At the grocery store

Now I've been in Canada for about two months. I'm still obsessed with French Canadian radio. And I'm continuing to discover new strange things. Today's lesson, the marketplace.

There's a weird gas cartel here. The Canadian OPEC, or something. Every single gas station in the entire metro Victoria area has the same price. Whenever the gas price changes, they all change. So I guess there's no reason for loyalty. No more are the days of having my favorite local station, of planning my routes around cheap gas. Not that I ever pay all that much attention to gas prices, since I buy gas maybe once a month. But still. I was a devoted Valero and Arco girl. (Haven't seen Valeros or Arcos up here yet either; I guess my loyalty is dead twice over.)

Perhaps worst of all (worse even than the Canadian oil cartel) is that I'm having a hard time at the grocery store. I miss California groceries. (Especially the Nugget. The Nugget is the most awesome grocery store ever.) I just can't seem to find the groceries I want here. For instance, the nutritional yeast is shelved in the pharmacy section. Apparently it's a "health food supplement". Craziness. I had to ask for help to find it. I just wanted to make my Grit Tofu and Grit Yeast Gravy! (Such yumminess, such goodness.) But the Canadian grocery store tried to get in my way!

I'm always having to ask for help in the grocery stores here. On Sunday I couldn't find bags of dried beans (dried beans! Should be international, right?), so I asked the nearest shelver. This little boy (I'm calling him that to belittle him, even though it makes me feel old) directed me to aisle 8, then asking "they're in cans, right?" Try as I might, I couldn't get him to understand that the beans that are in cans are not in fact dry. I wonder if he's ever opened a can of beans? I wonder if he knows the difference between dry and wet?

I still haven't managed to find corn tortillas. It's very sad to me. However, I've heard rumors that they might be with the "ethnic breads" in the deli section. I've found naan and pita bread there. Maybe I just overlooked the corn tortillas. I hope so! I can't bear the thought of a world with only flour tortillas... If not, I might have to make friends with a local Mexican restaurant... :D

However, it isn't all bad. This being the Pacific Northwest (Pacific Southwest?), I have a large variety of apples to sample. They've mostly been good! Spartan, Ambrosia, Jazz, and Pacific Rose apples are all yummy. But be sure to avoid the Honey Crisps. They combine the texture of a Fuji (good) with the flavor of an apple that's going bad (not good).

I'm also extremely excited about all the Canadian cookies I've never had before. It's a whole new world! I'm in the midst of a very scientific, very systematic survey of them. This week I have Toffee Crisps; last week was Chocolate Digestives; the week before, Viva Puffs; and, before that, FudgeeOs. They've all been fantastic! The Canadians do cookies right!

Yep, living in a foreign country is broadening my horizons!