Consumer Awakening

Yesterday, I decided that DH and I needed to find a local furniture store. I'd heard that the furniture was sturdy, locally made, cheap and fashionable enough to keep me happy for a few years. I need bookshelves. I want new bedroom furniture. So, I'd like to look around. While we still have time--before we NEED it.

We found the name of the store online and risked a site full of malware to get the address. Then we tried finding it on both Mapquest and Google maps. Contrary to popular belief, these map services are not foolproof. Even in the US. However, in countries where numbering buildings is just a pipe dream, they have even sketchier results.

Armed with our internet instructions (the same at both sites) we hopped in the rental car with the sure knowledge that DH's phone had GPS, so how lost could we get? Interestingly enough, the answer to that is VERY. We drove around for two hours. None of the exits off the road had the names given online. We finally started taking exits and traveling down their lengths looking for the store... then backtracking and trying it with the next exit.

At length, we gave up. But not before recognizing that we had driven far enough out of town on the Bizerte highway to be near another large shopping mall: Tunis City. We decided to stop there and do our weekly grocery shopping. At first, I was mesmerized by the bigness and shininess of the stores and the mall.


But the next thing that I noticed was that there was no Halloween displayed at all. And frankly, where there is Halloween, there is usually some harvest goodies for Thanksgiving, and a few Christmas decorations filling the rest of the 'seasonal aisle'.

All the stores we saw, lacked any seasonal displays at all.


It's beginning to settle in to me that the whole consumer experience is going to be completely different over here. First and foremost, places are not easy to find. There is no guaranteed numbering system for buildings or houses. There are streets all over the city that have the exact same name. And, once you get inside the stores, the things that are highlighted or celebrated are remarkably alien.

Take mosquito netting. This is not something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about, but here in Sub-Saharan Africa, it's big business. Check out these baby cribs. Guess which one was the premiere by price?

There were mosquito nets available for all Pack 'N Plays and playpens too. Something that, in the US, would somehow have been considered a choking hazard here is the hallmark of high quality.

Also, directly behind the store were sheep. Grazing in the shadow of the mall. It's just not something you see in the states.


We are getting used to the adventurous driving required to shop. I'm sure we'll begin to understand the differences in the consumer experience. But there are a few things I'm going to miss. Pumpkins. Jack o' lanterns. Skeletons and candy. We'll try the furniture store next week.

--Sandee Wagner