nothing surprises me anymore.

The photocopy shop our school uses has had a broken photocopier for the past 2 weeks so we have had to outsource our copies to other shops in town.

The first one I went to took 1/2 and hour to make one class sets of copies because the shopkeepers were so talkative and when they heard I played soccer the conversation just kept on rolling...I was pretty excited to find this place and one of the guys who works there now plays on my team.

I went back 2 days later and their only photocopier was broken and I had to go find another shop.

I was looking around the neighborhood for another shop that was close but was unable to find one. I asked one of the staff at the school and he said there was one real close and he offered to take me there on the school's motorbike. As we were driving there I was telling him how I allready looked and hadn't see one anywhere. As I was explaining this we pull up to the store that sells Thai-style coffins....they also make photocopies.

Of course they do.

Why hadn't I made that connection is beyond me, I mean, it's such a logical choice: if you are alive you need to make photocopies and if you are dead...well, you need a box. This is the definition of monopolizing diverse markets.

Since then I've made note of all the shops that sell things I would never associate together:

A butcher shop that sells football jerseys

A restaurant that also sells jewelry

A women's clothing store that will also sell you fresh fruit

Life is full of surprises.