Where Were My Rainboots When I Needed Them?

....in my closet, of course, among "the shoes in my closet"! Those rainboots now have a new home....in the floorboard of our Baku SUV!



A couple of Saturdays ago, (we were without internet for a few weeks while waiting for it to be installed in our new apartment so I am behind in my blogging) we went on our first grocery shopping adventure....that's right an adventure! Each store specializes in certain items, stocking only certain brands, so several stops must be made to gather supplies. With most packages written in a language we don't speak, much less read, everything is a guess. So the guessing game we play, spending a lot of time wearing our American shoes walking the aisles searching for our needs.



Each store has many staff members ready to help at the drop of a hat....talk about service! My perspective of non-English speaking residents in my home town has changed immensely. I will never complain again about the aisle in Walmart dedicated to labels in Spanish or Asian markets on every corner of my home town. There is a real need...it's difficult to decipher a foreign language....and no matter how hard you try (even with translation apps on your iPhone), translation is difficult. So guesses are made and so are mistakes....

While we were driving down an unfamiliar street.....remember we are new to the city....with our eyes open to new sights, we came upon this.....



It was raining cats and dogs, so with umbrellas in hand and rainboots in the closet, we entered the beautiful gates to find this....



I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story....















No labels to decipher, no words exchanged, no rainboots...just smiles, lots of laughter...and multiple sacks full of beautiful fruits and vegetables to satisfy our hunger!

If the shoe fits, wear it well!