11.10.05
Purchase Mistakes
I think one of the more challenging things about living in Italy is learning how to buy things. Stores of any kind are very different here. Most Americans would be amazed at the size of most grocery stores – I’ve seen gas stations bigger than the one just up the street! And to top off all the differences, Italy (like the entire world except the USA!) uses the metric system.
Heidi went to the store the other day to do the weekly shopping. Not seeing ground beef in the butcher’s cabinet, she asked if he had any. He said he would make her some. So he grabs a couple of pieces of meat, asks her how much she needed (2 Kilograms), and starts grinding it. Heidi notices that the price tag on the pile of meat he picked from was about $9 a kilo. But she figured that surely it wouldn’t be that expensive for ground beef. Wrong! He weighed it and the total was around $18 for 2 kilos (about 4 1/2 lbs) of beef. He ground up steak to make hamburger!
The other day I was walking home from school when I saw a sewing store. Trey’s school uniform is already missing about 4 buttons, so I figured I would swallow my manly pride and head in. It got worse when I walked in and realized it was a sewing / ladies underwear store! I asked the lady if she had buttons. She showed me what she had, but I didn’t know what size I needed. I explained I would return with the uniform so we could get the right size. When I did, I asked her for 6 buttons. The total? €€3.50 … around $4! for 6 buttons!
I’ll know we have truly understood this culture when we learn how to shop here!