The Wives' Bus

On Tuesday, the kids and I went around town in the van that Aaron's company sends twice a week to take spouses (read: wives) shopping or whatever. There were two Australians, one American, one Venezuelan, and one Canadian besides me in the van. Three of them were grandmothers, and the other two had kids who were in their late teens/early twenties, and who had not accompanied their parents here.

It was a really good experience, because Joffre got to hang out with a bunch of enthusiastic grandmothers who miss their grandkids, and who speak English. We also went to meat, fish, and produce markets that are far more interesting (and cheaper) than the two supermarkets we've been frequenting. I bought rather more than I needed, including plump black olives, fresh homemade cheese, manjar (click here for a description of this delicious caramel), a kilogram of juice limones for about 40 Canadian cents, the Peruvian hot bell peppers called rocoto, soft, ripe purple figs, the most beautiful avocadoes I've seen in ages . . . oh, just loads of stuff. I think I might have spent 15 Canadian dollars, total. Joffre was a saint, and actually slept in the van under the watchful eye of the driver while we shopped. Alec, of course, just sat in the carrier and took it all in.

I don't think, however, that we'll go on the van all that often. It's kind of a social outing for the ladies, with whom we don't have much in common. They're nice, but we have to focus on activities that are more for Joffre to play. And I like to be a little more independent in my itineraries, not having to coordinate my shopping with five other women. After all, now that I know about the markets, I can take a taxi there.