Snapshot of Shopping

I've alluded several times to the lack of "shopping" here, so thought I would back up my point with a few photos of our commissary.

The Navy Exchange, or "Nex," is THE place to go for the essentials here. Vince also privately refers to the Nex as the "Jamaican General Store" since almost all of the employees there are Jamaican. While quite friendly ("hey, mon!"), these folks do operate on their very own timetable.

The only fresh meat available is beef. Chicken is in the frozen foods case, as is pork. And I'm not sure where the pork comes from because it doesn't taste nearly as good as what we have at home. If we want pork for a meal, I cook it in the crockpot for a LONG time and disguise it with a sauce.

And, as I have mentioned before, you cannot purchase fresh fish at the Nex -- although the freezer cases do hold fish, goat, tripe, and oxtails and other delights.



We didn't immediately grasp the deli department protocol since, as with so many things here, it's not written down and people aren't always forthcoming with information.

If you want to purchase freshly sliced ham or turkey, you can't just ask for it. You have to write it down on sheet of paper. The deli guy will then place the paper in his in-box, and when he is good and ready, he will slice the meat. So, whatever you do, you don't stand there and wait for the order. You come back in 10-15 minutes to see if he has had time in his busy schedule to slice your half-pound of turkey.

I am probably savings hundreds of dollars on cosmetic items since we have no Walgreen's on GTMO and this is ALL of the make-up available.

Irish Moss seems to be a popular beverage among the Jamaicans.

This is the women's clothing department. If you can't find it here (which you mostly can't), you need to rely on the Internet and hope that whatever you order, the company will deliver it here. (We learned that some companies will not mail items to FPO addresses.)

Even though some bits of saracasm might have shone through in this narrative, I don't want anyone to think that we are complaining. We have plenty to eat and if I had any more clothes, I would just have more laundry to do. Making do with less is not such a bad thing.