Abby, Zoë and Enzo

Comments: Another bus trip to the Manaíra mall

August 20^th 2008

Another bus trip to the Manaíra mall

This morning we walked down to the bus stop for a trip to the mall.  We caught some random bus number that had Manaíra shopping on the front, knowing it would get us close, as we had already waited ten minutes, and this was the first bus we spotted.  This was a nicer bus than usual, and cost 10 centavos more than the regular bus, so R$1.80 = $1.18.  We have come to the conclusion, that if you need to take more than one bus trip per day, a car would be a more economical solution, especially for more than one ticket cost.  Gas or Ethanol is expensive here, but for short trips of less than 1 or 2 miles, you could easily purchase a liter of fuel and have some left over.  Of course the upfront cost of the car, the continued maintenance and the insurance are factors to consider, but so is the safety and freedom a car provides, coming and going where and when you like.  We had hoped to not have a need/desire for costs and complexities of a car.  While the mass transit system is large an encompassing, the regularity isn't there, although there is a published time table, no published map/route information.  Buses that are supposed to be 10 - 15 minutes apart, catch up with one another during the route, so that all the buses come around the same time.  Stops are not marked, and unless you know exactly where you are going, and which would be the closest stop to get off at, or to catch the bus at, it is hit or miss.  It would not take much for the city to revamp the bus system, with marked stops with signs, available bus routes, color coded routes plotted on maps, and most importantly information for tourists, or even a monthly bus pass would be a huge help.  I had asked Laura's friend Raissa (born and raised in JP and uses the buses) about bus information, and she also could not find anything useful on their websites.  The tourist office also does not have much information, and nothing they can put into your hands.  You however can tell them where you want to go, and they can tell you which bus number would service that area, and also point on an artists rendering of the city map where you would catch that bus, and indicate where about it would drop you off, if you can recognize the stop and signal you want off should there be no one waiting to get on at that stop, obviously for a tourist, this is less than ideal or even pratical, and without enough language, next to impossible to navigate.  Ok, enough of my rant about the bus system. :(  On to the mall.

We arrived at the mall without incident, having made the trip once before, and been by the mall 4 times now, as the Hiper BomPreço route passes the mall.  The mall was less crowded this morning than on our previous trip.  The girls immediately went to the restroom, the rocket ship of a bus ride must ring out the liquid.  We first checked out Americanas Lojas, a cheaper discount store, for cameras.  There were one of the two "junkier make do" camera models we found on their website that were advertised as R$199.99 = US$125.  I don't want to purchase a nice camera here, as they are 2 - 4 times the cost of the same camera in the US.  I had resolved to spend the $125 on a junky no name camera to at least chronicle some of the things happening here, but upon arrival at the store, the tag was marked R$299.99.  I wasn't mentally prepared for $185 so we walked out of the store. US$185 was too much to pay before investing in a new SD card, batteries and such.  We walked all around the odd shaped mall, looking at each camera store.  I saw little digital cameras for almost US$800.  It was a US$200 - $US250 Olympus SW770 - 790, I can't remember the exact model, had I had my camera, I would have photographed it. :(  Memory cards, that sell for US$10 - US$20 on Amazon.com can run up to and beyond US$50, for the same exact product.  We walked the top and bottom floor of the mall, didn't see anything else cheaper than the Americanas Loja store, and decided to hold off.  Laura really wants to have some photos of the hospital, doctor and delivery, so I will have to grin and bare it eventually and purchase an overpriced junky camera.  The fact that there isn't very much variety and availability or accessibility of products is a concern.  Almost all stores, only had no more than 5 cameras to choose from, and between the 4 or 5 stores at the mall, no more than 15 different models to choose from.  It is like living in a world where only 15 cameras exist, your choices are limited severely. :( You are also unable to import into the country these goods without incurring a duty tax, which could cost as much as the product itself, if not more than the product + shipping costs, if the product would arrive at all depending on the post.  I am slowly coming to terms that I will be required to purchase a camera here that will cost more than the camera I want to purchase upon return to the US, and that these two cameras will be on opposite extremes of the spectrum. This thought makes me depressed.

Abby @ 4 years, 8 months, 5 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 8 months, 5 days
Enzo expected in 1 month, 4 days
News posted by christopher at 10:20 AM | Comment