In the land of Wal-Mart

This weekend, I decided it was time to conquer my fear of mass transit, so I set out to learn how to use the Metrobus. The Metrobus is sort of line an above-ground subway; it runs a set route, up and down a main avenue. There were some hiccups: the Metrobus picks up riders in a raised median lane in the middle of a busy road, and I didn't realize the entrance was on the opposite end of the road from me - which meant I was wandering IN the median lane while a bus was barreling down on me. Then I couldn't figure out how to work the ticket machine, and almost lost 50 pesos until a traffic cop took pity on me and showed me how to use the stupid thing (side note: machines that require you to put in money, then take a card out, then reinsert that card in a different slot in order to actually have your money stored on it, but don't actually tell you any of these things in the display area, are stupid). Anyway, after I managed all of that, actually riding the Metrobus was a snap. There was a designated women/elderly area, which was actually kind of nice: harassment is so incredibly prevalent around here that during rush hour that separate area must be a real gift. However, when I was on the bus it was largely empty. I took it about three miles south, to an area called La Condesa.

La Condesa is a very up-and-coming area, with lots of nice cafes and shops and green spaces (although this is Mexico, so most of those green spaces have homeless people in them and smell strongly of garbage). I managed to arrive right around the busiest time of the morning, as people were having breakfast - about 10, here - so was not able to go to a fantastic little bakery I'd found there. I did, however, have a nice breakfast at a coffee shop and then set out for some exploring - which is where my title comes in.

It turns out that, as far as I can tell, the vast majority of grocery stores in Mexico City are owned by Wal-Mart. The one nearest me certainly is, and while it is suitable for basic needs it is lacking a certain something in terms of variety, or what we might call "the more unusual stuff I prefer to eat." So imagine my surprise when I found a much nicer, larger grocery store in La Condesa with a much more interesting supply of foodstuffs - and then, looking at the store brand, realized it too was owned by Wal-Mart! The most exciting thing at my local grocery store is granola; this one had hummus and salted pumpkin seeds and - most interesting of all - lebneh. I find this interesting because lebneh is an Israeli dairy product, sort of a (delicious) cross between yogurt and sour cream. Given that La Condesa isn't the area around here known for its Jewish population (that would be Polanco, which I have yet to explore), I was very surprised to find lebneh there. I would, however, like to point out that Mexican lebneh varies from Israeli lebneh in one key way: while Israeli lebneh is generally plain, so that the primary flavor is the lebneh itself, the Mexicans brought in a very special ingredient - chipotle flavoring. Ok, if I'm being fair, they had plain lebneh too - but how could I turn down the chipotle one?

The other thing I found in La Condesa, which was also exciting, was a cute little brightly colored straw handbag sold by two guys on the street. What was fun about this - and something I really like about Mexico - is that even though it was a street-corner vendor, the bag was hand-made. I could tell, because they were busy making more of them while I watched. And that's the way it is around here: all the things we think of as touristy "Made in China"-type products are actually handmade. It's kind of like living in a giant Etsy store, and I'm looking forward to figuring out just how much of this stuff I can manage to buy and bring home with me.