just 3 or 4 blocks from us. It is going up very fast and is supposed to open in September. That will provide competition for the 2 small supermarkets already here. Some of the other ex-pats in my Spanish class were speaking very disparagingly of Wal-Mart’s intrusion into Ajijic. For many of the ex-pats, Wal-Mart is one of the things they hoped to leave behind.

Barb is trying to replace a pair of sturdy, but worn, sandals which she finds best for walking on the cobblestones. We were at the vet’s when she spotted what looked like an excellent pair on a woman. The latter said that she got them in the US, so no help there. She told us about a small mall in Guadalajara which has nothing but shoe stores. It is not far off the route to Costco, etc. so we went and got there without a wrong turn! It is true; there must be over 30 stores, and except for a couple that carry purses and accessories, all were shoe stores. Although a few had jogging shoes and sneakers, most were of dress shoes. Also, except for a couple of stores, all the offerings were of inexpensive shoes; there was nothing at all like she is looking for. The brand she has are fairly pricey. Today, she is calling all the shoe stores in HRM to see if she can find the same brand. She will then have Jeff bring them down when he comes in less than 2 weeks.

We finally bought a small microwave today; there are some things that are much easier and faster to do in a microwave. We decided that we didn’t want to put off the purchase any longer. I bought it at a little appliance store just 2 kms or so towards Chapala. I checked again yesterday in Costco and Mega; the one we got here (Panasonic) is better and cheaper than what was available at either Costco or Mega in Guadalajara.