Gasoline clean

Well in the continuing saga of the computer being broken and the internet being out, things are still unsettled.  I was using hubby's very small mini laptop for a couple of days which isn't great for editing pictures on and though at the moment I'm on the old "broken" laptop, all my files are on a hard drive which is currently with hubby at work.  So, not sure when I'll get to finishing the editing of pictures from our walk.  I had really hoped to have them up rather quickly.

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The other day I noticed it smelled like gasoline in the bathroom and so I closed the window thinking that would keep the smell out.  Only it didn't.  I noticed it the next day as well and mentioned to hubby that it smelled like gasoline in the bathroom.  He said yeah he had noticed it too and that some people use gasoline to clean out their drains.

My mind kind of just boggled at that.  Whaaaaat?????  Who on earth would pour gasoline down their drain to clean it?  Bleach I can understand.  Cleaner specifically for drains I can understand.  But gas???  And especially down a shared drain when you don't know what someone else has put down as well?

Sometimes I'm really just stunned at the things people do here that would never fly or that are illegal in the States.

I'm still constantly amazed at the sight of whole families riding motorcycles and scooters, including newborn and young babies, and none of them wearing helmets.  Not to mention no one wearing seat belts in cars.

I actually heard something that was one of those amusing/sad things the other day.  There were t-shirts being made that had a seat belt printed on them so that it would look like you were wearing your seat belt while driving without you actually having to wear it. 

I'm not sure if people understand that they really do save lives or they think that the enforcement is just another way for the police here to earn money.  Which is what I was assured was the reason for the new enforcement.

This country is so behind in so many ways.  The thinking is so backward.  The education is just completely lacking.  And further, people don't seem to care.  I don't know if this is because they are too busy trying to survive and feed themselves and their families, or if there is some other reason.

Sometimes I feel sure that if everyone in this country could stop looking out for themselves for a while (I mean in terms of being greedy) and put their vision toward the common good and greater goal, this country might actually get somewhere.  But I'm doubtful that will happen. 

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A few weeks ago, just before the end of Ramadan, we went shopping at Metro and Alfa markets.  Metro we have been to before, so there wasn't a big surprise in terms of the products and imported goods they carry there, although this particular time they seemed to be lacking in a bunch of the things we are usually looking for.  Whether this was due to Eid coming and people stocking up or just the end of Ramadan and the store being depleted I'm not sure.

However, Alfa market was a whole new experience.  I had been wanting to go for quite some time now, maybe even as long as a year.  It just isn't really on our way anywhere so we never made it, though in reality it isn't all that far away.

Well, they do carry imported goods as well, and the store is quite a bit larger and carrying quite a bit more variety of goods.  Not all imported from the States, many imported from Europe, Germany in particular I noticed.

But, although they had more variety, they were also more expensive.  Remember that we don't try to figure out how much it would cost in dollars, we treat the pound as if it were a dollar.  So paying 30 pounds for some pickle relish was pretty steep.  Would you pay 30 dollars for a bottle of pickle relish?  Nevertheless, we did.  lol

We also bought some cereal.  Cereal is not as big here as it is in the States, and most of what I see is imported or a knockoff of the brands that sell in the States.  Just a few weeks before I had been visiting the folks in California, and had been eating Post lightly frosted shredded wheat for breakfast on many mornings, and though I had not seen any in our regular store here, I did see some at Alfa.  The price was just crazy though.  I told hubby it was too much to spend for a box of cereal.  He really wanted me to just get it so that I would have something to eat for breakfast besides the breads I make all the time.  So, 47 pounds for a box of cereal.   Crazy.

I'm actually just about to open the box now.  We had so much food towards the end of Ramadan and for Eid that I really didn't have a place to keep an open box of cereal, as I wanted to keep it in the fridge.  So... lightly frosted wheat, at 47 pounds, here I come!  I plan to eat small amounts at a time to make it last.  I just can't justify paying that much for cereal on a regular basis.  We also got a box of some knockoff brand of frosted flakes, but the price wasn't nearly as much at *only* 27 pounds.  lol

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New foods I have made lately, which will have pictures at some point here, include home made pizza, zucchini carpaccio, nachos, and salsa (no picture on that one).  There could be some more but that's what I'm remembering at the moment. 

I've also made a couple of things for hubby that he's never had before.  Sloppy joes, which I made with a mix I brought back from the States, and "American" style (or maybe just my style, lol) tuna sandwhiches.

Hubby never heard of mixing mayo and mustard and relish with tuna, they don't do that kind of thing here, so though he was skeptical of it he tried it and was actually really pleased with it and had it several times after the first.  He had always heard me talking about making my son tuna sandwiches when I was in the States and so he finally got to try them.  I realize people do tuna differently, some adding onions or celery or pickles or what have you, this is just how mine evolved.  Relish is easier than chopping up pickles.  lol

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So, hopefully pictures to come soon, just don't know when.