Back to School Shopping

I should start with the disclaimer that I have not gone back to school shopping in the states since I was in school.  However, I think even if I had, this experience would still be at the top of my list of must culturally different experiences thus far.

Everyone said to go shopping at San Camilo, the main market in Arequipa, for back to school supplies because they are the cheapest.  Everyone also said not to be there past 5pm as it is not safe for foreigners.  One friend had mentioned it took her 5 hours to get the supplies on the list.  That alone should have made us wait until another day but we were in the area (which is a taxi ride from home) so we went.

First, the list was quite long - the front and back of a piece of paper per child.  I had gone over the list with my dictionary at home first and still there were many things I didn't understand.  I had also revisited the school and asked if all of this was required since my children will only be in school part of the year.  She graciously crossed several things off the list.  Later, after going through everything I bought, I realized that when you send your child to school here, you are required to provided ALL the supplies.  A back to school list in the states for a preschooler might contain some pencils and crayons but you largely expect that your tuition covers the supplies (copy paper, toilet paper, craft supplies, etc).  That is NOT the case here.  Your tuition must cover only salaries and facilities.  You provide EVERYTHING else.  That alone was one huge and unexpected difference.

Secondly, the shopping experience was SO different.  The store is pictured above.  It is 2 aisles that you can barely stand 2 people wide in.  Behind the counter are the employees and all the majority of the school supplies.  I took my list to the counter and she began to look things up in the computer and create my "order".  We discussed what some items were, how life is different here, the young gals life story, etc while she entered the items into the computer and advised me what additional things she thought could be crossed off the list.  Nothing was priced and no prices were mentioned although I'm sure if I had asked the price of each item she would have told me.  That would have only extended the 1.5 to 2 hours I was already at the counter.  And I would have had no idea if those prices were fair or not here.  A package of 12 markers costs about $6 here - outrageous to me but I have asked in several stores since and it's the same everywhere! 

Meanwhile, Josh is standing outside the store with the 3 kids because there isn't room inside.  We were obviously an anomaly as many people stopped to look, chat, or take pictures.  Josh got to practice his Spanish with the security guard who was shocked that we lived here and were not tourists.  Josh got the impression that if we were tourists he would have told us that we should be leaving the area as it was approaching 5pm.  Josh and the kids also explored the market.

After completing my order, she sends me to the cashier to pay and says that it will be ready in about 1.5 hours.  Not expecting this but not wanting to have wasted all that time and have to do it again another day, we agreed and went to find some dinner while she proceeded to gather all the things we'd ordered from behind the counter.

We returned about an hour or so later just as she was finishing up.  Then they called me to the pick up counter where the woman proceeded to go through my ticket and put items into boxes for me as she checked to see that they were all there.  This process took another 45 minutes at least.  Finally with 2 large cardboard boxes, a large roll of poster board, a stroller, and 3 kids, we head to the street (with the help of 2 ladies from the store - bless them) to get a taxi home.  By this time it is well past the safe hour to be there and the women (and God) were looking out for us.  They helped us hail a safe cab and get loaded up.  

Once home, Josh carried the boxes up 4 flights of stairs to our apartment.  I then had to go through the material and label everything with the kids names.  The following day, Josh had to carry everything back down, and then we had to get a taxi to take us to the kids school (about a 5 minute walk) because there was so much to carry there was no way we'd make it walking with 3 kids!

The adventure continued when we arrived at school and they sat down with us and the list they'd given us to make sure we'd bought everything we were supposed to and they made a list of whatever was missing that we needed (some things had not been available at that store and I thought others were excessive).  God was gracious and so was the director of the school as she crossed off many of our missing supplies that the poor teacher spend 45 minutes making because the kids will only attend until we move to Yurimaguas.  That only left about 4 items I had to go to other stores yet to find.  The director of the school is a lovely woman whom we're grateful to have met and has been so gracious in working with us through this oh so new experience!

While back to school shopping was not what we'd expected, we survived, and we're all excited for the kids to start school tomorrow and be immersed in the Spanish language.  

~ My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19 ~

                                                                                                                               ~ Jennifer