A Buying Trip and Lessons Learned

When Paco and Marta Miranda, owners of “Here Is Paco’s jewelry and gift shops (across from Christine’s Hair Salon)invited me and my wife Katherine with them on a merchandise buying trip, I never dreamed of the information I would receive about Mexico and the world of gift sales in Mazatlan.

At the unseemly hour of 4:15 a.m. we stumbled into Paco’s new Chevy van and headed out on our adventure. We stopped at Paraiso Restaurant and Hotel in Tepic and had some excellent ham and eggs and the best corn tortillas I have ever eaten. Refreshed and sufficiently awake, I got behind the wheel while Paco took my place lying on the floor of the van. We buzzed along as beautiful scenery flew by. When we arrived in Guadalajara Paco asked me if I wanted to drive straight through the center of the city. I silently pulled into a gas station and replaced him in the back of the van.

After driving about two hours he turned the wheel over to me. As I was slowing down at a toll booth, four police officers were standing in the road forming two lanes. One waved at me, and I waved back, thinking how nice the policeman was to greet me. Paco and Marta immediately began an urgent discussion in Spanish, and with my limited knowledge of the language, I knew the cop wasn’t just being friendly. I also noticed about 25 people lounging around the rest stop, and in my rear view mirror, noticed that the car behind me stopped and exchanged words with the officer and moved forward. After I paid the toll Paco told me that the cop would probably radio ahead and have someone pull me over. After getting over thinking I was public enemy number 1, I began worrying that perhaps the cop was trying to warn me of some danger ahead. After driving for about another hour I pulled into a restaurant parking lot, indicating I was hungry, but thinking if a cop was waiting for me ahead, he would find Paco behind the wheel. Paco took over with no argument, probably thinking we would all be better off with a savvier driver.

We drove past Toluca and the last 40 miles of the day were all two lane curvy roads, but beautiful country. Fourteen hours after we started, and just when I thought my rear end was going to explode, we saw a hillside with thousands of lights. After checking into a hotel in Taxco (TOSS-co), we joined hundreds of other people trying to find an empty taxi. For those of you that remember all the old VW bugs in Mazatlan 15 years ago, I know where they all went. They are used as taxis in Taxco. All the streets are narrow, cobblestone and either going up or down steep slopes. If there were any sidewalks, I never found them. After a late dinner, we enjoyed walking the plaza, and headed back to our rooms to bed.

The following morning we were up and on the streets at 7:00 a.m, and headed for the huge Saturday silver jewelry market. Paco insisted on being there early because he did not want to miss a particular silver bracelet salesman. About 3 blocks from the hotel we came into a labyrinth of stalls with a smattering of people spreading cloths and displaying their wares. After strolling around what seemed like miles of stalls, Paco split us into men and women teams. Immediately I knew it was not a “normal” shopping trip as I noticed Katherine did not stop every few feet and pickup and say “hello” to each piece of jewelry. Marta was given a grass basket and both her and Katherine frantically began examining bracelets and tossing them into the container.

Paco and I found a man selling silver necklace charms with beautiful colorful stones. As fast as the man unrolled the charms from cloths, Paco made selections. Falling behind Paco asked me to help with the selections. Now my only experience with Jewelry purchase is paying for whatever Katherine selects. But after getting over my initial apprehension, I enthusiastically took on the challenge. Within minutes I picked up each charm, carefully examined it, sniffed, and dropped it into our basket. Paco told the man that he was to package the goods and we would return in a few minutes to pay him and pick them up.

Our next stop was a bracelet guy where we went through the same process. We found a man selling jewelry boxes and picture frames. By this time I considered myself an expert and discussed the merits of the craftsmanship of the picture frames. By 10:00 a.m. we were really up close and personal with the hundreds of shoppers. It was so close that I could not only tell the brand of cologne used, but those that skipped a shower that morning. We wormed our way through the passageways and picked up all our jewelry purchases and went for a late lunch. Since Paco was served long after the three of us, I decided to carry all the jewelry back to the hotel. Katherine and I went back to the hotel to flake out and Paco and Marta continued their shopping.

At 5:00 p.m. we rented a taxi for two hours and saw the beautiful sites of the city. All of the houses are painted white with a terra cotta trim and roof. We went to the highest points and looked down on the city, both during the day and after darkness set in.

On Sunday we slept in, and after breakfast we drove a few miles to Calahuamilpa National Park. We took a two and a half hour tour of the largest caverns I have ever seen. We walked 2.4 miles round trip through the cave. Our guide, using a flashlight pointed out rock formations of people, objects, and animals. Sometimes he used the flashlight to make amusing figures move about on the large cavern walls. It was an exciting, but long walk, and we were glad when it was time to return to the van and continue our trip.

