PR Day 7:
Errands
Today was going to be time with Dad, but a dead body got in the
way. So it became an errand day with Mom. Home Depot for fire ant
poison, Sam's for household stuff, Ralph's for groceries. Sam's
Club could have been anywhere: its layout was ust like the one in
Santa Fe. Yet we were very definitely not in New Mexico: the
cartons of Lotus pineapple juice, the dozens of Serrano ham hocks
prominently displayed and attractively priced, the subtle absence
of snowshoes.
And the diabetes. Wow. Loads and loads of sugar free foods. Cans of
power shakes "specially formulated for diabetes". What's going on?
CDC claims that
ten percent
of adults in Puerto Rico have diabetes. Holy piña colada.
On a possibly related note: one of the most wonderful aspects of PR
is the plethora of bakeries. You're never more than a couple of
minutes away from one, sometimes from several. Fresh bread is an
important part of life. The downside, which nevery truly hit home
until today, is that nobody bakes. Nobody. Supermarkets don't even
carry yeast. Heck, they don't carry
flour! If they do, it's
a handful of small sacks - and it's only the bleached stuff. You
really have to see it to believe it.
I was able to find a 1-pound bag of Fermipan at Ralph's, a local
superstore. It was in the bulk foods section next to the gallon
cans of bakery supplies. To find it I had to ask a manager; the
store staff weren't familiar with the word "levadura" (yeast) and
had no idea what it was.
Posted by Ed | Categories:
Travel