I was so proud of my first solo grocery shopping excursion (other than a convenience store with it's 9-slice "loaves" of bread!) that I took a picture of the spoils. Yes, I'm a dork, but I'm also trying desperately to learn my way around Xiamen and feed my family! I had done some on-line research (thank God for the internet, I don't know what I'd do without it) and found out that there are Beatrice stores all over this city. It brought me back to watching the Olympics about 15 years ago when Beatrice was a sponsor and just about every commercial was about them--I had never heard of that company before! Now they were saving my life. I had recalled seeing a sign for my "friendly community store" one day while riding in the company van and decided to try to find it on foot. My timing was terrible since I had been doing laundry and researching all morning, so by the time I left the apartment at 11:30 it was blazing hot outside. I made my way to the main street, Hubin Bei Lu, frogger-style; ie, dodging cars, taxis and busses and praying the whole way across. I took off down the sidewalk, bobbing and weaving in an attempt to stay in the shade and out of the puddles (this was only our third day in the apartment, before the umbrella was purchased!). I was dismayed when I took a wrong step on a loose sidewalk tile and filthy water (at least I hope it was water...) splashed all over my feet and up to my knee on one leg. I pushed forward, squishing with each step. Must feed my babies! I was attempting to appear city-savvy, head up, steps swift and sure, eyes obscured by sunglasses so as not to attract any more negative attention than was necessary. No one has bothered us yet, but you just never know when someone might be looking for a hapless victim! Fifteen minutes into the brisk walk, after passing a giant governmental building, I was starting to doubt my senses of memory and direction, but I knew I shouldn't turn back yet. Five minutes later I found the store--I felt victorious! It was pretty small, as far as grocery stores go, but bigger, better stocked and better lit than the convenience stores near our home. I filled my basket with three types of noodles, soy sauce packaged with spicy garlic sauce to enhance said noodles, a strainer of sorts to drain the noodles, toasted black sesame seeds for garnish, four cute little spoons for the girls, a package of chocolate-coated snack cakes for their lunches, quick-cooking oatmeal along with powdered soy milk packets and dried bananas for Gene's breakfast, a grain and rice combination that looked interesting, dish cloths, clothes pins, bag clips and some handy-dandy scissors that double as a bottle opener. Whew! At the check-out lane I threw in two bottle of "bing shui" for the walk home--cold water! I avoided the entire frozen section that ran down the middle of the store, partially because it was covered in cardboard and also because it was a bit scary to try to decipher the packages. Also, anything I got would've been completely defrosted and half-way cooked by the time I got home. My purchases carefully jammed into two Chicobags (they don't freely distribute plastic grocery bags here, for which I applaud the powers-that-be!) I now had to get myself back home in one piece. I estimate the walk to be about a mile or so, but please remember that it was extremely hot and humid...cut me some slack! After I made it back home (still too nervous to take a taxi all alone) I triumphantly photographed my purchases and then cooked myself a lunch of multigrain noodles with soy sauce and sesame seeds. I can't recall a more satisfying lunch, even if it wasn't exactly nutritionally sound! I was so pleased that it didn't dawn on me until the next day that I didn't see any of the cheese or milk products that had been promised in my research!
Now that I've found other shopping options, I'm not sure I'll frequent the Beatrice store but it sure saved me the first week in our new home.
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