Groceries

There are four "super"markets here in Khartoum. We visited one our second day here and picked up some necessities. However, this first experience was far from super.

First, it smelled like rotting meat. Ah yes, a pleasant way to begin a blog entry isn't it?! Sorry, unfortunately, it doesn't get much sweeter. As I said before, everything is covered in dust: the packages, cans, shelves, and anything fresh that is out on display. The shelves are jam packed from floor to ceiling. The store is small and the prices are exorbitant!

I reached for a bottle of shampoo (small) and calculated it to be just over 8 dollars. Cereal (average box) ? Almost ten. Cookies are cheap, so we'll be eating a lot of those . . . jam too . . . There is no produce at the "super" market. We had to cross the street to a small road side stand for that. (Our driver wanted to drive us, so concerned was he for our safety negotiating the traffic, but it all turned out fine). The fruits and veggies were wrinkly and dirty; we bought only three pears and a mango. Nutella (giant size) abounds, though, so I won't complain too much. It does run you ten dollars a jar - but that's a small price to pay for so much enjoyment.

The funniest thing about buying groceries here is that the prices are given in different currencies than anyone uses for anything else. The currency here is the Sudanese Pound. There are still a significant number of Sudanese Dinars floating around out there, but they're being phased out. Dinars correspond to pounds like cents to a dollar, so it's not too hard to calculate cost with either old or new money.

However, some people, grocery store owners included, still give the prices in "Old Pounds". These are 1/10 of a Dinar. If you're not paying attention, and used to being quoted prices in Dinar, you could easily end up paying $1.50 for that small bread roll that should have cost you $0.15. The seller won't always correct your mistake, so if you give 10 times what they are asking just because you misunderstand the currency they're using - too bad for you.

Back to the groceries. Today we made another run to expand our understanding of the local shopping options. We discovered Afra Mall. Afra Mall has everything we could ask for. The meat is refrigerated, the aisles are spacious, the selection is varied, there is a small amount of produce inside the store . . . BUT - it is NOT AIR CONDITIONED! Yeah. For those of you who get weak knees at Costco from the work of shopping there, Afra Mall is not for you. This experience could wear down even the toughest of shoppers. We're talking a giant warehouse with corugated metal walls and roof, in the middle of one of the hottest, driest areas of the world, packed with people trying to get their food and get out, and it is NOT AIR CONDITIONED!

The little Turkish bakery and kushuk ("convenience shop", roughly equivalent to a bodega) around the dusty corner from our home are starting to look better and better. Who ever said we couldn't live pretty well on cookies, jam, and Nutella?!?!