Thursday, March 7

 
Aisles of cultural exploration

There's one thing you won't find anywhere in all the thousands of square feet of your favorite Super-Shopper Mega Hypermarket food store: the kind of close-to-the-ground cultural experience you get when you walk down the crowded, tilting, wooden aisles of your local ethnic grocery store. In my town, it's the new Mexican and Asian stores that pop up on street corners and in old buildings nobody else wants. You won't find all the modern conveniences we've gotten used to in the typical American supermarket, but then you also won't be able to choose from 20 different kinds of coconut milk or jasmine rice at Wal-Mart, either. If you really want to know a culture but can't fly over for a visit, walk around a grocery store and talk with the people who work there. Even if you don't know the language, and they don't know yours, you'll be able to get your point across.
posted by Unknown 2:22 PM