Grocery boys/Los muchachos de comestibles

One of the best things about living in my apartment and my neighborhood is that I have a big kitchen and a grocery store within walking distance. I was really concerned about having a space where I could cook and a place where I could get food to cook. I love going out for meals, but after a while that takes a toll on your wallet and your figure. Plus, cooking centers me and I love making food, plus I get the fun of experimenting with Dominican recipes in my kitchen here, with the food resources to make it happen.

Is a trip to the grocery store all that different here as opposed to the United States? It depends on what your criteria is. In terms of what I shop for, what I buy, how much I buy, and where I buy it, there's not much difference. The grocery store I frequent is laid out exactly like every other grocery store I've been to in my life. I buy staples like beans, rice, meats, bread, fresh produce, herbs, spices, and oil. I buy yummy things I don't need like ice cream, sweets, and crackers. Fortunately staples are very reasonably priced here (for me, anyway) and I get a great exchange rate with the US dollar. I shop once a week and I buy enough stuff to cook meals for a week, plus stuff for breakfast, and I replenish any staples that are running low, plus things like cleaning supplies and toiletries as needed.

As for the variety of things I buy, I've found some cool options here. I found these amazing six grain rolls that are delicious with Nutella. That plus a glass of Tropicana OJ (lots of pulp) is my usual breakfast. Yogurt flavors here come in dulce de leche, guava, and chinola (passionfruit). Beans galore. GALORE! Black, red, pink, white, pigeon peas. I love beans so this is outstanding. Naturally the selection of fresh produce differs here, and most of it is dirt cheap. I love fruits and vegetables so I love this. The avocados here are three times the size of the Haas avocados in the US and they cost about 17 pesos a piece. We're talking 50 cents for an avocado that can feed three people. That's the dream, right there.

Also, items tend to be referred to as their brand or product names. Diapers aren't called such here. They're "pamper." Want matches? Ask for "fosforo." The brand of matches.

So I buy my groceries once a week, usually on Saturdays after school, or Sunday mornings if I'm feeling extremely lazy. I shop with the idea of what I want to cook in mind--no different from my plan of attack in the US. I've taken to buying split bone-in chicken breasts because it saves me at least 150 pesos and I'm a pro at deboning meat. I buy a lot of sweet peppers and onions and tomatoes and I make a lot of stewed dishes.

It's easy to take care of your business at the grocery store, too. My grocery store has a Viva payment kiosk. Viva is my cell phone provider here and I can add minutes to my phone there. It also has a photo center and you can buy cigars there, too.

Shopping and buying the groceries is only half the battle. You have to get your groceries home, too.

I live in downtown San Jose and I'm within walking distance of everything. I walk a few city blocks to the grocery store. But as you know, it's hard to get a lot of groceries home without a car. I usually recruit my boyfriend to help on grocery runs and we use this rolling cube cart thing he has. It's not very big, but we've managed to cram a lot of stuff in there using creative methods.

Here however, I have no cube and no car. The first time I went to the grocery store without a ride I wasn't sure how to get my stuff home. Indhira told me the guys who bag the groceries will push the cart to your home--for a tip, and provided that your destination is within a reasonable distance to the grocery store.

Enter the grocery boys. Most of them are young (18-20) and very attractive. It's quite satisfactory to have a cute boy schlep your stuff around.

Relax. I only look. I don't touch. I'm too old for these children, anyway.

These grocery boys have a dangerous job when they carry my groceries home. The grocery store is on one of the busiest streets in Distrito Nacional and the sidewalk has been torn up since I got here due to construction projects. The grocery boys have to walk in the street, with traffic, because the sidewalks are either blocked off or so rocky/uneven that the cart wheels won't go over them.

More than a few times, grocery boys have recklessly pushed the cart into traffic. One of them ran with the cart then rode it. I would have felt awfully guilty if he died a horrible splattery death because he was carrying my groceries home.

Last week I ended up with a grocery boy who speaks English! He goes to La Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (the public university) and works two jobs, at the grocery store and at a hotel. He's learning English at UASD and he speaks very well. Now he insists on carrying my groceries home every time I shop there. We practice our languages together. He told me (in English) that he's studying engineering at UASD and he wants to go to school because he lives in a bad neighborhood and he wants something better for himself. As a working student myself, I sympathize.

Plus he's the cutest of all the grocery boys. Shut it. I'm allowed to enjoy the company of men. A little bit.

It's definitely different shopping here. In the US, once you pay for your shit, you're pushed out the door. Here, the typical Dominican quality of accommodating and helping people extends to the poor confused American who shows up once a week to drop a few thousand pesos on groceries.