Grocery Shopping at Despensa Familiar in Panajachel

Grocery shopping -- love it or hate it -- is a necessary thing no matter where you live. Here in Panajachel, Guatemala, if you want a good ol' homestyle grocery store experience, you get to shop at... *drum roll* ...the Despensa Familiar!

Yup, that's the place. Notice the little old Mayan lady to the left of the door. I think she sells hot corn.

For the benefit of those readers who are thinking of visiting or moving to Guatemala, let me walk you through the Despensa so you can get a sense of familiarity.

So probably the first thing you'll notice is there is a security guard usually standing to the left of the entrance. This is awesome, as it makes the Despensa feel very safe. And it's a great bonus for when you're looking for a safe bank machine in Pana. Directly as you enter the store, turn right and there are two ATMs right there. If you face them, (your back to the checkouts) the one on the left is 5B and the one on the right is BI. The 5B bank machine charges a higher fee, but you can withdraw up to Q3000. The BI machine charges a lower fee but you can only get up to Q2000. I have successfully used my TD bank card at both of these machines, and my President's Choice Financial card works at the BI machine.
Directly to the left of the entrance, there are rows of green lockers. Put your bag or backpack in these and take the key with you while you shop. Grab a basket near here too, or a shopping cart from outside.

Photo of the Despensa Familiar courtesy of  A Note From Abroad

The first aisle straight ahead is a whole lot of rice and beans! An entire row. It's madness. There is also oil, margarine (not refrigerated!) ramen noodles, soup, a small selection of spices, tuna and other canned meats, refried beans, sugar, mustard, mayo, salad dressing, and some other stuff.

At the end of the first row is a very sad assortment of fruits and vegetables. Don't buy from here unless you're desperate. Go to the market! It's fresher and cheaper. Also at the back wall you can find some ziplocs, aluminum foil, and matches tucked away at the bottom. Handy!

Against the back wall of the Despensa is the refrigerated meats, mostly variations on wieners, plus the butcher's counter. They have great chicken burgers here! They're Q5 apiece (about $0.80 Canadian) and totally remind me of home. You can get ground beef here, tons of chicken, and some other cuts of meat. Everything is refrigerated, which is great if you're wary of buying from the butchers around town who hang their meat out on even on the hottest days.

Second aisle: about a bazillion ketchups, one type of BBQ sauce, pasta, pasta sauces, cereal, oatmeal, and a huge selection of powdered milk. It's strange that the pasta come in such small packages, only enough for two or three servings, and the sauce is only enough for one person. Odd.

Third aisle: tons of instant coffee, some teas, factory-made bread and buns (if you're into that pappy white stuff), cookies and crackers, pancake mix, syrup, jams, overpriced and weird-tasting peanut butter (go to Chalo's for Jif!), and juices, both powdered and bottled. Pick up some Yus brand powdered juice mix. It's delicious and actually contains vitamins too. We guzzle the stuff, especially the mora (blackberry) flavored one.

Fourth and fifth aisle: this is where it gets weird. There are almost two full aisles of cleaning products. They use up almost as much space for cleaning as for food! I guess it's important. Mixed in there are baby products, hair products, shampoos behind weird plastic doors, a small selection of pet food, and paper products.

Last aisle: along the back half of the far wall are fridge and freezer items, including: yogurt, milk, butter and other dairy, a small assortment of frozen seafood, one tiny frozen pizza brand, some frozen chicken items (not as good as the butcher's), and ice cream. Also in this aisle are candy, chips, chocolate, beer, and liquor. And eggs at the back, not refrigerated.

That is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope it makes you feel like it's just a regular grocery store much like the ones in Canada or the States or wherever!

A quick note about the checkout process. The checkout person will ask you for your NIT, which is Número de Identificación Tributaria, the Guatemalan tax identification number. If you're a tourist, you don't need one. If you're doing business in Guatemala, you might have to get one. Just say, "No" to the first question. Then they'll ask if you want a bag: "Bolsa?" Plastic bags cost Q0.20 (20 centavos, or about three cents Canadian.)

After you pay, take your groceries and your bag to the counter on the front wall beside the ATMs. Pack your groceries there. Lastly, don't forget to pick up your backpack from the lockers before you leave!

Yes, it is true that Despensa Familiar is a division of Walmart. If you're one of those folks that hates the "big man", you can shop at Chalo's, right across the street, or at Sandra's, the expensive import store, or at any of the small stores in the market.

Why do I like to shop at the Despensa? Two main reasons: the low prices, and the fact that the prices are written ON the shelves. This is one of my pet peeves of shopping in Panajachel. They don't have prices on anything in most stores! The shopkeeper could basically tell you any number he wanted, and you would have no clue if it was right or not. I'm quite forgetful too, so they could be telling me a new price every time and I wouldn't know.

Anyway, this may be a bit boring of a post for most people but I remember wondering about grocery stores in Guatemala before I came, so I wanted to share my experience. I hope it was helpful!

Bonus photo: pretty butterfly I saw on my way to the store yesterday.

Beautiful tiny butterfly in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. He was only about the size of a quarter!

A Collection of Chuchos

I love taking pictures of the dogs of Panajachel. They are so many interesting pups just hanging out doing their doggie thing. It's fascinating to me to see how dogs interact when they aren't on leashes and over-stimulated by nervous owners. They have their own language and etiquette. 

