Plastic Bags in Paraguay…A love story

I must write about something that I deal with daily, Paraguayans and their love of plastic bags. The more plastic bags you can put around individual things, the better! Every time I go to the supermarket down the road I have a tiny battle, sometimes I win and sometimes I come home with 8 more plastic bags. Today for example, Emm and I went to buy some tomatoes, lettuce, bread, bananas, yogurt and a pineapple and today was a day I lost because I forgot to bring some of the 600 clear plastic bags I have at the house with me. To buy fruit here you have to put each kind in a clear plastic bag, bring it to get weighed and a price sticker goes on it. Apples in a bag, bread in a bag, lettuce in a bag, bananas in a bag, pineapple in a bag..even the yogurt comes in a plastic bag. Then when we get up to the counter we have to battle again. I tell them no, I don’t need a bag I’ll put it in here (my canvas one) they just look at me while they continue to put my stuff in a plastic bag. Sometimes I try to beat the bag guy to it and throw everything in my canvas, other times I just give in. They are getting better, the one cashier knows I don’t want it and will tell the bag guy, she’s a ally in this battle. Others, they just can’t understand why this crazy Norte wouldn’t want lots of plastic bags. Guess what’s going to be included in my trash lessons…..