Ah the once mighty dollar

[nadinbrzezinski]

so me, my sis, my nephews and my brother in law are going down to Mexico City to visit parents for Passover. Yep, after I helped take dad home after he broke his hip we all knew he had to go for Passover.

Anyhoo, was talking to my mom... guess what? Even in Mexico the dollar ain't going as far as it used to.

Not that I'm shocked or surprised... but will have to take a tad more than I was thinking. One of the ladies that works with my parents is going to have a baby... and instead of taking a gift for her from here as I usually do, I'd rather go to the store and buy it down there, whatever she needs for herself or baby. Does not make sense to carry from here, especially since we are even thinking of getting furniture for baby.

So after talking to my mom, that budgeted gift is going up by quite a bit, like twenty percent.

Ah the fall of the US Dollar... but that explains why I have been seeing the tours at the mall.

Oh and I forgot to add. Needed to get a new piece of luggage... since the ones I have are finally given all they had... got a new piece at Penneys for 30 bucks... 75% off... that boys and gilrs is bad... means they cannot move this junk... and truth be told... heard on NPR two weeks ago that only 16% of Americans had arranged their summer trip plans (yes we are doing that, our first since we married), usually it is over fifty percent.

[Warpy]

1. Check to see what she needs for the baby

because I know people down there who ask for whole lists of stuff they can afford but just can't get there.

You might find there are a few things that she'd like to have that aren't widely available there. Waterproof crib pads come to mind, a request from a long time ago but indicative of some of the stuff that she might need.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. You 'd be surprised what you can find in Mexico City these days

Was born there and I remember the good ol' days when having spme specialty things meant bringing them from the states.

These days... you can find all these things at Cosco (Yes bringing card) and I hate to shop Walmart, but Wallymart or the chains they bought down there. It is just pricey.

When I was there when I took dad home I went with mom to COSTCO and there are things you can find in Mexico City that you cannot find in San Diego, LOL. And not just locally made... the Kinder chocolates (with toys) that my nephews love... you cannot find them in the states due to the ahem, chocking hazard.

We even checked the baby department at several places since she's going to stay with my parents. As my dad put it, they are going to be grand parents.

Worst comes to worst if we cannot definitely find something, I'll get it here and my mom will take it when she comes to visit.

Now if this was even Tijuana that is a different story... or Guadalajara.

And yes, I remember the good ol' days... though it is funny. My niece, when they came last summer, she took notebooks from here. I buy, ON PURPOSE, notebooks down there. I cannot find the same quality of paper to draw on.

Funny huh?

[Warpy]

3. I'm planning a move south at some point

and tops on my list is a Costco.

As for what you can get, I was in the checkout line her in front of a Filipino guy who saw my dried mangoes and complained bitterly that they were cheaper in Costco here than they had been in Manila during his last trip home.

I know everything's available in the big cities. Towns are another story, and my friend lived in a town.