School Supply Shopping

It’s funny how something seemingly simple, like buying school supplies for your children, can be a whole cultural experience. Yesterday I decided to tackle the school supply lists that you may have seen in my last post. It was a doozy. I asked one of my coworkers where one might buy school supplies and he suggested Plaza Vea, which is one of the bigger supermarkets here that sells a little bit of everything.

After work, I headed off on foot to Plaza Vea. On my way I passed a market and noticed a stall with school supplies. As I peaked in a little more, I realized that there were 10 different stalls all packed full of school supplies! This clearly seemed like a better option given how long and complicated my lists were.

I stopped at the first stall and showed them the lists, thinking they might turn me away. Instead, the two teenagers (along with their mom, Maribel, who owned the stall) immediately started tallying up a receipt, asking me questions and showing me options. TWO HOURS LATER, after lots of checking, calculating and gathering, I had everything I needed.

Throughout all this, I had a nice chat with Maribel, who is a public school teacher in Chosica and has a child with special needs. She gave me her number just in case I had questions about living in Peru with a child with special needs. Then she helped me get a taxi and sent me on my way. It turned out to be the most delightful school supply shopping trip I have ever had.