Yesterday, my friend and I decided to got to Super Wal-Mart (affectionately known here as Hyper Pais) in the capital, Guate. Now this was our first official trip there. We had heard stories about how great it was, how it had things you couldn't find in other stores, and how it was bigger than most food stores here in Guatemala. Needless to say, we were excited about going.
SO, we took a couple of camionetas (tricked-out school buses for public transportation)to get there, and stood in amazement when we walked up to the giant size building. It reminded me of walking into a mall a first. To the right of the entrance is a food court. Yes people, this Wal-Mart has a food court with different types of restaurants including my favorite, ice cream shops. We didn't venture over there right away. We were on a mission: to get inside. The entrance was a little crazy....like on Sundays after church hours. There was a super cleaners just before you make your way into the actual store. There was a line of well dressed business people waiting on their clothes. I giggled to myself when I saw an Asian Guatemalan behind the counter. That's something I would normally see in the States. I was not expecting to see it here. (Side note: There's a lot of Asian-decent Guatemalans that were born and raised here. There's even more of them in the capital.)
We finally reached the inside! Of course, we had to check our bags into the baggage area. Apparently, in this country, they trust no one. You can only go in with like a purse, and it better not be a big one. They have baggage claims at like every store, especially the food ones. We get our copies of the sales papers, and were off to shop in Hyper Pais! We start in the eelctronic section because that's what's closest to the door. They have a large electronic section, but what surprised me wass that they were just as expensive as the other stores here in country. I know electronics here are the same or even more expensive than in the States, but Wal-Mart is suppose to be the king of low prices. Where are the low prices?
We continue to look around, and pick up a few items here and there. We were amazed at how huge the baby section was. It's larger than almost any other section in the store. We suppose it's due to the fact that everyone here seems to be pregnant, just was pregnant or knows somebody that's pregnant. This is a country of babies! It was like a baby store inside of Hyper Pais.
We gradually made our way down the isles comparison shopping. We started to realize that we could find some of the same things in different places for cheaper prices. Thank moms for teaching us to be good little shoppers, especially my friend's mom. I hear she's the best shopper in Wisconsin.
As we went down the cereal isle, we stopped in our tracks. An entire isle of Corn Flakes! I dont understand this country's obsession with Corn Flakes. It's a littlle weird. They have some variety, but not much. Nestle brand cereals take up the variety section because they have aplant down here. Which means I can't find my Fruity Pebbles! What was even more strange was that there were shoppers assistants down every isle. I kinda felt like I was at a swap meet. Everyone was pushing us to buy the product they were representing down that isle. It was creepy. When I go shopping for food, I like to go at my own pace, not be harrassed by sales people.
Our trip wasn't a total disaster. I found some Blueberry Eggos, and Pilysbury chocolate chip cookie dough and cinnamon rolls! I almost cried when I saw them. I had been talking about missing them for a bout 2 weeks now, and I find them there. I was so over joyed with my find.
We checked out our grocieries, and went and ate at McDonalds - which like in the States, is in the front of Wal-Mart. Although here, they get made at you if you put up your own tray. They get paid to provide you with the best service possible. It's a wonderful transition to get used to, but I hope I don't forget to take my tray up when I get back to the States.
We made our way back to the bus stop, which means we traveled through the food court. I must say, this was a genius design plan. It's the only entrance for walkers. You have to go through the food court. You catch people either hungry before they go in or hungry after they come out. It's brillant! Those restaurants are making money!
I don't think I will be making frequent trips back, but I will make a cookie dough run every once and a while to treat myself. That's my Guatemalan Wal-Mart (Hyper Pais) adventure!
