Students Again

I visited Mariana’s supermarket and experienced a new version of grocery shopping. When I first walked into the door there were vendors selling cowboy boots… that was quite odd. Then, after I got inside the store there were counters with vendors selling phone cards, jewelry, jackets, and many other items. I felt like I was at a swap meet or something. From the beginning  this was proving to be quite a different experience than my normal grocery shopping adventures. As I walked through the supermarket, it was basically the same as any Kroger, Smith’s,  Albertson’s, or Von’s when it came to the products located in the aisles. However, the huge difference was at the bakery counter, meat counter, and the produce section. At the bakery  counter, wide selections of Latino baked goods were available. Most of the baked goods I have never seen or heard of in my past experiences with food. Some of the names of the pastries  were conchas, besos, limas, and orejas. As for the meat counter, it was like being in another world. They had all of the “hard to find” cuts of meat that you cannot find at an  American style grocery. For example, the meat counter at Mariana’s had beef tripe and whole cow’s tongue. They also had some cuts of meat that are less difficult to find, but not  necessarily mainstream in American grocery markets; examples of these meats would be pig’s feet and ox tails. The produce section also contained some products that are not quite the  same in an American market. They had Mexican limes, a decent selection of chilies, and all kinds of other produce that was quite a different twist on produce. Some side notes to include,  they also had a cheese section in their cooler with different types of Mexican cheese. In addition, there was also a selection of Mexican candies available. This experience was rather  interesting and gave me more insight into the types of grocery stores.