A trip to Walmart

November 9, 2004

Well there is nothing like a trip to Walmart to counter a trip to a poverty stricken village, right? After the village we did take the bus to a Walmart so that we could buy some baby supplies that we needed. For $24 U.S. dollars we purchased: Pampers diapers, baby wipes, sippy cup, 2 onsie outfits, baby cold medicine, three 2 liter bottles of water, one bottle of orange juice, one bottle of jasmine tea, a box of Ritz crackers and a box of Oreos.

The Walmart had three levels. It had three conveyer belt ramps that allowed you to take your cart to each level. It was way better than an escalator. The Walmart looked pretty much like Walmarts in the U.S. except that the foods were significatly different. One level had a fish market on it. I am not so enthralled with Walmarts in the U.S. http://www.alternet.org/story/21658/ , so I didn't want to spend a lot of time there.

Some of the families took longer than others in the store. We were all supposed to meet at a certain time to get back on the bus. Katrina was hungry and I didn't really have any food for her since I thought we would be back at the hotel already. There was a KFC next to the Walmart, so I dashed in there to buy her some mashed potatoes.

In fast food places in China you order by point to pictures on a menu. Everyone orders this way, not just foreigners like us. I pointed to the taters and was served quickly. Katrina had her first taste of fast food and she liked what she ate. She ate the potatoes in the bus and because of the long day she missed her nap and was cranky. She fell asleep on me on the bus ride back to the hotel. She did not wake up as I carried her from the bus to our room on the 14th floor. She was exhausted.