Shoprite

Mom and I went for groceries this morning.  I love grocery shopping, in any country.  I find it fun to see what is standard in another country's grocery store.  There is a very good grocery store not far from Mom and Dad called Shoprite.  It is kept clean and it has an impressive variety of items in stock, although the stock doesn't have the consistency of a western grocery.  In addition to food,  you can find other household things.  There is also a section called "Pronto a comer," which means "ready to eat."  It is the Wegman's of Beira, if you like.  Right now, most of the shelves are fully stocked, but in the rainy season, there may be bare times when the trucks can't get through on the roads.

I was looking for a bit of something sweet.  I found pineapple flavored chocolate!  I went instead for a local milk chocolate bar.  My chocolate bar (about the size of a snickers bar) was 45 Mtn, which is about $1.70.  

I had a good giggle at this: spice for fish and spice for rice.  What else would you need?  This gives you a good indicator of typical Mozambican diet!

These are Maggi's 2 Minute Noodles, basically Ramen Noodles.  I had to wrinkle my nose at the idea of pizza flavored ramen!

I'm enjoying the variety of juices, although the prices are a little bit expensive, as is everything here.  The above, as you can guess, are peach and pineapple.  A 1 litre (.264 of a gallon) bottle of juice is 59 Mtn ($2.19).  

"Thank you for shopping at Shoprite!"  It is a good place to be able to shop but food is expensive here (in Moz, not just at Shoprite).  Six eggs cost 27 Mtn ($1).  A 400g can of tomato paste is 26 Mtn ($.96).  A package of cheese is 191 Mtn ($7.00).  

This is the stream of traffic we have to cross to exit Shoprite.  Pedestrians just keep walking and oncoming traffic doesn't slow down.  Mom says that is her adrenaline rush for the day!

This isn't a very good picture, but this is the beginning of a huge market, called Goto Market or more formally known as T'Shungamoyo Mercado do Maquinino.  It is a huge maze of stands and has an unsavory reputation.  We've been cautioned not to go into the market.  Here you can find everything from earbuds to chickens.

Our last stop on the way home was to get fuel.  It was Mom's first time to get fuel on her own here.  I had to snap a picture.  She's chatting with the service station attendant, finding out how to say "Fill it up!" in Portuguese.