The long arm of Bentonville, Arkansas
Fairly sizable and cosmopolitan university town that Xela is, I haven´t run into too much trouble finding things to eat. This had been a major concern of everyone prior to my arrival in Guatemala because of the whole vegan thing–my mother especially was concerned that I would come back in the advanced stages of starvation documented in every National Geographic about Ethiopia since 1981. Vegans of Color has posted before on the intersection between poverty and vegetarianism-out-of-necessity, which is certainly a factor here in the staple diet of corn (tamales, tortillas) and refried black beans. Some families only eat corn tamalitos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and save the occasional piece of chicken for Sunday dinner. Naturally, gringos who choose vegetarianism are seen as a bit of an oddity by many Guatemalans, despite the economic necessity many families face of defaulting to a largely vegetarian diet.Street markets hawking fresh produce and tiendas selling everything from rice to Coke to birthday balloons abound on every street corner, but for hardcore grocery shopping there are only a few choices in town. To find such luxuries as peanut butter and powdered soy milk, one must eventually turn to the Despensa Familiar, a smallish chain on par with Aldi in the States. Here you can find an impressive collection of household cleaning supplies and socks, with some dry goods like beans and pre-toasted toast (oh yes) thrown in almost as an afterthought. For my first two weeks here I happily filled my bolsita with jalapeño-flavored chips and the ubiquitous ¨Sazon Completa¨, a seasoning packet found everywhere that includes garlic salt, onion salt, ¨natural and artificial flavors¨, and MSG. Then I discovered that the Despensa is actually owned by Wal-Mart. Furthermore, I learned that there is actually a super Wal-Mart in Xela, located inside the ¨mall¨, a sprawling (by Guatemalan standards) affair called Hiper Paiz. Being from the U.S., I always considered myself fairly aware that my country is responsible for exporting a lot of its consumer culture to far-flung places. Yet sights such as a woman in Mayan dress running a price check on a bottle of Great Value Honey Barbeque sauce really make you consider the impact here of what we´re doing there. Or vice versa. Here, people shop at Hiper Paiz/Wal-Mart when they have extra money to spend–it´s a status symbol to walk home with your purchases in a bag bearing the mall logo. The contradictions are endless. Big-box chain from the U.S. outsources the labor for its cheap shit to factories in China and Taiwan, recycling the same cheap shit back to the developing world that produced it in the first place, at many times the true cost.Walking through Hiper Paiz, I was overcome by how un-Guatemalan the place felt (besides the fact that the store was crammed full of Guatemalans). The elevator music, the fluroescent lights, the neatly ordered rows of plump, perfect vegetables and fruits glistening with drops of water from the timed sprinkler system–it was all so surreal. I ended up buying three enormous oranges imported from California, partly because it´s hard to find citrus here but partly because (full disclosure) I was somewhat thrilled to find clean, unbruised, shiny pieces of fruit, regardless of whether they smacked of imperialism.The rest of the mall itself is equally puzzling. There is a food court with a Taco Bell and Subway, Payless Shoes, and store after store selling the same shoes (undoubtedly stitched and assembled in maquilas not far away) and besparkled jeans. A cinema shows Hollywood movies dubbed in Spanish, and there is even a Jamba Juice stand on the upstairs level. Everything is clean and orderly. The security guards walk around with automatic rifles slung casually over their shoulders. ¡Que mundo!
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October 14th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
all I have to say is hooray for vit C so now you won’t have scurvy…or scabies.
October 14th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I had the same feeling about the mall in Jan Jose, Costa Rica. They had all these fancy shops in such a poor area. Inside you could see Guess and outside you could see lepers. The irony was really not funny.
PS: I am so proud of you!