Getting Groceries
The first time we went to Fresco, it was dark. Brent was driving because I had yet to brave taking the wheel and driving in Uganda, plus driving here at night is hard, there are not a lot of street lights and the Boda drivers don't always drive with their lights on and people walking are hard to see too. Brent turned down the alley way (with zero street lights) and after passing a few shops, he turned again into the underground parking garage. My first thought was, “I never thought I would die in a foreign country in a parking garage down a dark alley way!” I guess have watched Monk too many times. HA! Actually it wasn't scary. Sometimes a little bit of dramatics is funny.
We walked up the parking garage stairs, because no way am I riding the elevator and when we got to the top, Olive Pharmacy greeted us with light everywhere. We walked past the headless mannequin's dressed with skirts, blouses, dresses all available at clothing stores or at the dressmaker shops around the shopping complex.
Enter Fresco. It's a good supermarket. They have a lot of items and some things from the US. Mainly, cereals and JIF peanut butter that I can think of right now. OH! and Quaker Oats, so we can make granola!
Some how we had managed to come to Fresco without the girls. I don’t remember how that happened. The first goal was to get kitchen items so we could have utensils, plates, and cups to eat and drink from along with a few other necessities. Brent grabbed the buggy and we stood at the bottom of the escalator.
This escalator does not have steps, it is like a moving side-walk going up, only it wasn’t moving. Brent started pushing the buggy up the non-moving, escalator sidewalk and as you can imagine, grocery cart wheels don’t work so well on rigid flooring. After shoving it a few times, Brent decided he’d had enough of that, put his hands on the side of the cart, picked up the entire thing, and proceeded to walk up the stairs. I followed behind barely able to walk from laughing so hard. I wish you could have been there, it was a sight to see!
At the top of the escalator we were greeted with microwaves and machetes, shovels and electric hot tea pitchers, an assortment of farm tools and kitchen electronics. We picked up an electric tea pitcher for Breanna. She has started drinking hot tea. Tea or morning/afternoon chai is a thing here. It's kind of nice. Once we set that item in the cart, a nice worker came and asked if we needed in help. In America, if they ask you and you say no, the worker gladly moves on with their life. Not here. Instead, the worker took the cart from Brent and pushed it for us, following us around wherever we went. If we even stopped to look at something we were considering, he was there ready to place in the cart for us! If we had a question about an item another worker in that section scurried off to find the answer. If we lingered “too long” in an aisle, the aisle worker would just stand next to us, patiently waiting or making sure we weren't going to steal anything - I'm really not sure which.
Once we finished up top, he pushed our cart down the escalator sidewalk (it wasn't moving either, but going down is easier than going up!). Our kind worker showed us around while we picked up a few food items. We finished and headed to the checkout counters. Our cart was rushed to the front and immediately started unloading the groceries onto the counter for us. They scanned and bagged, while we waiting, paid, and insisted that he carry our grocery bags for us to the car.
Ya’ll, it was like Julie Roberts shopping on Rodeo Drive in Pretty Woman. What an experience!
This is actually a normal experience for super-markets and other stores. Maybe not as intense as when you are buying a whole bunch of things at once, but still the same curtseys are given to you. Sometimes it is a little unnerving because I like to just take my time and look without people following me around, but that is not the way it is here. So you just keep looking and moving on with life.
Ya’ll, it was like Julie Roberts shopping on Rodeo Drive in Pretty Woman. What an experience!
This is actually a normal experience for super-markets and other stores. Maybe not as intense as when you are buying a whole bunch of things at once, but still the same curtseys are given to you. Sometimes it is a little unnerving because I like to just take my time and look without people following me around, but that is not the way it is here. So you just keep looking and moving on with life.
Another thing that is different about shopping here is if you have more groceries than the person behind you sometimes he/she will just plop their item(s) down in front of you and break in front. The cashier just takes the money and does the math in his/her head and gives change if needed, then go back to scanning your items.
The first time that happened to me, I was at Fresco. A guy set his one item in front of mine stuff, so I immediately picked it up and set it back down behind my groceries and told him to wait. I almost laughed out loud. Who was I? I just picked up this guys stuff and told him to wait. If that happened in America, well actually that would never happen in a America, but if it did, the 10 o’clock news would be sharing the cell phone videos and witnesses stories about it. The second time it happened, at another grocery store, I just rolled my eyes. Ha! Yes, they know it’s rude, but they don’t care.
