The 500 Peso Supper
The grocery store, Soriana,
comes complete with a guy with a gun in a watchtower
- to prevent anyone from stealing your car!
Dancing up a storm during the supper.
It was a beautiful Saturday, and some of the school staff decided to take us grocery shopping. Some of the big chains here include Wal-Mart, Costco, HEB (Kris thinks this name is Hilarious with a capital H!), and Soriana.
All of them are just giant Wal-Mart-like stores. We went to Soriana, and tried to shop with a bunch of other people - doesn't really work...
All of them are just giant Wal-Mart-like stores. We went to Soriana, and tried to shop with a bunch of other people - doesn't really work...
The grocery store, Soriana,comes complete with a guy with a gun in a watchtower
- to prevent anyone from stealing your car!
I tried to help Robert (a new Canadian friend from Winnipeg) bargain for a cell phone. The Mexicans with us looked disapprovingly, and when I asked if there was bargaining in Monterrey, they shook their heads in disbelief that I would even ask such a question! Apparently Monteregianos (or some thing like that) don't bargain. At least not in the neighbourhood we live in.
Which brings us to another point. Apparently, the neighbourhood we live in is THE RICHEST COUNTY in all of Latin America. Perhaps the Louis Vuitton and Fendi stores right next to our house should have clued us in. And also made us realize that bargaining would, of course, be frowned upon. I bet they're embarrassed to have put me, the queen of deals, in such an area!
Anyway, after the shopping adventure, and realizing that our new Mexican friends weren't really "typical" Mexicans (they were much more affluent, and wouldn't tell us where the "poor" and "real" part of Monterrey was), we went home and rested up for a big outing that night - otherwise known as the infamous 500 Peso Supper.
It started off innocently enough, and Kris & I shared a meal that cost 89 pesos ($8.90 US). Kris had some wine that he was sharing with Robert. That's when things started getting out of control. Somehow bottle after bottle of wine was poured, along with what seemed like a vat of tequila, and then the announcement: "We're going to split the bill." Hmm... my half of the meal (44.9 pesos) plus my free glass of water cost me 500 pesos ($50 USD). Together, our price tag that evening was a nice 1000 pesos ($100 USD).
Which brings us to another point. Apparently, the neighbourhood we live in is THE RICHEST COUNTY in all of Latin America. Perhaps the Louis Vuitton and Fendi stores right next to our house should have clued us in. And also made us realize that bargaining would, of course, be frowned upon. I bet they're embarrassed to have put me, the queen of deals, in such an area!
Anyway, after the shopping adventure, and realizing that our new Mexican friends weren't really "typical" Mexicans (they were much more affluent, and wouldn't tell us where the "poor" and "real" part of Monterrey was), we went home and rested up for a big outing that night - otherwise known as the infamous 500 Peso Supper.
It started off innocently enough, and Kris & I shared a meal that cost 89 pesos ($8.90 US). Kris had some wine that he was sharing with Robert. That's when things started getting out of control. Somehow bottle after bottle of wine was poured, along with what seemed like a vat of tequila, and then the announcement: "We're going to split the bill." Hmm... my half of the meal (44.9 pesos) plus my free glass of water cost me 500 pesos ($50 USD). Together, our price tag that evening was a nice 1000 pesos ($100 USD).
Dancing up a storm during the supper.Needless to say, we weren't too thrilled. We've since kept our promise to ourselves to not get into a situation like that again! Hence, the 500 Peso Supper is sometimes also known as the Last Supper.
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