Shopping

There are many things we take for granted in America, and one of them is one-stop shopping.  I miss the convenience of going to Walmart or Target to buy pretty much everything on my list.  Now I make my shopping list for the week, and then I divide it into different lists depending on where it can be purchased.  I go to one store to buy meat, one to buy vegetables, one for fruit, one for eggs, and then fortunately there is a grocery store that sells all of my grains, spices, milk, cheese... but office supplies, cleaning supplies, hardware, toys,... all have their own stores as well.  I guess the closest thing we have to one stop shopping is Pultaan Bazaar- though it is a distance from our house-  This is a few blocks of just stores: plastics stores, metal stores, wicker stores, clothing stores, paper stores, fabric stores, vegetable stands, fruit stands, chicken, fish, pork, eggs... these are all sold in separate stores, and the stores that sell the same thing are all grouped together. 
   There is however a positive to having to buy everything at a different store, and that is relationship.  Though I frequently went to the same checkout lady at Walmart and saw the same house wives shopping at 10am on a Monday, I never really got to know any of them.  Here, you get to know your shopkeeper, you build a relationship, a trust develops, and then maybe the vegetable lady will stop charging me twice the price she charges the locals (but I doubt it).