Tesco = Wal-Mart (Not)

In our city there are 3 stores that seem to resemble Wal-Mart, where as everyone knows you can do one stop shopping. Rather than being called supercenters, they are called hypermarkets. These hypermarkets look remarkabley similar to Wal-Mart. Both Wal-Mart and these hypermarkets sell food, clothing, home decor, and seasonal items. Right now, just like all Wal-Marts, these hypermarkets are stocked with back to school supplies.

This morning I went to Tesco because it usually supplies all the requirements for taco night. It is the only store in town where we can buy tortilla chips, and it almost always has ground beef and cheddar cheese. Unfortunately Tesco has been out of the tortilla chips for the last 2 weeks, and today they were still out. Worse the place where the chips are normally displayed is hosting a different product! Our tortilla chip eating days may have come to an end.

In the US we definitely have an abundance of products all made by multiple manufacturers, while there are limited choices in Poland. There are however a few things that always make me smile when I go to a hypermarket. First is that you can always find avocados...in Poland, really?
Second there are more tea choices than you can begin to imagine. An entire row of every hypermarket is devoted to tea and none of it is iced! The tub of live fish -the kind you eat, not the kind you feed- is always good for a smile. Seeing people leave the store with the fish of their choice in a plastic bag is even funnier. Funnier still is seeing all the fish that have been purchased for Christmas dinner being taken to the dinner table via the city bus. I also get a kick out of the chocolate aisle, especially at Christmas time. The chocolate aisle sells chocoalte bars-Snickers, M&M's, and other candy have their own aisle. You can buy white, milk, semi-sweet, or bitter chocolate bars and any of these can be bought in combination with various flavors like mint, toffi, raspberry, or strawberry. During Christmas time the chocolate aisle is constantly being stocked and restocked. They move a lot of chocolate.

So, today I left Tesco without tortilla chips or ground beef (which they were also out of). I couldn't help but think that Wal-Mart would have had both products. What's the point of this? Really that I am perfectly happy without them. I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the world.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support of Lottie Moon that enable to us to live and minister among the people of Poland.