This week I was out hunting for some duck tape. My cast had been digging into my skin a bit in a few areas and I wanted to put the "handy mans secret weapon" on there to stop the rubbing. Now in the USA this would be a 5 minute trip down the road to Menards where I would be inundated with 3 different brands, 4 sizes, 5 different colors of duck tape. But in Peru, things are different...
On Tuesday I spent 1 hour going to 6 different hole-in-the-wall "hardware stores" trying to locate the illusive tape. (there is not such thing as mega stores) I finally found a 50 yard roll for $10. Not wanting to pay that much for something that I needed so little of, I made a mental note and moved on.
On Wednesday I started out on the north end of town by the language school and started working my way south on foot. For almost 2 hours I stopped in 9 different stores and walked about 3 miles until I finally found a store that had duck tape. Amazingly enough it was in a small roll of 10 yards and was only $3.
I made the appropriate modifications and the world is a decent place again, at least until I need to find something else down here...
2 comments:
Dave, I guess you had good language and culture practice on the three mile route in and out of stores!
Good old DUCT TAPE! Menards, Lowes, Meijer, you name it. We have it all! BTW, the new Menards on US-31 should be up and running when you get here later this fall. I remember hunting hi & lo for a pen refill one time. That took the whole day too. I even wrote a newsletter about that one! Good for you in piecing it together.
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