Sams Club in Mexico

 Sometimes you want a really good beef roast or an American-style sheet cake for your eminent 50th birthday (mine is coming next month).  And...the best place to get stuff like this is a gringo store, populated by other gringos and wealthy Mexicans (mostly the latter, Mexico is doing just fine, thank you).  

Sams Club in Mexico very much has 'not quite but close enough' American prices.  And I balk at how few products I got for $2400 ($120usd) pesos.  

• $172 ($9usd) for crunchy perfect 'just like you remember them back home' green grapes.  
• $40 ($2usd) for 7 organic platanos (aka bananas) 
• $180 ($9usd) for 12 botellas (remember to pronounce the ll as a y sound) of sparkling water
• $155 ($8usd) for 32 botellas of agua
• $40 ($2usd) for 6 grande botellas of agua (Easier for me to fill my kettle upstairs with than the liter bottles)
• $214 ($11usd) for .646 kilos (1.4 pounds) of Strip Steak
• $275 ($14usd) for 24 packages of toallitas aka butt wipes for my mom
• $142 ($7.30usd) for boxes of Kleenex...which aren't made by Kleenex, but all blow your nose tissues are just called Kleenex here.
• $281 ($14.50) for a big thing of toilet paper...Cottonelle.  It's slightly worse than USA Cottonelle, and has a bigger tube making the rolls go a lot faster.
• $408 ($21usd) for 2 boxes filled with catfood sachets.  Cat food in cans are rare.  You get little pouches here.  
• $604 ($30usd) for 8 boxes of trident gum.  They each have little packets with four pieces each, matching the chicklet style of gum that's so popular here.

All together $2,406 or $123.  Which is exorbitant for Mexico.  But we knew that walking in.  

We also bought a bag of oranges and a box of dates from a woman who set up shop in the parking lot.  I also gave someone $20 pesos who tried to sell me cold drinks of red or brown.  But I know the brown is sweet tamarind juice and the red is koolaid of some variety, both loaded with sugar, so I said no, but gave him a gringo tax.

Before we shopped we went to a seafood restaurant under a hut made of palm fronds.  Open to the outdoors.  They had posted such glorious seafood pictures and had enormous oysters...I mean, two bites to get them down.  The oysters were literally brought in while we were waiting to order from a vendor with a dripping net bag of them.  They were amazing.

The lunch was $900 pesos $46usd with our $100 peso tip.  I told the waitress no necesita cambio (keep the change) and she presented it to her boss at the counter who was talking to a local.  He said in Spanish:  'Why can't you be like the gringos and leave a tip?'  The man said: 'Tipping is gringo culture! We don't tip here!  They just never learn!'

Excuse me?  There was a big cocktail goblet by the register that had 'propios' (tips) written on it.  They definitely take tips there.  

We came home and my neighbor grabbed my mom to take her to the dentist with her.  She's there now and just sent me a WhatsApp (official communication means of Mexico) so see you later!