January 16, 2020
Olivia was in desperate need of new clothes. Most of her pants had holes in the somewhere and were getting a little short besides. After we finished school we decided to go to the Liverpool Mall to get some new clothes for Olivia. But first lunch. There was a small Panda Express style Chinese place at the Mall. It was one of a grand total of three Chinese places to eat in San Miguel so I had to give it a try. Holly was excited about talking to some Chinese people. Even though a goodly percentage of the residents in San Miguel are foreigners there are very few Chinese people here.
Holly went to one of the other food stalls at the mall and got a pretty decent grilled chicken breast along with some macaroni and cheese plus vegetables. I got a three item plate from Sunshine, the Chinese place. Sunshine was about what I expected from a Mall Chinese fast food place so nothing special food wise while Holly’s food was better. After eating I took Olivia to McDonalds to play in the play area while Holly chatted up the owner of the Chinese restaurant. The owner took Holly to see an available house for rent nearby however it required a long term lease. Unfortunately it turns out that the people who worked in the restaurant were basically there to work and had left their 3 year old child behind in China while they came to Mexico to earn money. Meanwhile at the McDonalds Olivia had made friends with a local kid and I chatted with the mom, Fabi. Fabi spoke some English while I got to practice my Spanish a little bit more. She was from Mexico City and had lived in San Miguel for a few months. Unfortunately our the language barrier was such that we didn’t get much past basic small talk.
We stayed for a couple hours until it started getting dark and then went to the Liverpool Department store to get several sets of clothes for Olivia. It was interesting to note that every entrance had a guard in body armor armed with an assault rifle. It struck me as we entered the Department store that Mexico is probably much like how the NRA and gun right’s advocates would like the United States to be like.
Although we had always felt safe in San Miguel, there was a very heavy security presence everywhere. The Department Store had guards with assault rifles at every door. Jeeps with heavily armed Federal Police are often seen driving around. The Main Square by the Church always has some rifle toting police around. Supermarkets have guards watching the parking lots. There are occasional random police road blocks.
Once into the Liverpool Department Store it was pretty much exactly like any Macys or JC Pennys in the United States. I think they even had the same music. We were able to quickly pick up some clothes for Olivia and we took the Uber back to the hotel where we did our usual dinner and study before bed.