By the time we arrived at the home of Marta’s parents in La Magdalena de los Reyes, it was way past lunch time, but they waited for us. The first thing I noticed was the extreme cold, both inside and outside the house. We enjoyed a delicious meal and went on a tour of the previous hometowns of Paco and Marta. We stopped at a central market where the main sale items were woven wool blankets, rugs, sweaters, scarves, gloves and slippers. As expected, we met numerous relatives of both Paco and Marta, but also as expected, remembered few of their names. We had a dinner of pork, pineapple, and cheese between tortillas, called Gringa at Paco’s cousin’s café, and then went to Pacos brother’s house where we stayed.

Monday we had some delicious tamale at the home of Marta’s parents and rented a car and driver to take us to Mexico City. Katherine and I were surprised to travel through mountainous roads lined with large evergreen trees, much like Western Washington State, enroute to Mexico City. Suddenly we reached a large valley with nothing but buildings, people and cars. Unfortunately, Castillo de Chapultepec was closed, so we found a parking garage in the center of the city and walked a block to the 42 floor Mirador Torre Latino tower. We went to the observation deck and had a breathtaking, panoramic view of the entire city. By the time we got down on the street there was a labor demonstration that blocked traffic, so we hopped in a cab and visited the Museo de Cera de la Cuidad de Mexico, which is a wax museum of figures of importance in Mexico and the rest of the world. Next door we visited Ripley’s Believe it or not Museum. It was helpful to have Paco translate.

Paco and Marta wanted to go to the city center so they could buy some novelties that their Mexican customers would be interested in purchasing during Easter week. The market center was about as crowded, but bigger than Taxco. We bought about six large bags of merchandise and hired a man who loaded them on a dolly and weaved his way through the crowd, trying to find a taxi. Just at the point of exhaustion, we saw two cyclo’s with drivers (a bicycle, with an attached compartment large enough for two passengers). We loaded our packages, and headed for the parking lot where we picked up the car and driver and went back to Paco’s brother’s home. After freshening up we found another cousin’s café and had a meal of tacos—while meeting more relatives. I don’t think I will ever get used to eating a heavy meal at 9 p.m.

Tuesday morning we said goodbye to all those relatives we met and said hello to on Monday, and stopped in the market in Santiago and had a breakfast of lamb and tortillas, called “Barbecoa.” After a leisurely drive we arrived in Dolores Hidalgo at about 1 p.m. and immediately went to the Talavera factory. On the floor, by the office were a large number of pieces of Talavera. Paco pointed out items to purchase and Marta, Katherine and I squirreled them away in a corner. We had a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant and when we arrived back at the factory, workers were busily wrapping our merchandise in newspaper. While 3 of us loaded the van, Katherine special ordered a 6’ X 4 1/2’ tile mural. Once loaded we headed down the highway. At about 10:30 p.m. we arrived in Tonala and began looking for a hotel. The first place was unsatisfactory, but we found vacancies at a nice hotel called Casa de las Palomas, which had secure parking.

Wednesday we were up and out the door by 8:15 a.m. We went to the plaza and had some delicious ham and eggs at an outdoor café. Paco’s usual glassware shop had few selections. We placed an order for about half her stock and got directions to the factory. Paco ordered a great deal of glassware and the factory owner promised it would be available at 7 the following morning. Again we split up and the women went shopping for more glassware, while Paco and I went to Guadalajara to have running boards installed on his van. The area we went to had blocks of parts and accessory stores. We met up with the women, and loaded their purchases in the van and did some personal shopping. Katherine found a colorful leaded glass hanging lamp for her kitchen. For the first time on the trip we had dinner and were back in our rooms by 9 p.m.

Thursday morning Paco and I were at the glass factory at 7 a.m. while the women were back on the streets looking for more glassware. While the employees wrapped the glassware, Paco and I placed it carefully in the van. By the time we finished we discovered there was little room for any other buys the women made. We hurried to the market and Paco rushed off to stop them from making any more purchases. By the time Paco found them more glassware was in hand so we hired a man to wagon them to the van where we held our breath while placing them into the vehicle. Fortunately we were able to fit in all of the glassware. We happily headed down the highway, and at 6:30 p.m. pulled into Mazatlan with a full load of merchandise and countless memories to last us a lifetime.


Charles A Hall
Author: "Mazatlan IS Paradise"