Grocery shopping in Ethiopia is much different than how I shopped in America. I was one of those people that HATED grocery shopping. I mean, literally, hated. So every two weeks when I got paid I would go to Bi-Lo or WalMart and stock up for two weeks. During the middle of the month I would buy lots so at the beginning of the month I only had to buy a little. There were some months that I bought enough during the middle of the month that I wouldn’t have to go at the beginning of the month (those months were my favorite).
Shopping here is a totally different experience. First of all, I don’t have a car here so when I shop I either have to take taxi (which is a huge pain because then I am having to carry bags from shop to shop and struggle while getting in and out of the taxi. Or I can take a bajaj (basically a personal, 3-wheeled taxi). This is fine except for some reason I feel like I am taking too long for the bajaj driver and I am keeping him from something important (although, he gets paid by the amount of time I use him for) so I rush and sometimes forget things and then I feel bad for making them stop at so many different places.
So let me walk you through a typical “big” shopping day. Debre Zeit basically has one huge main road that everything is off of so I go all the way to the end of town (approximately 4 miles) and hit up my favorite veggie shop. In this shop I normally buy green beans, carrots, potatoes, beets, red onions, zucchini, eggplant, and garlic. Sometimes they surprise me and have different items like, the other day I went absolutely crazy because they had cucumbers and white onions!!!
My fav veggie shop
Then I go to the next shop where I buy pasta, peanut butter, rice, mangos, condiments, and random stuff. I go to the next shop where I buy a frozen chicken (if I am splurging that week ‘cause chicken is kinda expensive. It’s about $6.50 for one small chicken). Then I go to the next shop where I get cheese, butter, eggs, and yogurt. Cheese is only purchased rarely because it is expensive (1lb is approximately $3.50). I don’t buy cheese often but sometimes I give in.
Then I go to the next vegetable shop where I buy red, yellow, and green bell peppers, green chili peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries if they have it. Then I go to another shop to buy bread and milk. Then the last stop is to buy sugar and flour.
So that is 7 stops just to buy groceries!! It is very tiring. And I have to do it quite often because food here doesn’t have preservatives in it (which of course is a good thing) so food spoils easily. Plus, the veggies here are already ripe when you buy them so you have to use them pretty much within 2-3 days or they go bad.
I, however, do have the luxury of having a freezer so I am able to freeze many things to aid in their shelf life but I spend a lot of time grocery shopping. I really don’t know how people function without a fridge, stove, or freezer. It amazes me to think they can feed their family without the aid of a fridge, freezer, and stove!!
Oh, and the store’s offerings are very varied so I can never go into a shop and feel as if I “must” buy something because they may or may not have it. Meal planning is difficult!
And of course there are some things that you can not get in Debre Zeit so you have to go to Addis (the capital city which is about an hour away). There I buy beef (again, not often because it is pricey), canned whole tomatoes, and other random food and household items that are not found in my town. Quality meat is VERY hard to get here so that is why I treat any and all canned meat that is sent to me like gold. Canned tuna, tuna packets, canned roast beef and gravy, canned chicken, and canned salmon are huge blessings to me!!!
After a day of shopping I am so tired and dirty I just want to lay there but then I have to cook the food I just bought!!! I will post another blog about cooking in Ethiopia because that is also a new experience for me!!
