today is day 2 of Spanish lessons for my lovely children and I .. while they have their lesson, I will blog...
So in Argentina, at least where we live, we have a few grocery store choices... The Disco, Jumbo or the Walmart (yup.. WALMART!!).. the closest in the Disco and the girls and I have decided that this is sort of our main grocery store. It is small and easy to get in and out of and in just 10 days I think the staff already knows we are expats with little to no Spanish speaking ability.. so it works.
The main difference I notice immediately of course is the way the store is divided. The largest sections seem to be what is most sold/most important. It is wine, cheese, deli counter, meat and then the rest.. WINE.. it take up like 1/4th of the store and there are experts there to guide you making the perfect wine/meat pairing. I have yet to use this service as well... I don't know how to ask.
There are lots of products that I do not know, lots that look the same just with a different name (Mr. Masculine is Mr. Clean etc) and then 75% of the store is just products I have never ever seen. The girls and I have seen Hellmanns, Lays, Coke, Pepsi, Knorr and Bimbo. We are always on the look out for products that are familiar. All of these products are the names, but what is in them is all made here in Argentina.. so the taste is different.
Egg and milk are sold unrefrigerated. I am just not sure how I feel about it. I mean I buy both and I have used both. I find the milk once in the fridge seems to taste fine to me and I like it. The eggs are fine to me either way but it does seem to gross Nola out that they are very dirty when we buy them. Milk is also sold cold here but we have been told not to buy it, why I am still figuring that all out.
Nola also complains about the yogurt here.. it is all like drinkable, even out of a carton or little container. I like it because they seem to use more fruit in it, but nope.. not Nola. she's off yogurt for a while.
Because things seem more separated here you won't find a large selection of easy to make products like cake mix, brownie mix.. things that in general are just easier. In Argentina they still do things the "old fashioned" way and it is ok.. if only I could figure out where the flour is... I will admit though we did find ONE box mix of brownies and promptly bought it, made them, ate them in one day..
It is the same with the meat, produce and cheese though here too. While the stores here seem to have a good enough selection to get you buy, most Argentine's buy those products as local places. We found a lovely town square in Benevidiez that has several fruit and veggie stands, a butcher, a chicken only butcher, a cheese shop, a fresh pasta market and even a bread shop. I am anxious to try to get meals from there rather than a supermarket mostly for the local flavor and also because I like supporting a local business. Not that I won't be at the Disco plenty, just would like to go old school a bit.
lastly cleaning products.. I sorta like Argentinian cleaning products as they seem to embrace that bleach, ammonia and basically any other harsh chemical is the way to keep a house sparkling. They have shelves of cleaning products.. (maybe as many as the wine)...I have yet to see any dirty establishment or home in Argentina. I like it.. :)
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