Another place we grocery shop is called Golf Course. There is a milk shop, bank, and little travel/souvenir store attached to the right side and a little fresh fruit stand on the left. Above the grocery store is a restaurant, Cafe Havana 3, and a club, Club Vegas. We normally go to Golf Course a few times a week, so we have made friends with the people who work at there. Brent loves to give the cashier ladies a hard time and make them laugh. We have tried to have some conversations with the ones we are better friends with around Golf Course. It's easy to start with church. When you ask someone here where they go to church, you ask, “where do you pray?” And they will answer with “I pray at ..." and then give you the name of their church.
Robert is the security guard, he came to our house one night for dinner. Robert works 10 days in a row from 7am - 10pm at night, then he gets 1 day off. I told him once that he needed a different job. That has got to be the worst schedule. We would like to have had Robert over more, but so far it hasn't worked out. Brent has had more discussions with Robert, who he says he is a Christian. But we aren't really sure.
Mrs. Judith is the lady who owns the travel/souvenir shop. She is so kind! We always stop to see how she is doing. She has twins. She loves our girls and is always disappointed if one of us comes to the store without them. We know Mrs. Judith goes to church, just not sure where.
Robert is the security guard, he came to our house one night for dinner. Robert works 10 days in a row from 7am - 10pm at night, then he gets 1 day off. I told him once that he needed a different job. That has got to be the worst schedule. We would like to have had Robert over more, but so far it hasn't worked out. Brent has had more discussions with Robert, who he says he is a Christian. But we aren't really sure.
Mrs. Judith is the lady who owns the travel/souvenir shop. She is so kind! We always stop to see how she is doing. She has twins. She loves our girls and is always disappointed if one of us comes to the store without them. We know Mrs. Judith goes to church, just not sure where.
Linda is our server at the restaurant, Cafe Havana 3. She is in college and is so adorable. We have loved getting to know her. We had hoped of having her over for supper because her off days are in Thursday’s, but alas, we never got the chance. Linda lives with her mom and they pray at a local church here.
You may be wondering about going to the store a few times a week here. Some things, like apple juice, come in smaller portions/containers than in the US, so you have to buy them more frequently. Milk is not sold by the gallon either. Some milk is bagged - bags hold about 2 cups + a little more - and will last a while. Fresh milk is sold by liters and you have to prepare it on your stove. This milk does not last as long. Also, we buy fresh items and use them in the next day or three, so you just have to get more.
I love going to the Central Market! You can get almost anything you want there. We normally buy fruit and veggies here. I just think it's fun to walk around and buy from different people. I really want to photograph the market, but I also know I will need to buy something from each person/stand I photograph, so I'm waiting. I really don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe to get up the nerve. And I'll want Brent to come with me. Maybe so he can hold all the things we buy and people here really like talking to him, except his jokes and sarcasm don't always go over so well! HA!
Lindsey snuck these pictures above and below when we took her to the market.
The food is good here. We eat really well. There is a lot of cooking from scratch, but it is not bad at all. The only thing that would be a little more help is to have a dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher, love it, pamper it, care for it. :)
Washing dishes everyday by hand gets old for everyone!
You may be wondering about going to the store a few times a week here. Some things, like apple juice, come in smaller portions/containers than in the US, so you have to buy them more frequently. Milk is not sold by the gallon either. Some milk is bagged - bags hold about 2 cups + a little more - and will last a while. Fresh milk is sold by liters and you have to prepare it on your stove. This milk does not last as long. Also, we buy fresh items and use them in the next day or three, so you just have to get more.
I love going to the Central Market! You can get almost anything you want there. We normally buy fruit and veggies here. I just think it's fun to walk around and buy from different people. I really want to photograph the market, but I also know I will need to buy something from each person/stand I photograph, so I'm waiting. I really don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe to get up the nerve. And I'll want Brent to come with me. Maybe so he can hold all the things we buy and people here really like talking to him, except his jokes and sarcasm don't always go over so well! HA!
Lindsey snuck these pictures above and below when we took her to the market.
The food is good here. We eat really well. There is a lot of cooking from scratch, but it is not bad at all. The only thing that would be a little more help is to have a dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher, love it, pamper it, care for it. :)
Washing dishes everyday by hand gets old for everyone!
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