On Tuesday, May 25th I made my first trip back to México since 2019 when I came to stock up for my annual trip to the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua, Texas. The reason for my trip was to take Bonnie Mae to be spayed. You can read more about that by clicking on my header picture or going to my other blog Walter's World.
With my car issues, I had intended to spend the day in Ciudad Acuña until she was ready to be brought home and thus only make one trip. With that in mind, I headed to Plaza Bella which I believe has had a change of name since I was last here. This is the only mall in Acuña and houses Bodegas Aurrera (owned by Walmart), several banks, a movie theatre, as well as large and small stores.
I do not know if it is due to the pandemic but they have cut down on their supply of grocery carts here. It did not matter to me as I was just making time and had not planned on buying anything. Upon entering the store it was noticeable that the lights had been dimmed and it was dark. It was also warm inside.
They had little to no pastries, bread, and just a few tortillas. Their shelves were being stocked and there were boxes everywhere.
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| $88.00 divided by 18 pesos = $4.89 USD for a bottle of Kahlua |
The last time I was here like I mentioned above was prior to my 2019 trip to Terlingua and I had unsuccessfully for the third time tried to purchase a bottle of Kahlua. Today I found one lonely bottle in the liquor aisle but since I am not drinking because of all the medication I am taking...it will have to wait for another customer...😢
I had already gone around the store once when I finally found a cart. Set off on my second round and this time decided to buy a jar of decaffeinated coffee, a box of hair dye (Nutrisse is made in México), and a bar of Zote soap.
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| $56.00 pesos = $3.11 USD |
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| $41.80 = $2.32 USD |
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| $6.60 = $.37 USD |
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| I think I did well keeping my purchases to a minimum |
These were the exchange rates for today at most Exchange Houses. They will buy your American dollar at $18.00 pesos and they will sell you dollars for $19.50. For our purpose, it is $18.00 pesos to one American dollar.
Monday night I only slept two hours and that morning I left the house without eating breakfast so I headed to the food court only to find them all closed except for one selling Chinese food. I don't like Chinese food so sat at a table. I kept on trying to doze off and again the mall was rather warm and I still had a long way to go until I could pick up Bonnie Mae so decided to come back home instead.
There was a long line at the Mexican tollbooths since they only had one open.
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| Hardly any traffic as I headed back to the USA |
Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.
Aunty Acid Saying of the Day
OK then...glad to hear from you and glad you made the trip OK and Bonnie Mae did too....
ReplyDeleteThank you JudithK.
DeleteMy great granddaughters parents are from Mexico and have been traveling back and forth for a long time. Couldn't figure that out and my grandson and his other half went to a wedding there a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad you made the trip safely and back.
ReplyDeleteThere are many Americans that live in Mexico due to the lower cost of living and cross the border daily since they work in the United States.
DeleteI personally would not want to do that now but then again when I think about it I spent at least two hours daily commuting in Houston's rush hour traffic without even crossing an International border.
Glad your grandson and his other half had a good time at the wedding in Mexico.
Just checked by your blog and was glad to see your new post. I enjoy hearing about your shopping trips and to see photos of your world down there. It is so odd the store has so very few carts and low stock with no fresh items. Maybe they are going out of business?
ReplyDeleteWhat is Zote soap used for? Is it like a castile soap?
Our big news here is that we have had a generous amount of badly needed rain. With Memorial Day looming I am not quite as nervous about fireworks burning this place to the ground. We still have cool nights but some warmer temps during the day.
I wonder why only one booth is open at your border?
I love love love your Auntie Acid! Hilarious!
Stay safe my friend.
I had not been to Ciudad Acuña in a year and 8 months pre-pandemic so did not know what I would find. I do not think Bodegas Aurrera is going out of business as they are owned by Walmart who has deep pockets. This location is the largest one they have a smaller store closer to town but it is not as well-stocked as this one though that was not the case on this occasion.
DeleteI am not sure what the issue with the shopping carts is. I did not know if they were sent to be power washed or deep cleaned. It did not seem to phase the customers as Mexico or at least the State of Coahuila outlawed plastic grocery bags and most people use recyclable bags and they were using them to place their purchases until they were able to check out.
I had to Google castile soap and then remembered I had bought a bottle of Dr. Bronner soap a couple of years back. Zote soap is not like castile soap for one it is in a bar form, it's cheaper, and it is mainly used as laundry soap. It is gentle on your fine washables while still being tough on stains. It is also formulated with coconut oil where Castile soap is made with olive oil and is considered a vegan soap.
When I crossed back to the USA for the first time it was around 1:00 p.m. so I can only hypothesize that the morning rush hour was over and since the border is officially closed to non-essential travel they do not need to have that many tolls lanes open.
I am glad to hear that you finally got your fair share of rain and it will certainly be a relief with the fireworks that will be set off this weekend that our houses will not be burned down.
Stay safe as well Ms.Penny.