Well, now the Red Cross has added a second bus each month on the first Thursdays, and I recently went on its maiden voyage with a friend. (Definitely not the maiden voyage of the actual bus, but hey, its air conditioning worked and that was most welcome. Guadalajara is hotter than our area, as Lake Chapala has a distinct effect of moderating the temperatures.)

By the way, the Red Cross here is not like it is back home. It provides essential services that local governments cannot afford. It helps in disasters but its clinic in Chapala, staffed 24/7 with medical personnel including doctors, provides basic health care. Its ambulances are the only first response in its area. Find out more, in English or Spanish, at http://www.cruzrojalakeside.com/ Tax-deductible donations (in Mexico, the US, and Canada) can be made via Paypal too.

We went to Galerias, a three-story upscale mall in Guadalajara, anchored by Liverpool and Sears… in Mexico, Sears is much fancier than in the US. I was on a hunt for all-cotton queen sheets, not an easy task here since queen bed are rare and so are all-cotton sheets. But I found some at Sears. they had a nice Laura Ashley set for about $120 US, but the ones I found were about half that and made in Mexico. The young man who helped us was dressed to the nines in a nice suit, and I told him he looked ready to go to a wedding. He laughed and said it was about the presentation.

The sheets were my big splurge of the day. My friend found some darling outfits for her young daughters, on sale in one of the numerous chic little shops. Some Irish friends of hers live nearby and they came over for lunch with us.

“Is this really Mexico?” someone asked. Oh yes. It’s easy to forget that there are many wealthy people in this country, but a quick stroll through Galerias proves that consumerism and designer name goods are alive and well here. Want to see for yourself? Here is the website of Galerias.

It doesn’t take much of that to bore me silly. My eco-husband would have hated it. I said as much to a vivacious Canadian lady I met on the bus, and she said her husband would have taken a taxi home rather than spend much time there.

The mall was not the only attraction. Walmart and Sam’s Club were in its parking lot, and right across the street was Costco and another general groceries-plus type of store called Mega. I got into Costco with someone who had a membership. Had I wanted to buy anything, I could have gotten a day pass, but I just looked around. One nice thing about having a small house is that there isn’t room for a lot of stuff.

It’s good to get to know the resources here in Mexico, but I won’t be in a hurry to go back. Coming and going, it was almost ten hours. I’d rather be blogging. Yeah, I blogged about this, but believe me I don’t need an all-day shopping trip to find things to write about!

4 Comments from the old blog:

• At April 10, 2008 8:02 PM,  Catalyst said…

  Hi Rosana. My, Guadalajara has changed a lot since we lived there. I think the “big” mall was Plaza del Sol. There was another one out on the west side – could it have been Plaza Mexico? And Price Club had just come to town about a year or less before we returned to the states.

• At April 10, 2008 9:05 PM,  Rosana Hart said…

  Yes, that probably was Plaza Mexico. Not sure you’re missing a lot in this regard!

• At October 28, 2008 11:47 AM,  bordersaside said…

  Have you been to a market in Guadalajara that is similar to a flee market? We are hoping to find it when we got do our immigration stuff next month to get stuff for the new baby (Im 4mo preg) and for Christmas.

• At October 29, 2008 1:47 PM,  Rosana Hart said…

  Sorry, I don’t know about the flea market… trying googling it. Note it’s “flea” not “flee” market!

  I would imagine that Mexico is a great place for used baby stuff! Best wishes with the little one!

On the Shopping Bus to Guadalajara is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

There are some very nice walking streets. I was delighted to come across Maria de Guadalajara, a small clothing store specializing in solid color cotton gauze clothing cut in playful designs. In the 80s I had bought a two-piece outfit in Guadalajara from this company (though not this store) and I still have it, albeit a bit tattered. I added to my collection by getting a flowing top in the same salmon tone that the woman in the doorway is wearing, for about $27 US.

This set of tiles was nicely displayed. I’d love to buy a set, though not in this particular design. One of these days Kelly and I will make a trip to nearby Tonala to buy a nice set of dishes, and maybe I’ll find some tiles there. Tonala is more of the factory town, and prices are lower there.

We had lunch at one of the many elegant restaurants:

I didn’t notice till I got up close that the fountain had flowers carefully arranged in it:

I didn’t think to take a picture of my red snapper lunch, as photography wasn’t uppermost on my mind when it arrived. But one friend joined us a little later and kindly delayed her first bite for me to get this picture. She’s having a beefsteak with rice, a decorative bit of salad, guacamole, and an enchilada covered with white cheese. Our meals with beverages came out to about $10 US each.

As we walked through Tlaquepaque after lunch, this purple building caught my eye. I got lucky in catching two Mexican men in a very characteristic Mexican action: talking on their cellphones while doing something else:

Tlaquepaque Day is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico