Buying Groceries

Buying groceries at home in the United States...


1. Make a list.
2. Drive to Wal-Mart.
3. Buy all groceries (and other necessary supplies) at Wal-Mart. Also, while there, buy my favorite candy bar, soft drink, and a magazine at the checkout counter.
4. Load groceries in trunk.
5. Pour water over an apple and eat apple on the way home.
6. Get home and put up groceries.
7. Make dinner, using pre-packaged "quick-fix" meal ingredients, including a dessert made from a Betty Crocker package.
8. Eat dinner.
9. Maybe even watch t.v. afterwards.


Buying groceries at home in Senegal...


1. Make a list. (Take into consideration all the many food items that cannot be bought here and will have to be made from scratch.)
2. Walk to the store (through all the sand).
3. Buy groceries. Check aisles for random American items that arrive every now and then.
4. Walk back outside to the fruit/veggie stand and buy all produce items.
5. Walk to boutique and buy bread (baguettes) and bottled water or cokes. *A boutique...Imagine a tiny little building with just enough room for you and one person to stand, side by side, with shelves lining the walls stocked with all kinds of random food & other items, and a big deep freezer inside.
6. Walk home carrying all bags.
7. Get home and put all fruits and veggies in bleach water to soak. In another bowl, put eggs in bleach water to soak.
8. Put remaining groceries up.
9. While fruits, veggies, and eggs are soaking, go wash dirt off of feet from the walk home.
10. Once veggies and eggs are done soaking, wash/rinse them well to get rid of bleach. Then begin making dinner. Before putting rice in pot, pick out any bugs (because while they're full of protein, they don't taste that great). Do the same with sugar and flour.
11. If having salsa, make from scratch (no jars here...Well, no cheap jars here). If making sour cream...pour cream into bowl and then add vinegar. Let set and then stir. If making a dessert, get out all ingredients and make from scratch.
11. Eat dinner.
12. Watch a t.v. show (downloaded from iTunes) or movie on your computer.