Our shopping options include: two South Africa chains- Spar and Pick n Pay, plus one local chain- Melissa's, and the US Commissary. And it is entirely possible that one must visit all of these locations to find everything on one's list.
Melissa's is a big grimy and its selection seems to be based on whatever fell off a truck somewhere that week. You feel like you want to take a shower after you have been inside, and I usually wipe off everything before putting it away at home. I also wouldn't buy meat there. But, the produce is surprisingly good, and they have the cookies I like, as well as the really yummy tonic water (so important to get your malaria protection somehow, C and I prefer the vodka/gin and tonic route. I jest. Lusaka is high enough in elevation that malaria prophylaxis is not actually necessary, though it is recommended if traveling outside of the city. But is sounds better to claim we have a legitimate medical reason to drink!). Melissa's is also super close to the house, so good for quick runs for milk or other forgotten staples.
Spar, or Super Spar as is officially called (is there a regular not Super Spar out there somewhere? I don't know) is a pretty typical feeling grocery store. Pretty clean, with good bread and a nice alcohol selection. It also consistently has the yogurt K likes.
Pick n Pay is relatively new and, as such, is almost always crazy crowded and parking is nearly impossible. However, it is worth the trip because it is the only place I can find Laughing Cow cheese and Laughing Cow dipping sticks snack packs to which K is totally addicted. It also has, in my opinion, nicer meat.
The Commissary has an eclectic and ever changing selection of American products. It is a good resource for things like corn chips, or popcorn, or whole wheat pasta, or goldfish crackers. It also, oddly enough, has some really good locally made fresh salsa. The downside to the Commissary is that it is only open til 1 and sometimes randomly closes for restocking without any warning.
Things that are oddly totally missing and driving me a little crazy are red pepper flakes, which I love to use in many, many recipes, and limes. The red pepper flakes are particularly amusing because the single item that broke in our big air shipment was a jar of red pepper flakes! Everything else, including electronics and other food items, were just fine. But the red pepper flakes, sadly, did not make it and are just nowhere to be found out here. Lots of peri peri seasoning, as well as other types of pepper-type seasonings, but not red pepper flakes. Limes are also almost totally absent, which is really odd because there are lemon trees everywhere, including three in our yard, so you would logically think that there would also be limes. We have only been able to find them once though, which is terribly sad as the afore mentioned gin or vodka and tonic without a slice of lime is just not quite as wonderful. Also, real ice cream, not some sort of scary not really dairy frozen concoction is hard to find. I totally want an ice cream maker for valentine's day :).
So, after one has visited 3-4 different stores and still probably not found everything on one's list, it is now necessary to come home and deal with the purchases. This means putting all meat in the freezer for a couple of days to make sure any nasty parasite type things are killed. This is a real challenge for meal planning as it then requires actually thinking about what dinner is going to be with sufficient advanced notice to defrost things. It is also necessary to really thoroughly scrub all fruits and veggies, and then let them soak in a solution of water and a bit of bleach before consuming.
All of the above is a very long way of saying that we are eating well, and not all that differently from what we had at home, it is just a lot more time consuming, while also occasionally frustrating and amusing.
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