The Grocery Store

The Grocery Store is a 10 minute walk from our apartment. On the way we pass a fruit market that sells watermelons with the stems still attached, tiny pink apples and ripe plums. At night, teenage girls sit at the little plastic tables and eat a whole watermelon together, hunched over the table, their chins dripping. We've tried the apples, which are flavorful and tart, and the plums that are juicy and come with small worms that don't take away from the appeal if you're careful where you bite.

We had a small list made of things we needed for the apartment. Since we only have arm-power, we had to keep in mind the amount of items we bought so we wouldn't be schlepping home more than we could carry. The grocery store was much like one at home. There was a big sign that said, "Entrance," and another in Chinglish that said, "Exportation." The grocery shopping experience turned out to be quite a challenge because everything was in Chinese. I could tell that we were in the tea and coffee section, but I couldn't tell what kind of tea, or coffee the package contained. I had to make visual guesses for sugar, oatmeal, tea, milk, and yogurt. We bought 4 or 5 kinds of cookies, including oreos, a bottle of coke and some candy too, probably for comfort, or maybe because we knew we would like them. The meats and vegetables were easy to spot. The meat was kept unwrapped in freezers right next to popsicles and bags of frozen dumplings. The frozen section smelled like a butcher. I could barely stand to be in there while I made a random guess among yogurts. In the deli, they sold necks, chicken feet, snouts, and pretty much all the parts of an animal that you don't want to eat. Surprisingly, in the vegetable section, among the cabbage and bell peppers, were green chillies! the same kind as in New Mexico! I bought 2 to eat, and take pictures of. There was an upstairs section of the market where I found hangers, towels, an extension cord, toilet paper and laundry soap.
On the way out, we ate our dinner: a roast sausage rubbed in spices and oil, cookies, and washed down with coca cola. Our 1st shopping expedition was a success!
however, this morning I discovered that the towels were half the length I took them to be, the brown sugar was some kind of salty spice, and the milk was really sweet, runny yogurt. oh well, we have the provisions we need for now, and tonight I would like to find another steamy, noodle shop to eat the best beef soup with homemade noodles and pickle for only $.75.