One of our new activities since we’ve moved is to visit garage sales and estate sales on Saturday mornings. I almost never go to yard sales in the ‘Ham…I have way too much stuff already and I’m REALLY trying not to add more to the pile. Plus I’m always too busy to poke through other peoples’ stuff. If I need something I just order it from Amazon and it shows up 2 days later. My yard sale attraction started here because we broke a glass and gave another one to la policia when we found the guy who we thought might have died, and they’re not our glasses so we needed to replace them. We were also missing a few essentials like a measuring cup and tongs.
The greatest thing about going to yard sales here is that you get to go into some very cool houses in parts of town that you might not normally visit. We have also met some really nice people – today we met a lady who works with very poor families around San Miguel and she gave us a lot of good advice about the recycling center, the biblioteca, and other things she’s learned in the 20 years she has lived here.
I have seen A LOT of big things at yard sales that I’d love to buy but refrained because I don’t want to have to deal with shipping them home. So far our purchases have included a Scrabble game, 5 books, a Christmas tree stand, Tupperware containers, a beautiful vase that Aliya couldn’t live without ($8), 2 headbands and a bracelet for Norah, a deck of cards, 4 plates, a measuring cup, a wooden snake and a stone shark (Adlani), and a “mago” (wizard) that is supposed to bring us good luck. The mago was a questionable purchase but the total amount spent for all of these treasures was $41.23.
This morning we headed out at 9:45 because we’ve figured out that you have to get there early or all the good stuff is gone. Yard sale-ing seems to be a popular expat activity, and there are usually a couple of sales per week that are advertised on a local Yahoo list. There is at least one lady who organizes the sales as a business, because we’ve seen her 3 times now. Anyway, this morning we walked to Santo Domingo which is just over a mile but up a pretty big hill. Adlani started boxing class yesterday and was really feeling his legs on the climb.
(Still amazed that Adlani is taking boxing…)
There were actually 2 garage sales next door to each other, so we bought a book, el mago, and the stone shark, and headed back down the hill to another sale to look for kitchen items. When I saw it advertised I noticed that it was right near Goodies, a café where we had breakfast one week ago after seeing rave reviews on the Yahoo list and on Facebook. I figured I’d bribe the kids with a trip to Goodies after traipsing around to the yard sales. When we got there, we realized that the yard sale was not near Goodies, it was AT Goodies. This restaurant, which the owners opened mid-April and worked hard to build by word-of-mouth and social media, is now closed and they were selling everything. Very surprising. I asked one of the owners what was up and he said he had a job offer in California. So different from what I’m used to, having lived in the same house for 16 years and worked for the same company for 21.
Goodies before…
Goodies after… 🙁
By the time we made it back to el Jardin for brunch (up another big hill), we had already walked 10,000 steps. I now have over 20,000 steps (my Fitbit says I climbed 77 floors and walked 9 miles!) , because the girls and I went to an outlet I heard about (up yet another hill). The main store is in el Centro near us – called Abrazos, and they sell gorgeous fabric in Mexican themes, and aprons, dresses, bags, etc., made out of the fabric. At the outlet I bought 2 bags to use for groceries which were 150 pesos ($9) each, and in the main store they are 450 pesos ($27) each. Aliya and Norah each bought a dress 790 pesos ($47 – Aliya’s a big spender!) and 350 pesos ($21), and Aliya could not live without 2 pairs of boxer shorts which were 50 pesos ($3 each). I’m trying to be mindful of my spending, but I think of it as helping the Mexican economy. 🙂 We will be helping in more direct ways while we’re here as well – we’re just waiting for Ben to arrive so I’m not single-momming while trying to work full time.
He’ll be here soon – his sister and her family have finally arrived in the ‘Ham after waiting since 2002 for their visas to be approved!
More photos from today…
Still beautiful despite the tower…
And at the Abrazos outlet…
Gotta love a store that serves tequila at their grand opening…
Our purchases at the outlet…
We’re off to a food/music event “in the country” this afternoon with some new friends…hopefully we’ll be able to find our way home and I can tell you about it.
