Bolivia is full of Bolivians

Well, things are going pretty well, we are getting in to a rhythm. We found a place to live last week, but the there were a few things in our apartment that weren't finished too, so we can't move in until Monday. But we have the keys and we payed the rent and stuff, so there's no more putting it off. Holy Cow I am so so ready to have our own place that I can thoroughly baby-proof. Of course, We won't have a maid anymore and I'll have to learn to hand-wash my own clothes, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. We bought a cute rug today so there will be a little of our style amongst all the borrowed furniture.

Ok so people are always saying how cheep everything is in bolivia. I always believed it must be so, because in general, the people are much much poorer than in the states, so I would definately hope that everything costs less. But then strangely every time Charlies family is in Utah, they spend a lot of time shopping. I always thought that was very weird. But then I spend some time shopping here in Bolivia, and I realize why. Not everything is cheep here. Only the necessities. And when I say necessities, I mean, necessities. Obviously that doesn't include a microwave, but it also doesn't include a refrigerator. Fabric is cheap, but not clothing (at least not in comparison to walmart). Furniture isn't cheap, but I guess because they don't tend to remodel, so you just buy furniture once and then you have it for several generations. Electronics aren't cheap generally. And although fruit is cheap, the rest of the food is only cheap if you are willing to buy it in its most crude form. Cooking from scratch seems more doable when you can buy the meat already plucked and chopped and packaged or the rice from a nice sealed bag. But buying a dead pig from a lady on the side of the road is a whole different adventure that I'm not quite sure I'm ready for. Of course I can still easily get most of the food I'm used to, making it from the "scratch" I'm used to, but I'm gonna pay at least as much as I would in the states, and for some of it way way more, since they basically buy it from the states and ship it here.

But the thing that really shocked me was the used stuff prices. I am kind of a cheap girl, I like to get cheap prices for things, I shop at walmart in the clearance section and I love DI and Craigslist. In the States, used items tend to be less than half price the new value. So if you are willing to buy used things, you can live very cheaply. In bolivia, I guess there's just not enough people selling used stuff because the used things are EXPENSIVE! There is a used store here that we've gone to a couple times, and lots of the stuff is crappy, but they are asking almost 90-95% of the new market value. Crazy! Of course, they do get most of the stuff from the US and ship it over, but they probably paid 10% of what they are asking. They deserve a little markup because of the inventory and shipment, but come on! Its not much better when you look in the classifieds in the newspaper either, its skimpy pickins and expensive. We tried to buy some used things, but it was just too crazy for me, I couldn't do it. There just wasn't any savings from buying new, and the stuff was crappy.

Anyway, I realize I'm a spoiled rich girl, I just didn't realize that it was dollar stores, clearance shopping and DI that spoiled me. And we'll adapt as far as the food is concerned, I'll just sacrifice on some things, and on others I'll spend a little more. But the next time someone says (and they say it a lot) "aren't you glad you're here where everything is cheaper", I'm going to say, "yes, I am glad I'm here." and I'll think, but you guys seriously need a walmart.