Walmart

Without car here you are dead. Or at least can't do anything apart from sitting home. I was told that I can call a cab so we went to do some shopping.

Life here seems to be cheap. Cab is - I have the feeling - is cheaper than in Budapest. And Walmart is definitely cheaper then Hungarian Tesco. Our cart was full with food and some extra items we wanted for the apartment and I paid only $120. I think the same amount of stuff at home would cost about 1.5 to 2 times more.

Hungarians are everywhere. 1st day here and there was a couple with a kid at Walmart speaking Hungarian... :)

Shopping there was a real experience. At home isles are dedicated and organised: wines; soda; basic grocery items like flour, sugar salt, rice, spices; beauty care items; household items; electronics; clothes. Well here food is mixed. Basically there are isles, but they are not organised. You find a bunch of junk food items like chips, sugar cakes, instant food, and hidden in between a couple of bag of rice. Or flour. But you have to hunt these items. Unlike junk food. No wonder why Americans are unhealthy and obese. They don't have any other chance. In the freezers we could find some chicken breasts but it was hidden between hamburger patties, ready made food that you have to put in the oven/microwave or you have to deep fry them. And the most interesting thing was: no vegetables and fruits. Not a single peace. But about 100 different kind of soda, candy, cookie etc. I guess we have to find supermarkets with "farmer's marked" in their subtitle :) Crazy.

yummie!

I wanted to buy grounded EU to US AC adapters. The one I got from the company says grounded but I have no idea how they meant it. The US part is grounded but the EU part is flat, so there is no way it is grounded. I asked a lady in the electronics department if they have something like that. She went to check it and came back 5 minutes later that she doesn't have any idea what I would be needing, but they do have a couple of them left on isle 1... Eh? Well they did have power chords :D They just can't say here, sorry no, we don't have any. They say some bullshit, so you might buy something :D Capitalism!!!

Same at Radio Shack. I wanted to buy some pre-paid SIM cards, since roaming is super expensive. I asked the salesman if they have any. He told me they don't sell SIM cards but they do sell phones, and there are SIM cards in them... Facepalm...

Same with the taxi driver. I just told him to get us to the nearest Walmart. When we got out I asked in which town we are, so on the way back I can tell the dispatcher on the phone where to send the cab. Well the response was giving me his direct number and I should call him, he knows where we are... I had to ask again to let him tell us that we are in Mountain View...

The best was the cab driver back (yes it was another one). I asked for a receipt, so I can claim the money back, and he gave me an empty one. I asked him kindly to fill it out :D

This is just crazy. It is sooooo far from the things I got used to.

PS.: The only thing that is not sweet is sugar :) This morning I tried to yogurt we bought. I thought my lips will stick together forever.