Can you hear his gruff bark in your head?  :D

Soaking up some sun in the morning. (UNE is a political party.)

This fella was in Santiago Atitlan.

We threw this pup a piece of pizza crust but apparently it wasn't tasty enough. So Pachi ate it!

So sleepy!

17? Maybe she just finished running a marathon? 

A handsome old fella in the back streets of Jucanya.

This teeny Chihuahua was watching another dog across the lane.

Bert and I really love this dog. I'm sure he's somebody's though. He's too clean and healthy to be a chucho.

Napping in front of the big church in Panajachel.

I've told you before about the charity, AYUDA, that helps the animals of Lake Atitlan. There is also an animal division of Mayan Families that accepts donations and volunteers. Bert goes to walk dogs there now and then. They have many animals up for adoption but they don't often get much publicity. Please check out their site and help if you can!

A Trip to the Wellness Clinic in Panajachel

The sign on the gate at the front of the Clinic property.

Unfortunately, we had to take a trip to the Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic this morning. Bert started feeling very badly yesterday and was only worse this morning. Analyzing his symptoms with the help of Dr. Google, I determined that this sort of thing should be dealt with right away!

Bert felt well enough to walk to town, although I think he was regretting that decision about halfway. We made to the Despensa, where I got some money from the ATM. We hailed a tuk-tuk to take us the rest of the way.
The Wellness Clinic is located on Calle Monte Ray in Panajachel, just off of Santander. Here is a video that shows the clinic. It is a charity set up to treat the local population, but we had been told by our landlady, P., that we could also go see Dr. Luis anytime. We knew he spoke English too, so that helped make the decision easier.

We arrived just after the clinic opened at 9am, and there were already eight people waiting. Bert sat down on the floor, partly because there were no chairs left, and partly because he was exhausted.

The outside of the Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic. Very unassuming.

We figured out pretty quickly how things worked. A patient would come out of the side room, and the doctor would say something that sounded like, "Sigue", which we figured meant "Next!" The person sitting in the chair closest to the room would get up and go in, and then everyone would get out of their seats and move over one! It was a neat way to handle patients without a secretary or checking people in or crazy paperwork.
Poor Bert had to use the bathroom to throw up, and then discovered that the toilet wasn't flushing. When we informed the doctor later, he said, "There's no water. It's a third world country. It happens."

Bert's pale face and miserable demeanor caught the attention of the kind Mayan woman in front of us in the chair-line. She spoke to us in Spanish, most of which we didn't understand, but we took it to mean that we could go ahead of her. So sweet!

Bert and I went into together when it was our turn. Dr. Luis de Peña was sitting behind a desk with a laptop open, a giant array of drugs arranged on the shelves behind him. A Guatemalan woman was helping him.
Bert sat in one of the chairs. We introduced ourselves, that we lived with P&B, and that we had spoken before on the phone. He was very friendly but very busy, so we jumped right to it. Within seconds of describing Bert's symptoms, he told us that Bert most likely caught a bug from something he ate. He told us the nurse would give Bert an antibiotic shot in the other room, and that he would have our medicine ready when we were done.
The woman took us through an open door to the adjacent room, which looked more like a doctor's exam room, with a examining table and various mysterious medical things. The nurse readied a syringe and I asked, "Amoxicillin?" She said, "Yes." She gave Bert the shot in his hip. He cringed. I said, "Oh, ow!" The nurse chuckled and left the room.
That's when Bert ducked out of sight of the doctor and started going, "OW OW OW! Oh my god, that's the worst pain I've ever felt. Ow ow ow ow!" I laughed! Oh, poor baby.
(But truly, it was a painful shot and he limped for quite a while after.)

Coming out of the room, Dr. Luis gave us 10 tablets of Ciprofloxacin 500mg, an antibiotic. Pretty standard treatment for a variety of buggie-boos that can infect a person here in Guatemala. He gave us a few instructions and waved us out, already focused on the next patient. We had been in his office for less than five minutes.

I paused at his door before leaving, a bit confused. Even though I knew the clinic was a charity, I was still expecting him to ask for some sort of money to pay for the drugs at least! Feeling a bit foolish, I asked, "Can I make a donation?" He said, "Sure. I'll take whatever I can get." I pulled some cash from my bag and handed it to him. He smiled and said, "I'll spend on a beer at the Palapa!" I laughed and replied, "We'll see you there... in a few weeks."

So that was it! Bert has a series of pills to take for the next five days and we'll see if that works. To be honest, I don't think he got the right medicine. I think he has either Giardia or H. pylori, which would require a different set of medications, but then again, I'm not a doctor. Bert is quite tired but feels better already. Fingers crossed for a full recovery!

For those looking for an English-speaking Walk-In Clinic in Panajachel, here is the phone number, as of June 2015:
Dr. Luis de Peña, Lake Atitlan Wellness Clinic, Panajachel. 5595-6731

Another doctor that was recommended to us:
Dr. Anabella Perez, Atitlab, in Jucanya near Hotel del Sol. Phone for appointment 5526-9099

Other Resources
One man's hospital experience in Guatemala:
http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/billy_tests_medical_tour_guate.htm
Medical Travel and Assistance -- http://www.guatemalamedicaltravel.com/