Shopping for groceries is always an adventure here. The grocery stores are very nice. For the most part, they are very clean and orderly. They are well stocked, and they have a wide variety of things to buy. Unfortunately, those things are not exactly the things I think of as "normal."
~~~
One of the things that impressed me the most when I first moved here was how neat everything was in the aisles. That is, until I found out how they get them to be that neat.
As we all know, pasta in a bag usually has air in it. That air makes it very hard to stack, so in order to stack the pasta nice and neat, the stockers at the grocery stores here poke holes in the bottom of each package. This wouldn't be quite so bad if it didn't open up a "freeway" for all the bugs trying to get into the package. The good thing is that the bugs generally float up to the surface when you throw the pasta into boiling water. Ha!
One day when I was getting a couple packages of spaghetti, I picked out my two and about 40 came with them. It was quite funny trying to stop the whole section from going into the aisle. So, as neatly as they are stacked, once they get to a certain level, they enter "the danger zone" for sliding.
Here is our milk department. One plus about this is that you don't feel like you need to wear a coat to walk through it because the cold section is too cold. Ha! The milk comes in boxes and is ultra-pasteurized for a long shelf life. We also have powdered milk. We use both in our home.
Many things come in boxes here. I suppose that makes it easier on the land fill (or lack there of). Boxes burn easier than cans. This is our tomato paste, sauce, and "spaghetti sauce" section.
The fruits and veggies area is very neat. They stack the fruits and veggies in nice, tidy rows with the largest produce on the bottom. Unfortunately, I am always looking for the largest potatoes and onions, and have often created quite an avalanche trying to get what I want.
All fruits and veggies are weighed in their section and then taken to the front for checkout. You can see the people standing in line to have their stuff weighed.
Our fruit section offers a vast array of "exotic" fruits, or as we call them here, regional fruits. In this picture we have coconuts with the outer husks on or off (top row) and mamao (papaya) and maracuja (passion fruit). We are able to get apples for a semi decent price, but they are not the best looking apples. They are shipped in from the south of Brasil. When I get apples, I look each one over VERY carefully for bruises, bird bites, and worm holes. They are Fuji apples and their size is a little smaller than a baseball. I sure do miss the variety and quality of US apples. We can get other "North American" fruits like strawberries, peaches, and nectarines, but they are outrageously priced. A friend once saw raspberries at the grocery store. They were in a tiny package and sold for about US$10 an ounce!
The fish section in this store is behind glass. The fish all look very fresh and if you're a fish lover, I'm sure they taste great too. I personally have never bought any fish from the store. I did, however, buy some frozen fish from a guy who came to my house on a bicycle. It was pretty good fish too.
The meat department is the place where my stomach needs to be strong. This store isn't quite as bad as another one I go to. Here the "strange" things are individually wrapped and in a display case. At the other one, they are all together in a large, glass case.
Here you can see the cow's tongue. Looks like it had been awhile since his last meal of grass. This tongue isn't green. Right next to it is his liver. I just try to avoid this whole meat section.
If you want to try something real interesting, here are some nice sections of cow lung. Uh, yeah! I'm not sure what a person does with that or how it should be cooked, but that only made it into the cart once -- and that was a complete accident. The one that we bought was also in the ground form, which looks a whole lot like ground beef. Dennis bought it once when I was gone. Not an experience we want to repeat, but definitely one we laugh about.
Here's a nice feature in the meat department -- a sink to wash your hands in.
Don't you just hate it when the meat package has some yuck on it and there is no way to wash your hands after touching it? Well, we can just go over and wash our hands at the sink.
This is our deli section. You can get turkey, ham, cheese, and a couple other sliced meats here. The one thing I try to avoid looking at in this section is the gigantic bug zapper up in the corner. While I may successfully make it without looking up, it's rare that I make it without hearing that wonderful "zzch" sounds a bug makes with a close encounter with a zapper.
Next to the deli section (using the same line actually) is where you can buy your margarine and butter in large or small quantities. There are pre-packaged margarines and butters in another section, but many people get it here.
I'm not sure what that stuff is in front of the buckets of margarine and butter. Everytime I look too close, I get grossed out, so I just avoid it. It doesn't smell nice, so that is another good deterant for me.
Cleaning supplies abound at the store. Here is just a small sample of the many kinds of dish soaps available. The liquid ones are fairly recognizable. The bar soaps along the bottom are sticks of soap that you buy and then cut off sections for your use. We buy the liquid and use it for liquid hand soap and the bar kind for washing our dishes.
We also have some items that we recognize, at least for the most part. The brand is the same even though the flavor is different. These granola bars are Banana Almond. There are three units in the box and they cost just under US$3 a box. Needless to say, we don't get these very often.
Even popular TV characters make their appearance down here. Their names are often different from what we are familiar with, but that's okay, we recognize their faces.
~~~
Upon check out, you unload your cart onto the conveyor belt and leave your cart on the store side. The bagger guys bag up your groceries and load them onto a cart to take them to the basement parking garage for you. With a small tip after they are loaded into your car, you are off.
A couple weeks ago, I was at the store with two other gals. We were headed for the car and the bagger guy got ahead of us. He headed for a very nice looking vehicle, which was parked right next to the beater we were driving. Ha! Looks can be deceiving. Americans aren't always the "rich" ones here.
~~~
I am thankful for the grocery store I have to shop in. I miss a good Super Walmart or Meijer's now and again, but this has what we need and for that, I am thankful.
~~~
One of the things that impressed me the most when I first moved here was how neat everything was in the aisles. That is, until I found out how they get them to be that neat.
