the fun things I can put into my body...

I just returned from my first trip to the grocery store, and I am going to need to learn to seriously pace myself. I tried very hard to conceal my absolute exuberance as I walked up and down aisles of foods that I didn’t even know existed; I doubt I succeeded. Generally speaking, I know my way around a produce aisle pretty handily. I have eaten my fair share of pomegranates, parsnips, golden kiwi, blood oranges, leeks, rutabagas, watercress, arugula, star fruit, and horned melons. Typically when I go to a grocery store in the States, the cashier has to ask me exactly what is in my produce bags because he/she frankly doesn’t have a clue. I used to pride myself on my vast knowledge of foods that were grown on a tree or in the ground. I lost that pride today; it has been replaced with deep and sincere humility. And it only begins at the produce. The excessive variety of herbs, sprouts, seaweed, tofu, noodles, sushi, and slimy fish was almost overwhelming. Where you would normally find the section of artisanal meats and cheeses in an American grocery store, you would find soy products and various organisms that came from the sea. Where you would normally go to pick up a whole frozen chicken you would go to pick up a whole frozen octopus. How do you cook an entire octopus, or even a partial octopus for that matter? Even foods that are common to all parts of the world take on a different taste here. I just ate a grape. It had slightly thicker skin and was not genetically modified to have the seeds removed. When I bit into it, I had to seriously question if it was a grape or not. I’ve never been fooled into believing that high-fructose corn syrup laden fruit snacks and juices taste even remotely similar to fruit. I guess the joke’s on me; these grapes are so sweet that they taste exactly like Welch’s grape juice fruit snacks. Even if I purchased one item I have never eaten before every time I went to the grocery store for the next year, I would still be unable to try everything. Of course, you can also find plenty of “western” foods in the grocery store, but they’re so much less exciting. In any event, I’m glad they’re there…I don’t think I can eat squid for every meal…