Having adult children all with good careers presents its own challenge when it comes to bringing back souvenirs.
You can’t just get some basic trinket. If we want anything they’re going to appreciate, sometimes it requires a search.
Jewelry can be found almost anywhere you go. That’s something that can almost always purchased for the those in the family who like earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.
In that regard, those who don’t like jewelry can be a little more problematic in trying to find souvenirs. Do you buy the classic T-shirt, or hunt around for something you think they might really like? How much time should you spend looking for something you may never find while on vacation?
While meandering the streets in center city Mendoza window shopping for potential souvenirs, we found a large corner shop that sold just about anything. It was like an upscale version of the old “5 and Dime” stores in the US, where they had all sorts of things. Good things that you could purchase for reasonably cost.
Finding the Souvenirs
Inside this particular place, there were all sorts of clothing (including local handmade scarves and leather hats). They also had dishes/glasses/mugs, and jewelry. Best of all? They had local handmade knives.
As soon as she saw them, Dianne (the one of us who is always thinking about other people), called me over. She immediately suggested we get knives for the guys. Knowing that most guys love knives, I jumped on the suggestion. Plus, I knew it would be way better than getting them a T-shirt, and less likely to end up being donated to <insert charity here>. Score one for the parents!
So knowing a little of the Spanish language, we used what we had already having discovered in many shops in Mendoza. There was typically at least one bilingual person who spoke English.
The Negotiation
So knowing a little of the Spanish language, and already having discovered that many shops in Mendoza have at least one bilingual person who spoke English. We quickly found out that just by asking there was a difference between using a credit card versus paying in Argentinian Pesos versus paying in US Dollars. In this shop (and as is similar to other countries), cash was king. The manager/owner was willing to charge us less (much less) if we used pesos versus charging our purchases on a credit card. If we paid in dollars, they offered an even bigger price drop.
In no time at all, we broke out the rest our cash. We ended up breaking out the rest of our Argentinian Pesos and US Dollars. Fortunately it was very close to the end of the trip, so we knew we wouldn’t need much cash to get us to the end. We reserved enough for known tips and such.
Although we paid a fair amount in total, it was easily half the amount than if we’d paid by credit card for the same merchandise. And way cheaper than if we purchased the items back home.
All in all, a really good deal because we were polite and respectful. We allowed the local shop owner do most of the negotiating. That way we knew they were comfortable with the final price. That’s a really important aspect of bartering in another country. You need to be sensitive to both the culture and the individual.
If you want to learn more about buying things in other countries, see Negotiating Currency for more detail.
This is the first of 3 knife stories. You can find the follow up on our other stories. Look for “Knives for the CHILDREN? – Chapter 2” in the Spain section. The third story is “Finding the Knife Shop – Knives Chapter 3” in the Italy section.