Superstore No More

When I first got to Santiago I really missed my weekly stock up trips to Super Target or Super Walmart. It was all part of the routine, Sunday morning yoga, grabbing a coffee at Panera or Einstein Brothers, and then swinging by the superstore to take advantage of the fact that everyone else was either still asleep or at church. Usually my trips resulted in 3 or 4 "green" shopping bags with supplies for the week, and maybe some little extra things that I found on end caps along the way. It´s not so much that Santiago doesn't have superstores to shop at because I definitely take advantage of Jumbo, and there´s also Hiperlider, the place co-owned by Walmart, so if you pop in there the Great Value products definitely don´t make you feel like you are too far from home.

The biggest change in my shopping habits is most definitely due to my lack of car and the availability of the ferias to buy beautiful fresh fruits and veggies, eggs, cheese, nuts, etc. and the fact that you can find one just about any day of the week for prices much lower than the supermarkets. The experience itself is worth the trip. I have been serenaded while they are weighing my apples, teased about the basket on my bike, talked to in the best and worst English, and had just as much fun teasing them right back.
At home the farmers markets are a growing phenomenon, but often those are only one day a week, and if you live in a colder place like I do, often both the selection and schedule are very limited and seasonal. In fact, many of you will begin eating a lot of fruits and veggies from Chile very soon, so keep your eye on those fruit stickers and think of me.

In class we generally teach about how in Spanish speaking countries it's a lot more common to go to many different stores for many different things, and now living it first hand in a large city I can really understand why. There is a pharmacy on practically every corner, and not like how there are a lot of CVS or Walgreen's, I mean literally on every corner.

It's easier to grab a couple of things at a time since there are so many smaller stores that I pass by, and the less I have to carry, the better.Yesterday I needed some black pens for my roll books, so I headed into the libreria to buy pens and a notebook.

There is also no shortage of ice cream here in Santiago, even McDonald's has their own special little stands.

I still miss my 4 wheels every so often, but then I jump on the Mean Green Machine and head out to fill up the basket with fresh strawberries and cherries and realize that I've made a pretty good trade for now!