An Inconvenient Life

Letting go of the life I was expected to lead.

Menu
  • Home
  • Feedback
Menu

December 23, 2018: Shopping for xmas dinner

Posted on 12/27/201806/11/2019 by margrad80

I wasn’t sure what stores would be open and when, around the holliday, so I decided to stock up on food for several days. I managed to wrap up my writing early and head out. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, and I needed to get my walk in, I decided to walk up my street, rather than down to see what was up there. As I headed up, I passed a tourist couple, clutching their map between them, and carefully avoiding eye contact with me.

At the top of my street looking down.
Zoomed in for better framing
At the top of the road, I found a little park. Standing at the edge of the park, I saw that the couple was still hurrying down. Being on such a quiet street must have got them spooked.
The little pocket park was very cute.
I decided to work my way back to the main road from the top, rather than going back down my street. Here I found an interesting view of the Templo de San Javier
From this angle you can see that the Hotel Castillo Santa Cecilia has multiple terraces for the guest to sun without contact with the people.

After working my way back down to town, I went to the Mega supermarket. For some reason, at the supermarket, I keep getting the same cashier and bagger. All the baggers are elderly gentlemen. I always exchange a few words with my bagger. This time he asked me if I studied spanish at a school. I told him no, that I studied with mi computadora en mi casa. I hurried home to leave those groceries and head out to buy fruit and vegetables.

The lady at the small shop I went to was very nice and gave me directions to a bakery. She asked me if I wanted the bakery with sweets or the one with bread. I said, bread, and she told me that it was back towards centro. I told her I would take my produce home and then go to the bakery.

I passed the bakery with the sweets on my way home. I only went a few paces before wheeling around and going back. I had a free hand to carry a slice of tres leches cake home. I wanted to eat the cake, but made myself head out to get bread.

When I got to the bakery, it had already closed. I kept going, keeping a lookout for the street vendor, whom I normally bought bread from. When I found her, she had already sold all her bread and was folding her umbrella. I kept going and ended up at the Mega Sorina again. Since I was there anyway, I picked up a few more things before heading home.

Mega SorinoaMX PasoUSD
Chicken Bullion cubes$13.40$0.67
Milky Way two pack$20.50$1.02
Mole paste$23.66$1.18
4 chocolate mice$32.60$1.63
Mega Sorinoa
Tonic water six pack$45.76$2.28
spiced peanuts$28.80$1.44
five large bread rolls$7.50$0.37
Street Shop
Vegetables/Fruit$33.00$1.65
Tres leches cake$25.00$1.25

Once home for good that day, I took the time to take photos of the food I bought, also taking some photos of food I bought earlier, but had never photographed. Once the photos were out of the way, I made a cup of coffee and enjoyed my cake.

When I was finally finished with shopping I ate my cake.
These peanuts are great. The spice is really strong.
This is the bag I bought on my first shopping trip, which I didn’t photograph before eating most of them.
This coffee is just as good as the coffee I bought in Honolulu, but only a 1/4 of th price.
The candy bars tend to be in two packs, and look different when unwrapped than the ones you get in the US. Next time I will have to take a photo of the unwrapped bars.
The store has the brands of bouillon that are carried in US stores, but I always try to buy the local brand.
This is Tamarind candy, bought on a previous trip to the store. When I bought it I thought it was membrillo. It is very spicy, and very good with Manchego. It has seeds in it that you have to eat around. The seeds are as hard as rocks and about the size of a coffee bean.
Also bought on a previous trip. It is about a quarter the price it would have been in Honolulu.
I bought these the first shopping trip. Since then I have spotted the street vendors that have them, so from now on I will get them from the vendors.
One of these little mice is heavy enough to breakfast on. I sooooo love them. They are very moist brownies covered in chocolate.
Cain Liquor; It really doesn’t have much taste. I am tempted to buy some molasses to make it taste like the liquor that I had in Ecuador.
The Mayonnaise here has its spout in a very inconvenient place.
A little treat for my Christmas dinner.
Another little holiday treat.
Tonic water for cocktails
The only jellies I could find were american brands, so I opted for honey.
The chicken was big and meaty. Chicken was expensive in the grocery store in Cuenca, so I rarely bought any. With chicken as cheap as it is here, I will be eating a lot.
A lot of produce for $1.65!

I have really been watching my budget since I have been here, because I spent too much while I was in Texas. The funny thing is, I haven’t bought any street food, not because I couldn’t fit it into my budget, but because I find it hard to spend 20 pesos on a piece of pizza. It seems like too much, even though it is still only about a dollar.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype
  • Email

Let me know if anyone is out there :) Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

My Inconvenient Live

I am a retired American Merchant Mariner.  l was living a nomadic lifestyle somewhere between being a nomad and an expat, before Covid19. I moved from country to country as my visas ran out. This blog covered my travels and the random thoughts about life, technology, travel, and the Oxford comma. Now I am stuck waiting for the pandemic to pass. During this time my posts will have very little to do with traveling, and more to do with keeping myself entertained during lockdown.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Site Navigation

  • Travel
    • Travel Planning
      • Accommodations
      • The Basics
      • Budgeting
      • Getting Ready
      • Packing
      • Transportation
    • Americas
      • Colombia
      • Mexico
        • Guanajuato
      • Ecuador
        • Galapagos
        • Cuenca
      • Peru
        • Arequipa
      • United States
    • Europe
      • Greece
      • France
      • Poland
        • Warsaw
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
        • Scotland
        • England
    • Postcards
    • Travel Minutia
  • Nomad’s Food
    • food
      • Street Food
    • Cooking
    • Beer
    • Coffee
    • Recipes
    • Wine
  • Shopping
  • Geek Life
    • Computer Follies
    • Gaming
      • Stardew Valley
  • History
    • Childhood Memories
    • Cadet Memories
    • Coast Guard Years
  • Random Thought
    • Life Hacks
    • Retirement
    • Pontificating
    • Talking Story
  • Books
    • Novels by S. L. Pirtle
      • The Ten Year Divorce
      • The Accidental Texan
    • Book Reviews
  • Travelogues
    • 1990 Italy
    • Greece 1998
    • 1999 Scotland
    • Spain 2000
  • Privacy Policy

Archives

  • June 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
©2023 An Inconvenient Life | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com
 

Loading Comments...