Shopping with boys

Grocery shopping has always been a fun experience back in college. Granted, it was done at unearthly hours and usually as an emergency response for having absolutely NOTHING edible at home, but that was part of the fun. My sis and I felt at home as we walked through the aisles of Plaza and were greeted with smiles from the now very familiar staff. We knew where everything was and worked our way in a very systematic and efficient manner that was perfected throughout the years. In an attempt to stick to a budget, one of us would be assigned the job of adding up the items as we shopped; a job we both sucked at big time, but kept up the practice anyway. We would always pause in front of the pet food section, reevaluating whether our big fat cat was truly worth paying an arm and a leg on Whiskas cans, litter sand and other cat-related stuff. Oh but he was!

My life for the last year and a half has been grocery-shopping-free, as I found myself no longer responsible for stocking up the fridge with food and announcing the death of some of its occupants (or in equally traumatic instances reporting them as alarmingly "alive" and proliferating!!).

Two recent trips to the grocery store, however, have proved very amusing to me. One was done in Amman with Nasser and the other took place this morning with my brother. Here's a little background information on both to put things in context. Up until his recent visit, Nasser hadn't visited the middle east for the last 10 years. And this is Abood's third year in Canada, as a college student who's cooking abilities do not exceed microwaved popcorn (sometimes, he even burns that:P).

Although the two events took place seperately, I have found them to be interestingly similar. I have observed some common attributes in both, which I'm about to share. With minor differences, both trips involved the following:

1. Constant Route Maneuvering: For some reason they were both inclined to constantly go off course and make sharp turns right and left (sometimes for a legitimate reason, but usually just for the heck of it), while I struggled to keep up, and got understandably disoriented in the process!

2. The Zoning-In Effect: That one is pretty impressive. With Nasser, no matter what was the item we were searching for (eggs, bananas, or even toothpaste) time and time again we would somehow end up right in front of the Ferrero Rocher stand. He insisted it was a sign, and I was quick to agree (hey you do not brush off signs, especially when they arrive in the shape of seriously good chocolate). As for Abood, I noticed him suddenly being drawn in one direction and was picking up speed as he moved on determinedly. He eventually zoned in on a Zalatimo Sweets box! Who knew they even had that here in Kuwait? I call that the sugar-junkie masculine intuition! Impressive.

3. Sudden irreversible Attachment to random Objects: Nasser did a double take then excitedly (and I mean EXCITEDLY) exclaimed "Oh my God!!! This is the exact same milk carton we used to drink as kids in our summers here. It hasn't changed one bit!!". He wouldn't budge until it was added to our shopping basket. In Abood's case, the lucky recipient of his emotional devotion was a box of Turkish Labaneh called Pinar (It's very tasty and extremely fatty) that we used to eat as kids. Again, I had no choice but to add it to our basket or I am sincerely convinced we would still be standing there.

4. Woman-where-is-the-fat mean looks: For some reason they booth took it personally when I added to the basket something that read "low fat". The condescending looks on their faces did not vanish until they were provided with enough chocolates to distract them!

5. A weight off my shoulders- literally!: Both times, we had a shopping basket and not a cart since we weren't planning on getting a lot of things. But apparently, things add up and with Nasser's childhood milk cartons and Abood's Zalatimo boxes, the baskets grew substantially heavy. The silver lining: they insisted on carrying the basket themselves, which made my life so much easier;) A luxury I never had while shopping alone in Amman.

Isn't grocery shopping so much fun?:)

Today is Abood's last night here. I can hear Mama giving him instructions on how to handle and store all the goodies she's made for him to take back home. It seems only yesterday when I was happily packing my own goodie-filled tupperwares. My mom hoped they would keep us nourished for a while, at least a couple of weeks. I remember how we would literally live off them (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks), that no more than 3 days after our arrival, left would only be empty tupperwares that require dishwashing!

I can't believe the week is over. It was so good having him here. I'm so used to him being around now, I really will be missing him tons. I almost forgot about his gift of teasing and tormenting me so persistently and creatively that I am left with no choice but to burst out yelling and chase him with a flip flop (no of course I don't do that, why would you think that?:P). Good times good times :D
Gosh, I'm so gonna miss you crazy bro! Me loves you lots. lots and lots!