Today's Excuse

Today's reason for not having time to post to my blog: I was requested to buy an Argentine flag for my coordinator before my upcoming trip. This morning my friends told me I could get this at a libreria, which is a book and office supply store. It appears that the school supply lists came out today! Yikes!

So, I took a number (at many stores here one cannot help oneself but must be assisted). A helpful young woman found a flag for me and rang it up and gave me a receipt. I then waited in line with my receipt to pay the cashier who gave me a different receipt. Then I waited in line where the item was wrapped and given to me and my receipt was stamped. Today's purchase was simply placed in a plastic bag, but more often at stores like this the item is wrapped in paper like a present.

Three periods of waiting for one purchase. I wasn't in a rush today and stores like this remind me of my year as an exchange student in southern Italy in the 80s. I thought that some people might never have experienced a store like this, so now you know.