Comparisons

In life you are taught not to compare as to avoid disappointment. But we still do it. Here are a few so to help paint a picture of life here.

Shopping- I wanna start with the Pick and Pay as we frequent it alot. Its a chain grocery store. Its like an Extra Foods except with much better decor. This chain also has separate pharmacies and clothing stores. Checkers is another grocery store. But its more like Save On. Their house brands are the cheapest of all stores and they have the better meat selection. I would like to interject a little something about turkey meat. It is VERY difficult to find. And if you do stumble across it, it is either a smoked leg or a whole frozen bird! Luckily ostrich meat is plentiful and you know my love for it, too bad it is expensive so we eat beans interspered with a steak here and there. Chicken is bad news man-ill treatment of the birds, hormone injections and antibiotics! No thanks! Wow i digress. Ok, Makro is pretty much Costco minus free samples and a produce section. O and the membership card is free. We go once a month. The Crazy store is like our dollar stores. Game is like Wal-mart. Infact, there is talk of wal-mart buying out the game chain here. Does this mean wal-mart is coming to africa? Doubt it, they'll just get the profit from Game and take away from the economy here. And finally, I wish to mention Wool Worths. This one is not to be confused with the K-mart type chain we had in the 80's. Its like a Marks and Spencers in England. Kinda like the Bay except there is a food mart. Rich people shop here. Not at all like the caliber of K-mart shoppers back in America!

Products-I will admit they are a bit dated with some products available. When I walk down the beauty aisle, I feel like I've taken a trip back in time. Salon Selectives? I havent seen that since I was an avid reader of Teen magazine! And Exclamation? Really? That ghetto fragrance is still around? I am proud to announce, I own a bottle of VO5 conditioner:) Most products are the same as what you would get in Europe. Nivea has a hold of the beauty market here, which I love. An honorable mention goes to custard in a box! O this is genius folks and not sure why no one thought to have it mainstream in Super store back home! Liquid goodness you pour on a cake or something to give it a vanillay moist quality that lasts until the cake is gone.

Gas companies are different except that giant corporate money maker-SHELL. Car makes are different, not the big names like Toyota or VW but the makes like there alot of Polos and Tazzs here. Obviously no Dodges or Fords tho. Probably cuz american cars are never made with the steering on the right hand of the car:)

There are lots of malls. Fancy, regular and ghetto. I like the word ghetto:) used the most ghetto toilet on wed in the train station. Most stalls didnt have doors and you had to pay for toilet paper. I didnt cuz i guess they took pity on my accent when i worriedly inquired where the TP was. I think all countries that charge to use the toilet should be slapped. This money grab encourages public urination! Who wants to pay to sit and pee?! Seriously! Anywho, Lots of movie theatres but the movie releases are two months behind. Going to see Eat Pray Love next week. It came out beg of month. The thing I dont like about the movies here is you have to select your seat when buying the ticket. Thats too restricting for me. I dont wanna be attached to row 22 seat e. What if a big head is in front of me? We dont have cable in our flat-which is fine so my notes on tv is limited. They have one comedy a night. I watch the Big Bang Theory which is quite funny! Also their reality shows are behind a couple seasons. The survivor that just finished was Fans vs Favorites where Parvoti won the first time.

I have to briefly tell you about gov offices. Its like walking into an office circa 1986. Decor, equipment, organization, and speed of service! Patience is key when living in Africa.

So there are some comps to paint a little pic for you. I love the differences tho! That is what makes it so dang cool to be here. Will discuss those another day as my thumb is sore from bloging on a phone!