Well, I knew that shopping for beads in Lima would be different from in Canada, but this last trip was quite interesting.
The trip was great, to begin with. I found a lot of new beads that I have never seen before. I found some nice stone pendants in quartz, turquoise, something called "serpentina," and many more. I also found some interesting beads that kind of look like amber. I found lots of jump rings, and lots more tagua. I spent hours in the shops, having a blast, but having to carry bags of heavy beads around as I collected more and more!
I also found some beautiful bags to put the jewellery in, that have an indigenous pattern on them. Finally, I got some beautiful jewellery display racks!
It was such a great trip, and I came away from it incredibly exhausted and happy.
The unfortunate part of the day was that my shopping trip ended in a slightly sketchier than usual part of town, and shortly after I entered a taxi with my large bags full of purchases, I attracted some theives! When the taxi was stopped in traffic (as it almost always is), two men came on either side of the taxi and tried to break in. Luckily my friend and I had locked the taxi doors as soon as we got in, and the taxi driver had done the same. The men banged on the doors and yelled at us to open the doors (which clearly, we did not). They tried for a while, until finally the traffic started moving and we got to drive away.
This is a very, very common occurance in Lima, but had never happened to me before. I was very happy that I had remembered to lock my door (which I sometimes forget to do, coming from a community with very little theft). My friend (who is from Lima) was very upset by the event. She was afraid I was going to get robbed and lose all of my wonderful purchases! I, however, was fine, since they didn't actually get anything from me. I felt pretty proud that I had left my passport, my bank cards, and my credit cards at home, so that almost nothing of value was in my purse. I had also spent ALL of the money I had on me on the beads!
I could just imagine the looks on the faces of the theives when they opened the bags of the "rich white girl" (they assume everyone white here has tons of money) to find no money, no credit cards, no bank cards, and bag after bag of jump rings and tagua! I doubt it would have been the robbery of a lifetime for them!
Lesson learned- continue to not bring anything of value when shopping (except the cash I expect to spend), and hide my shopping bags at my feet when getting into a cab!
Sigh. The things I do for beads!
The trip was great, to begin with. I found a lot of new beads that I have never seen before. I found some nice stone pendants in quartz, turquoise, something called "serpentina," and many more. I also found some interesting beads that kind of look like amber. I found lots of jump rings, and lots more tagua. I spent hours in the shops, having a blast, but having to carry bags of heavy beads around as I collected more and more!
I also found some beautiful bags to put the jewellery in, that have an indigenous pattern on them. Finally, I got some beautiful jewellery display racks!
It was such a great trip, and I came away from it incredibly exhausted and happy.
The unfortunate part of the day was that my shopping trip ended in a slightly sketchier than usual part of town, and shortly after I entered a taxi with my large bags full of purchases, I attracted some theives! When the taxi was stopped in traffic (as it almost always is), two men came on either side of the taxi and tried to break in. Luckily my friend and I had locked the taxi doors as soon as we got in, and the taxi driver had done the same. The men banged on the doors and yelled at us to open the doors (which clearly, we did not). They tried for a while, until finally the traffic started moving and we got to drive away.
This is a very, very common occurance in Lima, but had never happened to me before. I was very happy that I had remembered to lock my door (which I sometimes forget to do, coming from a community with very little theft). My friend (who is from Lima) was very upset by the event. She was afraid I was going to get robbed and lose all of my wonderful purchases! I, however, was fine, since they didn't actually get anything from me. I felt pretty proud that I had left my passport, my bank cards, and my credit cards at home, so that almost nothing of value was in my purse. I had also spent ALL of the money I had on me on the beads!
I could just imagine the looks on the faces of the theives when they opened the bags of the "rich white girl" (they assume everyone white here has tons of money) to find no money, no credit cards, no bank cards, and bag after bag of jump rings and tagua! I doubt it would have been the robbery of a lifetime for them!
Lesson learned- continue to not bring anything of value when shopping (except the cash I expect to spend), and hide my shopping bags at my feet when getting into a cab!
Sigh. The things I do for beads!
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