Bartering!

Until today I had been feeling a little anxious about making extraneous purchases. My mom refers to most foreign currency as "play money" because it looks so different and its value in US dollars vaguely relates to the amount printed on the bill. She had no trouble shopping while she was here, and I am decidedly my mother's daughter, but I was feeling hesitant about the whole bartering thing. We had been informed that bartering over food prices or in more established stores was a no-no. The markets and parks are a different story, filled with vendors of embroidered shirts, skirts, sandals, baskets, purses, weavings, scarves, metal work, pottery, colorful wooden creations, etc. The beauty of what we see in the artisan's work draws me in like a magnet. I literally think I run Rory over sometimes as I ogle, or at least I get in the way of other, faster-moving pedestrians.

Today was different. Maybe it was the chocolate filled pastry I had with my breakfast? Or the pent up energy from doing laundry? Or the anticipation of our friends' arrival and still not having taken a crack at bartering? Whatever it was, this evening I made my first successful attempt at bartering. I had been eying some scarves in one of the parks here, thinking that it might be a rather exciting accessory for the somewhat bland wardrobe I ended up bring with me. So, with total confidence (ha) I approached a woman watching a novela on a mini-t.v. while eating her dinner. She said the scarf was 70, I offered 4o, she sort of blanched. (Maybe I went to low?) She said they were made by hand (I am not sure I agree) and I said it was still too much. She relented and went to 60. I returned with 50. She then told me that as it gets colder the prices go up. I couldn't really argue with this economic logic, but I threw back 55. After a brief silent pause I just agreed to 60 and that was that. Not too bad, right? I felt a sort of rush as I walked back to our apartment with my purchase. And now I have a scarf that I think is lovely, though perhaps not an example of an authentic Mexican tradition.

Bartering is certainly an exciting sort of interchange to have, and not just because I am the perennial bargain hunter (again, a nod to my mom and sister). It makes shopping more of an adventure, makes the usual exchange of money for merchandise a bit more meaningful, and offers a chance to learn about products and sometimes livelihoods (even if it might be an embroidered telling). I look forward to our visits to other artisan outposts surrounding Oaxaca in the coming weeks. Now that I have gotten over the initial hurdle the floodgates of consumerism are wide open....

Not to be forgotten are my new athletic warm-up style pants. I had been wanting some in the states and they will be making the cooler nights here so much more comfortable and cozy. My intention had been to get some sweatpants with the emblem of a local soccer team, but I couldn't say no to the helpful women in the sports apparel store. (The tiny store also sold baseball gear too, and I commented to the women that we came from the town where Red Sox played. After a short conversation they were able to get me to admit that really my heart belongs to soccer. They seemed relieved.)

Here are the scarf and pants in all their glory. Nothing can stop me now.