Today I did something very uncharacteristic of me. I ventured into gringoland in the north area of Aguascalientes instead of walking around in Las Flores or in El Centro as I usually do on a Saturday. I spent the afternoon walking around in two very different places, along with Raul, Alethia and Emiliano.

Our first stop was Altaria. This is a huge indoor-outdoor mall which has grown considerably. The two landmark stores are Liverpool and Sears but there are other stores such as Bershka, Sephora, Sanborns and H&M to name just a few. There are also a multitude of restaurants such as Italiannis, La Creperia, and Chili’s. And of course you’ll find Cinnabon, Dairy Queen, Starbucks and the like. There is even a casino, movie theatres and quite a few banks. I heard lots of English spoken here today. Most gringos live in the north part of the city.

Our next stop was Costco. It was time to renew my membership and buy some cheddar cheese. Yes, that’s why I have a membership. Costco is the one place you can find cheddar cheese regularly. Occasionally I’ve seen it at HEB, but Costco is the most reliable. A bonus is that the cost of a membership is about $25 US while up in Washington it’s $65 US. And I can use my card all over the USA and Canada.

A few hours later I’m back in my own neighborhood, comforted by the hum of voices speaking Spanish.