La Busqueda (the search)

If you've ever lived abroad, you know one thing to be true, nothing is where it should be. It seems that every culture has their own sense of order. It applies to traffic, layouts of stores, government offices...you name it.

Our first real sense of this was when we were looking for a voltage adapter to take with us to Australia. We struck out at the usual electrical stores, large department stores, mom and pop shops and every store that carried luggage. We finally came across one in a little hole-in-the-wall tienda and happily coughed over the $20 or $30 that they asked.  It took us three weeks to find what we were looking for. (It's a bit like living in the Amazing Race, just when you think you've got it licked, something else goes awry.)

The Latest Challenge

It happens, on a smaller scale, at the grocery store. Sometimes, they just don't have what you want...say, dijon mustard. (We went two years before some finally appeared on the shelves of the local grocery store.) Other things, like duct tape are stashed in an obscure corner with car accessories, or shoe polish, right next to the candles. I'm sure it made sense to someone. We've learned to walk the aisles very slowly, with great attention to the lower and upper shelves. 

Fast forward to our return from the northern climes. Cuenca is DRY. Part of it is due to altitude and thin air, part of it is just because of the general climate. While it can rain a lot, the moisture just doesn't hang around, except in cloud form. Against all advice for sanity, we decided to look for a humidifier. (How hard could that be?) This is not a hot commodity here, only crazy gringos could ever want such a thing. We found a couple (literally two...in the whole city) of units that would probably moisturize and three bedroom house, but we were hoping for something smaller. The internet wasn't helpful, the local store that we set our hopes on didn't have any humidifiers in stock. We decided to walk to a large department store on the other side of the city. (Coral Hipermercado, for those who are curious.)

Upon arrival, our hopes were buoyed. There was a good selection of fans, heaters and air conditioning units , but no, no humidifiers. We went to the bathroom area, still nothing. The baby department...nope. About to abandon our search, we noticed the shelves of canes, walkers and various medical aides...well, why not, we thought. There...low and behold...were nebulizers (so close!!!) and...miracle of miracles...small humidifiers. We were jubilant in our success! (The units were also $50 cheaper than the large ones we'd already found, that counts as a super bonus.) It even has mood lighting, that changes colour. (Sure, the video would be more impressive if it were dark...you get what you pay for, right?)

Moral of the story? Things are not going to be like they are back home - period. If you can't embrace this concept, don't do the expat thing. If you can find exultation in the little victories, then living abroad might just be for you.

To cap off this good news feed, I thought I'd let you know that our voltage adapter didn't make it past the first plug in, but hey, that's how it goes. We're still feeling pretty good that the humidifier will work as required.