Well, maybe not the WORLD’S biggest, but it’s far bigger than any I’ve ever seen! This sale benefits the Amigos de Animales charitable organization, which does a monthly spay & neuter clinic in Boquete, as well as promoting pet adoptions. It’s being held in the gymnasium across the street from the first apartment I rented.
The gymnasium was packed with great quantities of anything and everything.
The sale is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. I expected a crowd, so I arrived a little after 8, so I could find a place to park near the entrance. There was already a line of people almost all the way across the front of the building when I got there. I sat in my car until almost 9. By that time, the line went across the parking lot and about a block down the street. So many people! Here’s a YouTube video of the crowd. (You can see me in the video at 3:52, on the left side of the frame.)
I was astounded by the quantity and variety of items in the sale, as well as the organization of the items by the volunteers. There was everything from clothing, kitchen appliances, electronics, luggage, furniture, books, wall decor, and tools. There were also live plants and baked goods for sale. You name it, they have it! The hours of sorting and pricing all of those things had to be exhausting! One of the more innovative solutions was using the bleachers to display the hundreds of pairs of shoes:
Smart use of existing facilities for display purposes!
I looked at the photos last night on Facebook, and spotted one particular item I definitely wanted – a convection oven, to use in curing my polymer clay items. I pinpointed its location in the room from the photos, and when they opened the door, I made a beeline for it. If I hadn’t seen the photo last night, I would very likely have missed it. The price was $50 (about half the price of a new one), and the tag said it works, so that was good enough for me to snatch it up!
I haven’t taken a close look at the oven yet, but it looks very similar, if not identical, to the one I had.
I also got a couple of little desk lamps to use on my work table. After scoring these items, I had enough of the crowds and made my way back home, feeling very satisfied with my successful shopping.
