We went grocery shopping for about the 5th time this week, but this time we went to a place called Waitrose which is a British grocery chain in the Dubai Marina Mall. If you're keeping count, we've been to Geant in Ibn Battuta, Carrefour at the Mall of the Emirates, the Almaya Supermarket on the bottom floor of our building, and now Waitrose. Waitrose is my favorite! It's probably because it's the most organized, clean, and the most "Western." Joe tells me that Geant is the cheapest, but I'm going to have to brave that place again early one morning when it's not packed to the gills.
Anyway, I knew we'd start to miss things that we're used to having at home. Here's some of those things:
- Goldfish crackers
- Wheat thins (actually the only crackers I've seen are Ritz or water crackers)
- Frank's Red Hot sauce
- Yoplait yogurt (we especially miss Dora yogurt)
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Diaper Genie - type contraptions (Enter: accidental panda bear basket from Geant)
- pepperjack cheese
- Swiffers :(
- White Cheddar rice cakes, although you can get them lightly salted which seems to suit Colin just fine)
- A decent office section of any store. I can't find a file box for my Freedom Filer and the paper I've found isn't 3-hole punched
- Cribs without a drop side
And some things that are just different:
- The milk is creamier and isn't kind to the digestive system
- The Diet Coke has a bad aftertaste (Most people say Diet Coke has a bad aftertaste in the US, too, but I would argue)
- Joe says the loaf bread here is an "aquired taste." Maybe it's a different sort of wheat?
- Doritos. The spices aren't the same.
- Eggs. The yolk is orange instead of yellowish gold.
And some of the things I was pleased to find:
- Huggies & Pampers diapers
- Animal crackers without high fructose corn syrup
- Fruits and veggies from the US in the produce section
- Laughing cow cheese
- Athenos & Sabro hummus
- Sargento string cheese
- Organic food
- Take 'n Toss toddler bowls and utensils
They have a separate room that says "Pork for Non-Muslims" in most stores. The strangest things are in there...even Pop-Tarts. Kind of gross, right?
I'm sure there are many more things we'll discover about brands here. I'm amused by the 'Scottonelle' toilet paper. Merger, maybe?
Anyway, I knew we'd start to miss things that we're used to having at home. Here's some of those things:
- Goldfish crackers
- Wheat thins (actually the only crackers I've seen are Ritz or water crackers)
- Frank's Red Hot sauce
- Yoplait yogurt (we especially miss Dora yogurt)
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Diaper Genie - type contraptions (Enter: accidental panda bear basket from Geant)
- pepperjack cheese
- Swiffers :(
- White Cheddar rice cakes, although you can get them lightly salted which seems to suit Colin just fine)
- A decent office section of any store. I can't find a file box for my Freedom Filer and the paper I've found isn't 3-hole punched
- Cribs without a drop side
And some things that are just different:
- The milk is creamier and isn't kind to the digestive system
- The Diet Coke has a bad aftertaste (Most people say Diet Coke has a bad aftertaste in the US, too, but I would argue)
- Joe says the loaf bread here is an "aquired taste." Maybe it's a different sort of wheat?
- Doritos. The spices aren't the same.
- Eggs. The yolk is orange instead of yellowish gold.
And some of the things I was pleased to find:
- Huggies & Pampers diapers
- Animal crackers without high fructose corn syrup
- Fruits and veggies from the US in the produce section
- Laughing cow cheese
- Athenos & Sabro hummus
- Sargento string cheese
- Organic food
- Take 'n Toss toddler bowls and utensils
They have a separate room that says "Pork for Non-Muslims" in most stores. The strangest things are in there...even Pop-Tarts. Kind of gross, right?
I'm sure there are many more things we'll discover about brands here. I'm amused by the 'Scottonelle' toilet paper. Merger, maybe?
So much to miss! You never know what is an "American thing." I bet you'll be replacing it with new favorites soon though.
ReplyDeleteWe actually stopped using a diaper genie with Delia - I just keep extra plastic shopping bags in the nursery and bagged the poopy diapers, and throw the others straight out. Cheaper and easier!
First, I'm reading every post and loving them. It's fascinating to compare the expat experience in Brazil vs. Dubai.
ReplyDeleteSecond, you have confirmed a hypothesis I had about life in Dubai v. Rio. It sounds like there are many more US stores and brands in Dubai than I have found in Rio. Brazil has a sky high import tax and policy of protecting national industries, whereas I'm pretty sure Dubai sent out engraved invitations to every Western business asking them to invest.
That said the style of dress, gender interaction, religion, and amount of skin exposed on any given sidewalk in the US are more similar to Rio than Dubai. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to based on your posts.
Sara, I was slightly panicked about not having one, but now I'm not missing it as much as I thought it would. Brynn, YES, you are right :) Did you ever think I'd be your expat friend??
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm a little hesitant to publicly share that I know this (and off the top of my head no less!), but.... Scott and Cottonelle are both made by Kimberly-Clark. So TP called Scottonelle would make sense!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find a good substitute for gold fishies soon!! And some good bread too, that could be a bummer!