As we all know, pasta in a bag usually has air in it. That air makes it very hard to stack, so in order to stack the pasta nice and neat, the stockers at the grocery stores here poke holes in the bottom of each package. This wouldn't be quite so bad if it didn't open up a "freeway" for all the bugs trying to get into the package. The good thing is that the bugs generally float up to the surface when you throw the pasta into boiling water. Ha!One day when I was getting a couple packages of spaghetti, I picked out my two and about 40 came with them. It was quite funny trying to stop the whole section from going into the aisle. So, as neatly as they are stacked, once they get to a certain level, they enter "the danger zone" for sliding.
Here is our milk department. One plus about this is that you don't feel like you need to wear a coat to walk through it because the cold section is too cold. Ha! The milk comes in boxes and is ultra-pasteurized for a long shelf life. We also have powdered milk. We use both in our home.
Many things come in boxes here. I suppose that makes it easier on the land fill (or lack there of). Boxes burn easier than cans. This is our tomato paste, sauce, and "spaghetti sauce" section.
The fruits and veggies area is very neat. They stack the fruits and veggies in nice, tidy rows with the largest produce on the bottom. Unfortunately, I am always looking for the largest potatoes and onions, and have often created quite an avalanche trying to get what I want.
All fruits and veggies are weighed in their section and then taken to the front for checkout. You can see the people standing in line to have their stuff weighed.
Our fruit section offers a vast array of "exotic" fruits, or as we call them here, regional fruits. In this picture we have coconuts with the outer husks on or off (top row) and mamao (papaya) and maracuja (passion fruit). We are able to get apples for a semi decent price, but they are not the best looking apples. They are shipped in from the south of Brasil. When I get apples, I look each one over VERY carefully for bruises, bird bites, and worm holes. They are Fuji apples and their size is a little smaller than a baseball. I sure do miss the variety and quality of US apples. We can get other "North American" fruits like strawberries, peaches, and nectarines, but they are outrageously priced. A friend once saw raspberries at the grocery store. They were in a tiny package and sold for about US$10 an ounce!
The fish section in this store is behind glass. The fish all look very fresh and if you're a fish lover, I'm sure they taste great too. I personally have never bought any fish from the store. I did, however, buy some frozen fish from a guy who came to my house on a bicycle. It was pretty good fish too.
The meat department is the place where my stomach needs to be strong. This store isn't quite as bad as another one I go to. Here the "strange" things are individually wrapped and in a display case. At the other one, they are all together in a large, glass case.Here you can see the cow's tongue. Looks like it had been awhile since his last meal of grass. This tongue isn't green. Right next to it is his liver. I just try to avoid this whole meat section.
If you want to try something real interesting, here are some nice sections of cow lung. Uh, yeah! I'm not sure what a person does with that or how it should be cooked, but that only made it into the cart once -- and that was a complete accident. The one that we bought was also in the ground form, which looks a whole lot like ground beef. Dennis bought it once when I was gone. Not an experience we want to repeat, but definitely one we laugh about.
Here's a nice feature in the meat department -- a sink to wash your hands in.Don't you just hate it when the meat package has some yuck on it and there is no way to wash your hands after touching it? Well, we can just go over and wash our hands at the sink.
This is our deli section. You can get turkey, ham, cheese, and a couple other sliced meats here. The one thing I try to avoid looking at in this section is the gigantic bug zapper up in the corner. While I may successfully make it without looking up, it's rare that I make it without hearing that wonderful "zzch" sounds a bug makes with a close encounter with a zapper.
Next to the deli section (using the same line actually) is where you can buy your margarine and butter in large or small quantities. There are pre-packaged margarines and butters in another section, but many people get it here.I'm not sure what that stuff is in front of the buckets of margarine and butter. Everytime I look too close, I get grossed out, so I just avoid it. It doesn't smell nice, so that is another good deterant for me.
Cleaning supplies abound at the store. Here is just a small sample of the many kinds of dish soaps available. The liquid ones are fairly recognizable. The bar soaps along the bottom are sticks of soap that you buy and then cut off sections for your use. We buy the liquid and use it for liquid hand soap and the bar kind for washing our dishes.
We also have some items that we recognize, at least for the most part. The brand is the same even though the flavor is different. These granola bars are Banana Almond. There are three units in the box and they cost just under US$3 a box. Needless to say, we don't get these very often.
Even popular TV characters make their appearance down here. Their names are often different from what we are familiar with, but that's okay, we recognize their faces.~~~
Upon check out, you unload your cart onto the conveyor belt and leave your cart on the store side. The bagger guys bag up your groceries and load them onto a cart to take them to the basement parking garage for you. With a small tip after they are loaded into your car, you are off.
A couple weeks ago, I was at the store with two other gals. We were headed for the car and the bagger guy got ahead of us. He headed for a very nice looking vehicle, which was parked right next to the beater we were driving. Ha! Looks can be deceiving. Americans aren't always the "rich" ones here.
~~~
I am thankful for the grocery store I have to shop in. I miss a good Super Walmart or Meijer's now and again, but this has what we need and for that, I am thankful.
3 comments:
okay, my brain is forever going to be picturing ground cow tongue. Yummy! THanks for sharing these photos. Super interesting and a surprise. I never would've imagined their markets like that.
Karen...nice work on this! I found myself laughing, stuff I have gotten used too...just seeing cow tongue for sale still makes my stomache turn though...but lung...hmmmm...tasty. I am going to pass on this link to some friends who I know would love to see it:) Thanks!
Jill Stewart sent me over! That was really interesting!
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