Regateamos

Here is one cultural phenomenon that I just can’t quite seem to get the hang of- bargaining. I normally just let my host family take care of it. I learn what vegetables should really cost by watching Estella haggle like pro every Sunday morning at the market. When I wanted to buy a table cloth for my new house, I brought her along to get me the best price possible.

I figure I have a double handicap in the matter.1) Different currency, different market; I have no idea what things should really cost here. 2) I am tall and white; this means I always look like a tourist, and prices are automatically higher for me. Even my host family reminds me of this repeatedly. The only things that I have gotten really good at bargaining for are bananas and DVDs, and contrary to popular belief, you can’t live off of those two items alone. For these reasons, I am pretty nervous to head out to my site and face the shopping world on my own.

Recently I have found myself bargaining for strange things. I can’t decide if I am just becoming a savvy Guatemalan consumer, or if I am being obnoxious and accidentally bargaining at inappropriate moments. If the second is true, perhaps Guatemalans are simply too un-confrontational to argue with the crazed gringa. Take this afternoon for example. I used to pay monthly for my gym membership, but now that I am leaving in a week, I got special permission to pay per visit. Today when I went to pay, the women at the desk told me that it would be Q 15 because I used the treadmill. I innocently mentioned that her husband had told me it would be Q 10 per visit, and all I got in response was an “esta bien.” Is it really appropriate to bargain at the gym? Was she ripping me off, or did I just rip her off?

An even more blatant example of my inappropriate bargaining occurred on the bus the other day. Buses here don’t announce what they charge. Since people usually only travel the same few routes, everyone basically knows what they should pay. Seeing that we are foreigners, ayudantes who collect the fares often assume we don’t know the prices and try to overcharge us by not giving change. This has happened to me and my friends multiple times, and the ayudantes have absolutely no shame when you confront them to get your correct change. Coming home from my site visit, I boarded a bus from Chimal to my training site. I handed the ayudante a 5, expecting Q2 back in change. When he turned to charge the next passenger, I politely asked for my change. I was outraged when he told me that it was Q5 exactly and argued that he should only charge me Q3. Imagine my sense of self-satisfaction when he grudgingly gave me my Q2 in change. Now imagine my embarrassment when I soon remembered that I usually pay Q4 on that route, and when my host family confirmed my fears that some buses do actually charge Q5. They of course, got a huge laugh out of my bold actions and my brilliant reasoning that in the other direction Q5 can get you three times the distance. I, however, just felt like an jerk.