Where art thou?
Have you ever gone to the store only to find they have rearranged the aisles or no longer carry your treasured product?
This week I went to a French owned supermarket called Carrefour and found the entire International aisle missing in action! It took me a few minutes to spot its new location, but this isn’t the first time it has happened to me. In fact, it happens often and I have learned how to be flexible, much to my chagrin!
Tonight, I went to a German owned store called Metro, where the import aisle is always keeping me happy, only to find my little treasures gone! I went hoping to purchase a bag of dried cranberries, but their spot on the shelf was no longer there! *Sigh*
Nevertheless, what I did find made my head spin: 12 packs of Coke! Usually we purchase Coke or Sprite one can at a time, but today there they sat in a pretty cardboard box!
I also found paper towels in 6 packs! Wow, paper towels are practically unheard of here, so to find a 6 pack of them…incredible! Then I stumbled upon frozen 6, 8, and 10 inch tortillas…goodbye to the days of me making amoeba shaped tortillas! Actually, our ayi (babysitter and all around great helper) makes wonderful tortillas, so I don’t need to fret or purchase these, but I still couldn’t believe my eyes.
The last item that I kept checking out was the Chipotle Tabasco Sauce. I’ve never been interested in something like this before, but hey, it’s imported and so I’m thinking I should be interested! I called Peter and he said to pass on it. He’s a nice logical, practical man.
Well, there’s a sneak peak at what a foreigner goes through trying to find their precious imported items and stumbling upon new ones. We are thankful for what we do have here and I am finding myself more and more content and without the need of other American things.
Of course these stores have more Chinese products than anything else. So, as always, I look over the other products trying to figure out what something might be or come up with an idea of how I might use it.
One package I read, and am still pondering, is a package of sausage links called, “Er Tong …” which translated on the package was, “Children Sausage”. (I’m not sure what the third character was, hence the dots) These sausage links were about the size of a Johnsonville brat. Nothing about them made me think of children eating them, so, why the name?
Still pondering…
