Shopping is a group effort....

Greetings everyone! I understand there are questions about "shopping" here in Namibia. Shopping is a big adventure here - at least for us because you never know what you are going to find or how much it will cost.

As far as groceries - we have a smaller grocery store right in out neighborhood and then there are larger supermarkets around the city. Our neighborhood store is called "Baines" and is in a small shopping center with a pet shop, hair salon, cafe, etc. The biggest grocery store I've heard people talk about is Super Spar (not sure on the spelling) but we have not shopped there yet. We've tried a large "Pick n Pay" grocery store - about the size of Super Saver in Lincoln. We were just there today and the lights went out right when we were done shopping and ready to check out. I think they just blew a fuse because the other stores in the shopping center/mini mall still had lights on. It took awhile for them to get the lights back on so we found chairs in the back of the store where they were selling plastic patio chairs. Some of the freezer lights were still on so you could see a little. One other shopper had a flashlight (don't know why) and was continuing to shop using a flashlight!

The Pick n Pay has a bakery (ALL the stores bake bread each day) with these awesome jumbo rolls they call "broachens." They are like a cross between a roll and a hoagie. You can just eat them or make a sandwich. All stores have broachens but the Pick n Pay has cheese broachens and garlic broachens to use when you "braai" (rhymes with try), or grill out in the backyard. Having a braai party or just using your braai is a way of life here. Many kinds of meat (chicken, pork, beef, lamb) come already marinated and even on kabob skewer - ready-made for the braai. Lamb is readily available and seems much cheaper than in the U.S.

The bakery also had several kinds of different meat pies (hot and ready to eat) that cost less than a dollar American - just meat (chicken, sausage, etc.) wrapped in a flaky crust. Some come in the small pot pie tins like in the U.S. At lunch time there will be a line of workers getting a meat pie for lunch. Side note - ground meat is called "mince" here.

Another great store another Fulbrighter friend (Joy from Michigan) introduced me to is the "Fruit & Veg" store in downtown Windhoek - and it lives up to its name. More variety and better quality produce than the regular stores we've been to so far. If you like fruit, Namibia is the place to be. Super mangos, nectarines, peaches, pears, prickly pear (like the cactus), many kinds of apples, and I even saw "paw paws." Now, we have not tried them yet but my grandmother, Wanda Derry, used to sing us a song when we were little about "pickin up pawpaws and puttin em in the basket." I never knew what a paw paw was but they are as big as a squash! Speaking of squash - they have lots here including pumpkins. They have a small dark green squash (orange-sized) called a gem squash that is supposed to be similar to an acorn squash on the inside. The pineapples are luscious - they are smaller than in the U.S. and are VERY prickly but very good and the core is much softer than back home. Remind me of the pineapples in Puerto Rico actually.

Lettuce seems to be a special item as it is not always available. The Fruit and Veg gets leaf lettuce sometimes (I'm told) and they did have iceberg but I'm not sure I've even seen lettuce anywhere else yet. Tomatoes are available - smaller and they come totally green but they ripen quickly in your window and have more flavor than "store" tomatoes in the U.S. I'm totally loving the avocados here - they are 2 to 3 times bigger than the avocados in Lincoln and cost about 99 cents in American dollars - and they are always perfectly ripe here (at least so far).

Now my stampin' friends already know how much I love to make salsa (with avocados) but my salsa dreams have been crushed as I have yet to find a can of black beans and tortilla chips are nonexistent here!! Can I go a year without chips and salsa???? Flavored chips are readily available everywhere but NOT tortilla chips or even plain Frito chips. They have Doritos, Lays, and other brands but they all have "sour cream and onion" or "sweer chili pepper" flavors. Now Joy did take me to a Woolworth store in the mall that had a "gourmet" food section in the back where they did have some Mexican food items (pricey) and they did have ONE very sad small bag of tortilla chips left on the shelf for about four dollars American and the chips were all crushed to crumbs and dust. Maybe if I hit it on the right day there might be a good bag - but it's not looking good. Mexican type food is hard to find apparently - Pick n Pay had a few "Old El Paso" products but not many.

ANYWAY, back to the Fruit and Veg store - one of the best things about the store is the counter after you check out where you can get an awesome fruit smoothie. They have a big glass case with ALL kinds of cut up fruit and you can pick any kind/combo of fruit you want (they fill up a bowl) and then add a little fuice and some ice cream - and for one dollar American you've got a luscious treat - very cheap for a fruit smoothie!! You can even have them fill up a bowl and just take the fruit home and save yourself the labor of chopping all the fruit.

Well, I'll add more later - but all of us Fulbrighters are constantly sharing tips on what we found in this store or that store or asking each other if you've seen "this" or "that" - like flat sheets for the bed - they are a rarity here. People sleep on a fitted sheet and then have a comforter with a duvet cover - nothing else on top! We noticed this trend in London in our hotel as well!

Bye for now!