Sept 15 - First Groceries

A wise friend, as I fretted about the steep rise in the cost of items since visiting a year ago (Indian inflation sets new records each quarter & closing near 10%) astutely surmised that some things would be more than I thought I'd spend, some things would be less. I thought of him tonight as my kind landlord & two sisters, who traveled in to meet me, help me settle, took me to the nearest grocery store, Spencer's - a long time Kolkatan mainstay since 1836! It feels so good to know I'll be able to cook fresh food tomorrow, know what I'm eating, no matter how much I love Indian cuisine... here's what 2749 INR, or $57.91 USD buys at the local Spencer's Grocer:

1 straw broom for the daily maid to sweep the house before she washes the marble floors by hand...more on the maid later...I've been tisk-tisked about not wanting one..."It's what is done here" & "there's more pollution so keeping a house nice is much different than America"...
Steam iron for clothes - this was a big chunk of my total, with the iron priced @ 895 INR...without it my total would've been $42.14 USD
cutting board
dishwashing soap
12 rolls of toilet paper
large box of laundry soap
2 kg dried garbonzo beans
1 kg black beans
1 kg navy beans
2 cartons plain yogurt
1 kg butter
marsala spices
black peppercorn
1 kg salt
a loaf of brown bread - a true gift! Most eat a heavier version of Wonder bread...a famous tea house, Flurry's, proper British during Colonial times & tourist spot now, has a deli type glass counter @ the market with fresh bread daily!
okra
tomatoes
carrots
watermelon
bananas
onions
mushrooms
two liters of fruit juice, orange & litchi twist!
small jar of Sanka (the search for whole coffee beans continues...)
large bag of tea


Milk, in half liter bags, is delivered daily, every other day or weekly to my door, with tallies made with each delivery on a card we both sign, billed on the last day of each month. Newspapers are also brought to the flat, though I postponed it until we figure out if I'll have a TV. (There are several English newspapers in Kol...my friends have explained that it's difficult to get an unbiased opinion of events by only reading one...we laughed that it's just like in the US)

All in all a good first day!