Do you want to know what I did today?

This is another post from Amanda... like I mentioned earlier, my messages might be a little more spaced out, but I thought that what I did today would be of interest to some people. I went grocery shopping... and this entry is going to be all about grocery shopping.

By the time we left Scotland, Craig and I had grocery shopping down to a fine art. We were loyal Tesco and Costco shoppers, (and deep down I still am... I'm there in spirit) and aside from our monthly trip to Costco, we were one-stop shoppers. That, however, is not a possibility here. The grocery stores are ridiculously priced compared to the markets... so a trip to the market it was.

A lot of the stalls close around noon, so Saturday morning shopping is an early affair. Also, we don't have access to a car, so all purchases have to be balanced on the back of a motorbike. So, at 8:30 this morning, KC and I left our house for Pompeya, one of the markets in town.

Fresh vegetables were first... the stall that we went to, with some lateral thinking, wasn't all that different from the grocery isle at your local Tesco or Loblaws (for the Canadians). However there is no refrigeration system or random sprays of mist to keep the veggies moist; that is actually why you have to go shopping on a Saturday or Wednesday, because those are the days that fresh veggies come into town. The mound of onions was massive and the tomatoes were not the beautifully round, red tomatoes that we're used to... but apparently this scruffier version is tastier. The place was also chaotic... and there are no lines... you just kind of try to get a worker to come over to you and exchange money.

Then we bought eggs... they don't come in a carton... they give them to you in a bag and you have to work really hard to not break them. But I got 15 or more for 10 Bolivianos, which I think is quite good.

Meat came next, and it was hard... think unrefrigerated butchers. The meat is completely fresh... hung up that morning... and then they chop the bit you want off and give it to you in a plastic bag. I have to be honest and say that I never ever used a butchers while living in the UK. I was too scared... this was a wake-up call.

The milk products were next... and not there is anything exciting about getting milk, but because we had so much stuff at this point, and I think because she wanted to challange me, KC said she would watch the stuff on the bike and I could go buy my milk and then we could switch. AND I DID IT! I bought milk, chocolate milk, cheese and butter... though at one point I did turn around to KC and yell, "How do you say butter?". But yes, I felt really chuffed with myself. These little successes have come to mean a lot.

Then loaded down with over 8 kilos of veggies, 4 kilos of meat, breakable eggs and 7-8 bags of milk on the motorbike we had to go back to the house and drop off our first round of shopping. I only broke one egg! Then we were back out on the road for the second trip - first the fruit stall and then to the pharmacy (OK... the pharmacists here sell medications to people without prescriptions... people go to pharmacies instead of doctors... and they don't ask what other medications you are on for possible drug interactions or anything. Scary.) for toiltry stuff... and then cleaning products and then the chicken.

You go to a stall where there are whole chickens just sitting on the ledge (plucked and de-headed) and tell them what part of the chicken you want. And they chop it up and give it to you... in a plastic bag. Ya, it was lovely. Again back to the house for another drop off and then back on the road looking for kitty litter (KC has a cat).

It was very educational... slightly scary... but enjoyable. I am going to try and make a Sheppard's pie (cottage pie for the people in the UK) this week... KC isn't sure if Maicol is going to like it, but we're going to give it a try.

I hope this wasn't too boring for some people to read... it was an exciting new experience that I wanted to share. Hope you enjoyed it.