This is not a great picture, seeing as how it was taken from a bus, but all of those pipes you can see are carrying oil from Saudi to Bahrain. Bahrain doesn't have nearly as much oil as Saudi does, so we (I can say we, because I've got the resident stamp in my passport) just refine it. It's a great arrangement, and those pipes add so much to the scenery...Anyway, a bit more on grocery shopping. The big grocery stores here are called hypermarkets, and they are all located in large malls. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but now I really enjoy the convenience. The produce section is my favorite because I think it is so interesting. First of all, they advertise the country that each of the products come from. Today I stocked up on the following produce:
Avocado (Sri Lanka)
Honey Dew Melon (local)
Tomatoes (local)
Necatrines (Jordan)
Grapes (Turkey)
Pears (Africa, I think)
Oranges (Spain)
Plums (Spain)
Bananas (Philippines)
Watermelon (Jordan)
I have a very diverse refrigerator. Once you pick out all of your produce, you must have it all tagged at little produce stations in the department. If you don't have your produce bagged and priced there, you can't buy it at the check out counters. The produce cashiers recognize all of the varieties of produce, and have all of the produce numbers memorized, which is no small task, considering there were bananas from 3 different countries, oranges from 4 countries, and watermelon from 2 countries today. There are usually swarms of people around, and most people are like me and have at least 10 different bags to weigh and tag. There is a separate produce counter labeled "ladies only," and there is also a ladies only line at the the check out counter, right next to the "10 items or less" line. I have found that there are far fewer product choices here, but any American brand is translated to Arabic on one side of the package (even though the English side is displayed, and all of the signage, receipts, etc. are in English). And the flavor of choice seems to be "Cheesy Cheese." I'm not sure how it is different from just plain cheese, but you wouldn't believe how many different products have the flavor. Here are a few examples of products I have around my apartment:
This would be a good time to start singing "Bring out the Best Foods, and bring out the best."
Our friend Orville makes an excellent flavor called Honey Butter that I haven't seen in the states. It is tasty.
They really like their scents over here. I can smell my laundry all the way down the hall. Of course, that could also be because they don't have those little cups that tell you how much to put in, and I had to eyeball it...
This one is my favorite. Please notice the Spanish, Arabic, and Brisith English all on one package. I was very skeptical when I bought these, thinking that they wouldn't be very good, but I have to say they are probably my favorite store bought tortilla chips.The moral of this post is you eat lots of broccoli, and I'll use lots of gas, and we'll call it even.
3 comments:
That is all very interesting about the grocery stores. The promotion of the different countries, the tag man, and the special ladies line. Sounds like an interesting place. I Hope I get to come visit :)
This is off topic, but...Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali are doing a show on TV called Spain, On the Road Again, where they eat their way across Spain. It's a PBS show and like you TV or not, I think you should look for it if you have any USA channels. If not, I'm going to buy the DVD when it comes out and you can come for a visit and we will cook with chick peas and ham. I so, so want to spend the fall in Europe eating most purely.
i'm really glad you sent the second explanatory email because i sent the first one to my spam folder when i read that'KC's' in bahrain wanted me to read their blog. i thought someone was about to ask me for money to pay a hospital bill or bail the nigerian royal family out of jail. ah, racial profiling...
so good to hear from you again! you are, of course, doing well, but i would not have expected anything less from you!
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