Quote:
Originally Posted by abaya
Yes. And VARIETY... cheeses, breads, vegetables, even toothpaste... the market is SO LIMITED in Iceland, it actually depresses me every time we go grocery shopping now. I mean, how can one of the largest supermarkets in a capital city have rotting onions and apples? 
Not to mention the $10/pint beer... and it's seriously average beer, too.
And the lack of trees. And the weather. And the people. And the language.
Yeah, I'm due to get my ass back home, in a hurry. |
Sometimes I think it's odd the stuff I miss. By the sounds of it my current situation, shopping wise, is way better then yours. I have Sam's Club, Costco, Wal-Mart etc... all within 20-30 mins of me. For the most part once in the store by simple appearance you'd think you were in the US. But a closer inspection reveals you're definitely not in the US. Many items I'm used to are available, most are just very costly. If it's been imported it's likely 50% more costly. If it's an electronic item it might be more than double the price in the states. And if you buy an item and it breaks often the only solution is just throw it away. Returning an item to the store is just unheard of here, yes even at Costco. Finding a replacement part is often not an option. I spent weeks, maybe a month, trying to find a replacement spool for a new weed eater I bought and promptly broke. I'm currently using the motor from that with a belt from a vacuum cleaner to run an air compressor I found. It keeps air in my tires but does little to solve my weed problem.
Then there's whats available food wise. I have fresh fruits and veggies year around, so that's a big plus. Some is way better then home and some I don't even recognize. Some stuff simply isn't available. Personally I like soup. I read several books on living in Mexico and all said finding US style soup at restaurants and stores would be no problem. They were obviously talking about other parts of Mexico. there I'm at I have two choices brown bean and black bean. They both are very bland and tasteless. So it may be odd but I miss soup.
I also miss driving in the states. Driving down here is a white knuckle experience almost everytime. I asked my good friend here why the locals don't stop at the stop signs. He explained that stop signs are more like a suggestion here. Along with not stopping at stop signs one of the other traits here I dislike is their cars seemingly have two speeds- full throttle and sudden stop. And there's no use of turn signals at all. It's not unusual for the person in the lane to your right to decide to make a left hand turn in front of you at an intersection. I walk and take the bus a lot.