Alpha Beta

After spending so many years in Asia, it’s a little weird to be traveling and realize you’re just an average Joe. Unlike Asia where being white and American automatically put you involuntarily at the top of the social ladder and make you a point of interest on local maps, in Greece, we’re white – they’re white. Snooze.

The tourists around us are mostly Greek, Italian and French. You have to listen to know who’s who. In fact, we don’t even have a lot of money. We’re just average tourists except that we’re always setting up our computers at this cafe and that restaurant.

We don’t spend extravagantly on meals or shopping in that vacation way anymore because now we’re seven weeks into our trip and we’re here on Patmos for a month – long enough to say we’re temporarily “living here.” At least that’s how we want it to feel.

Accordingly, we made our first trip to the island’s one and only “full” supermarket – Alpha Beta. Much like the Alpha Beta some of us may remember from childhood in Southern California, the store lacked a certain something. There is no need to “tell a friend.” It’s bland, rough around the edges, but comprehensive. We found absolutely no lack of cheese, yogurt or olive oil – the main ingredients of everything Greek.

As I mentioned in the post on the Antalya grocery store excursion, I love visiting grocery stores in other countries because you can learn so much about a culture through what people consume and how it’s sold. In this case – perhaps largely because they’re European. But even regionally within the United States, you see differences in products and consumption. And there were a few interesting discoveries at the Alpha Beta.

Whole frozen octopus in the clearly labeled whole frozen octopus section. Lamb, chicken, octopus….all lined up in the freezers….followed by frozen giant squid the size of a large leg of lamb.

Then there were waffles. Dessert waffles are all the rage in Greece. Everywhere we’ve been, freshly made Belgian waffles with toppings – such as chocolate and Nutella – and ice cream of gelato with whipped cream are standard dessert fare at restaurants and stands.

What I didn’t expect were packaged snack waffles in the grocery store. Like home, if it’s good fresh and homemade, it must be good processed and packaged to go. I was a little surprised that Greeks go for that.

Cereal is mostly all the same Kellogg’s classics from home except for one major item that nearly stopped Emily dead in her tracks. “Brilliant!” she exclaimed. Long tube-shaped cereal filled with lots of Nutella. Much like Cookie Crisp, there’s probably a nutritional value deficit in this cereal. But the idea of Nutella bursting out cereal had the effect on Emily that every food manufacturer prays for at night. And so it probably does with many toothless children.

However, there was none of the amazing, shocking and life changing stuff you find in Asian grocery stores. Not once did I say “What is this?!”, “I’ve never seen that before!” or “People eat this?!” Which goes back to the fact that we’re white and they’re white and they’re not that interesting in the same way that we’re not that interesting. But it’s fine. Instead we can appreciate how cute one brand of their yogurt is when sold in tiny earthenware bowls instead of plastic cartons.

And in the end, Emily got the owner of the hotel to give us a hot plate, some dishes and a pot and a pan despite the fact that we moved out of our original studio in favor of a room with better WiFi signal. So, we’ll be making breakfast over the little refrigerator – but we’re “home” for now on Patmos.

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