The GDL Subway System/Grocery Shopping in Mexico

The other morning I was heading to class and hopped on a bus heading to (what I thought was) downtown. However, the nice french foreign exchange student on the bus next to me told me that it would actually be turning and stopping by the subway station instead. She told me I could then take the train from there to downtown and catch my second bus out to Tlaquepaque. I had heard about the subway system in GDL, but never had experienced it firsthand (Danny still hasn't been down there). There's only two lines and they run N-S & E-W, but it's much cleaner and faster than the bus as long as it's going somewhere you're wanting to check out. Here's some pics of a couple subway stations:

Not bad for a "third-world" country. Don't come to Mexico guys...it's dangerous. You might end up paying only 6 pesos for a quick, cheap, environmentally-friendly jaunt around town. You've been warned.

Onto the super-mercado...

Grocery shopping in a foreign country is one of those things you do for the first time and, as soon as you walk in, suddenly realize how very different the experience is going to be. At this point, we've obviously visited the supermarket a few times since we've been here, but EVERY time I'm there, something surprises me (Moizes bought pre-cheese-stuffed hot dogs wrapped in bacon today). I wanted to take some pictures to show you folks at home the oddities we've found at our local Aurrera (owned by Wal-Mart, ofcourse). 

Lots of tequila...verrrrry few whiskey and vodka options.

La Panederia. Tons of doughnuts and pastries. Just sitting out in the open.  I can't even trust myself to walk near this section

Flavors of popcorn abound. They even have a Valentina flavor, which is a local hot sauce in GDL.

Oddly colored pastries.

MMMMMMM...

Double MMMMMMM...

Boxed milk. Kind of like in Europe. Not sure how it's possible. What do I look like, a chemist?

We've yet to find hummus in the store near us, and there are basically no frozen food options (which I suppose is for the best). No soy or almond milk. No feta cheese. Lots of beans and tortillas. It's always an adventure at the Aurrera. We also ended up buying what we thought was regular laundry detergent, only to dicover after a whole month why our clothes were not getting cleaned (it was fabric softener. cue forehead smack.) We'll have to fill you in on our day trip to Chapala in the next post.

Hasta la proxima!