Comida

So two days ago I asked my letter where there was a store nearby. She directed me to “a store,” but really it was comparable to a corner gas station, minus having beer, or anything else refrigerated for that matter. I bought some roasted peanuts still in the shell, and a package of pinto beans (trying for protein content).

Clearly, this was going to be insufficient. So today I wandered around for about 35 minutes in a direction in which I hadn’t been (I never fear getting lost, for inevitably I make a big circle and end up somewhere I recognize), and finally found a grocery store! Granted, it was nowhere near the size of an American HEB or Kroger (or Stop & Shop, for my New England readers), but it had the basics covered, more or less.

I find it interesting that here the milk is kept at room temperature, just stocked on the shelves like a non-perishable item. But, upon roaming the aisles, I found a tiny corner that had maybe 20 bottles of refrigerated milk, with an expiration date and everything. So naturally I grabbed one, and then went in search of cereal. Unlike the seemingly endless options back in the U.S., there were only about a dozen kinds to choose from, so I ended up getting a box of Frosties (known at home as Frosted Flakes), since Tony the Tiger was a familiar face.

My goal was to try to get simple things with lots of nutritional value, so next I headed for the yogurt. Lots of choices, but I was a little skeptical of most of them, since they looked rather peculiar, and I didn’t really understand the labels. I finally opted for some strawberry Danone.

Last but not least, I searched out orange juice. I was amused to see that gazpacho is sold in cartons similar to those of OJ, in the same section. I grabbed some Tropicana, and then made my way to the checkout. It was actually pretty efficient, because the conveyor belt thing after the cashier rings up your purchases is split into two, so after you pay and while you’re finishing bagging your groceries, they’ve already moved on to the next customer. Also, there’s no risk of getting your stuff mixed up.

So I now have some comestibles to tide me over. I’ll probably hit up a fruit stand tomorrow, but I think I’m in overall pretty good shape :)