Salekhard 206

Salekhard is not the US.

When Deborah goes to the store there is no Walmart.

I want to give you a peek into our shopping experience the other day.

If she wants paints for a craft, she has to go to the craft store.

When she buys groceries she can be sure of some staples,

but she may have to go to several stores, even if she has a short list

(we went to three grocery stores)

flour

sugar 

(but the white sugar and brown sugar is coarse, like raw sugar and powdered sugar comes in small packages that hold about 1 cup.)

rice

noodles

potatoes

carrots

apples (usually)

bread

milk 

another thing that is always available:

fish

(you can smell it as soon as you walk into some stores)

fresh fish

canned fish

frozen fish
smoked fish
dried fish

which is helpful, if you like fish

Availability of many things depends on the time of the year-

and on whether or not there is access to the train.

Right now, with the river thawing access has been sketchy.

Things we take for granted because they are always available:

bananas-there were none-at any of the stores

sour cream-sold out as well

frozen berries-we thought they were blueberries- they weren’t

cream cheese-none of that either

When she wants to buy meat-she goes to a different store

Baking powder comes in a very small package,

at a not small price.

Cinnamon-

may or may not smell and taste like cinnamon.

Peanut butter is a luxury-

she found one store that had some at Christmas

and she bought the three large jars they had.

Otherwise, she has to buy peanuts, 

which are not cheap,

and grind it in her food processor.

Good BBQ sauce-occasionally

Ketchup-there is an abundance of flavors here.  

I didn’t know there were flavors until I mistakenly gave Abigail Mexican ketchup (yellow label) rather than regular ketchup (white label) with her french fries last week.

Kraft Macaroni and cheese-not here. At all. Ever.

We saw Cheetoh’s and bought them as a treat 

Skittles taste different

Deborah cannot buy peppermint anything-

not tea

not mints

not candy canes, even at Christmas.

I brought some mints at Deborah’s request.

Abigail wanted to know if they could save them for Christmas.

It about broke my heart.

When I returned home from visiting her in Kyrgyzstan several years and walked into Wal Mart for the first time I was literally overwhelmed with the size of the store and the choices that are available. It was too much to take in. I left within five minutes.I think it will be even more overwhelming when I return home this time because her choices here are even more limited. Salekhard is not the US, but Salekhard is home for her family, and she is doing a wonderful job adapting to the way things are. She takes wonderful care of her family. I don’t know how she does it, but she makes it look easy. I know it isn’t. I admire her.