Wow. Its been awhile, hu? Lets see. Where to start….The Mr. was in the states for a couple months and returned with a suitcase full of things from the states that we all miss so much. Mostly just things for consumption. Loads of candy, spices and my favorite of all was the taco bell sauce packets. I departed for the US shortly after his return to care for my mom who was in a terrible car accident. While in the hospital my appendix decided to rupture so I went it for an emergency surgery. Got better, took care of mom and back home in PV now. Did you you like the short version of the last 7 months?
Need to be better about posting daily…sorry about the MIA status I’ve been having.
I went to pay a a power bill for about 2 months worth of electricity and it was 825 pesos *about 75 dollars. I’m not going to go on about how cheap it was and how great the cost of utilities are….oh no! What I do want to put out there into cyberspace is this. Lady with bags of 5 pesos coins and a bill of over 10,000 pesos *that’s about 970 dollars, get your ass to a bank and convert that shit! This woman had sweat running down her back, finger robotically forcing the 5 pesos coin into the machine one at a time. WTF!
There are 2 kiosks at the CFE building for customers to pay their bills without ever having to deal with a human. I think the point is to make things easier and faster for us, the customer, and of course to cut away at labor cost. So when a woman walks up and request a chair because she knows she will be occupying the machine for oh lets say….FOREVER, maybe you can tell her “hellz no!”
JJ started High School this year and is going into 1oth grade. One of the supplies needed is a TI-84 plus graphing calculator. We searched Costco (they don’t carry them here), Walmart, Office Max and Office Depot. Office Depot had the best price at 2,299 pesos with 20% off. Damn electronics! Always more expensive here in Mexico.
Cost 1839 pesos about 142 dollars
I took a last minute trip to Guadalajara in search of selection and deals on things needed to make my handbags. Lucky for me I have a friend Jackie, who also blogs at www.thevacafamily.blogspot.com who lives downtown and offered me a place to rest my head. I jumped on a bus from Puerto Vallarta to GDL *Zapopan round trip for 736 pesos via Primera Plus bus line. A quick 4 hour bus ride with fancy seats, movies and a lunch.
Heres the deal. I live in probably one of the more expensive cities in Mexico. And for someone running a small business with the need for items at wholesale pricing, GDL is the place to go for these things. I found about 70% of what I was looking for and also got to hang with friends while doing it!
A couple super cool chicas from Merida Yucatan are opening a store called El Estudio. They are carrying my Erica Maree handbag line along with treasures from all over Mexico. They have been traveling and visiting artisians for months now and ended up in Talaquepaque at the same time I was there. So of course we had to hook up!
Traveling to Tlaquepaque from GDL is soooo easy. I should have just taken a taxi for about 135 pesos, but intead I opted for the adventure of public transportation and located a bus to take me there fo 6 pesos. *details on how to get there below post….
Here is the coolest part of my trip. The El Estudio girls where in Tlaquepaque because of the annual artisan show ENART. OMG!!!! This place rocked my world. Endless booths of Mexican folk art, contemporary art, jewelry, clothes, shoes and the list goes on. Of course everything is centered around Mexico. I was in heaven. It was a wholesale buying vibe for sure, but they were selling individual pieces too. I actually would love to bring my handcraft to the show one day! Who knows, maybe one day…
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Bus to Guadalajara from Puerto Vallarta-
At central de camiones puerto vallarta you can buy your tickets to GDL from a handful of bus lines. I choose Primera Plus. 1, they were cheapest and 2 they had several departure times. You could also buy them inside Plaza Romey next to Mango Cafe at a travel agency. Ask for Astrid, shes the owner.
Cost round trip 736 pesos or 378 each way. I left my returning ticket open. In GDL there are 2 major bus stations that you can arrive or depart from. Zapopan to the Northwest or Tonala/Telaquepaque to the South. There were no additional charges to leave from either one. They leave every couple of hours.
City Bus to Telaquepaque from Guadalaraja
In downtown Centro historic, go to the corner of 16 de Septembre and Lopez Cotilla. (this is a major bus stop to catch surrounding city buses) Catch the 616 to Tlaquepaque. Its about 20-30 minutes. This bus takes you about 3 blocks from Tlaquepaque Centro. **Get off at calle Nino Heroes and Juarez.
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