I've only been here a month and I think I've already been to every "major" grocery store in town. Of course here, "major" means about the size of your average 7-11 with a selection to match. Most carry some foreign goods, but none carry all the brands you'd like and you have to be very careful to check for expiration dates. For example, only one store carries the brand of Thai yogurt that I like, and it's $1.50 per container.
Yesterday, however, I was granted access to the holy grail for shoppers in Dhaka - the U.S. Embassy Commissary. It took a month, and you have to go through intense security to get in, but I now have an access card. I suspect the large steel box through which you first enter (and in which every part of your car is searched) is not so much to prevent bombers from entering as it is to prevent Canadians and other non-Americans from trying to sneak in and shop.
The commissary is small (also the size of a 7-11), and very overpriced, but stocks all of the necessities an expat needs: Starbucks coffee, Snickers bars, Newmans Own salad dressings and Spagettios. Who cares if a box of Triscuits is $7.00!! Who wouldn't gladly pay $25.00 for a bottle of Tide detergent?! There was a long line for the only checkout, so we were eating M&Ms and Lays in the aisles. It was bliss. We bought so much food that the car was bottoming out on the drive home. And yet - I wonder if they're open today?? What if they run out of Mountain Dew? I think I better go now.
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