Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Spanish word of the day

I am mostly writing because I feel terrible. I am weak in my faith, and the tasks before me, especially the fundraising projects this year, seem like they will kill me instead of God showing through all of it and seeing it finished soon. Daunting and overwhelming to the point where I want to shut down sometimes (like right now) are more like it.


Ah, ok, emotionally spilling guts time is over. Pray for me if you will, that God be glorified, and that He be merciful in this process, but now on a more positive note we are going to take this time to learn about the....

Pulperia.

A pulperia here is a little store that sells...well, just about everything like at the grocery store, but in the size of someone's living room, which is usually where they are located. You want three eggs, four pieces of bread, 1/4 pound of cheese, a small portion of meat, two bananas and a coke for lunch? No problem. You can also get some soap and sundries, and depending on the pulperia some other odds and ends. It may not have it all, but enough for most people's day to day needs.
Why shop there? People here typically have smaller houses, and less opportunities to go to the bigger grocery stores, and every neighborhood here has several pulperias to meet that need. No refrigerator in your house? Go down to the pulperia when you need something. No cabinets? Same deal. No money to buy a week's worth of groceries at once? Ah, even a bigger factor in the purchasing at these locations. The wealthier the neighborhood...the fewer of these you see. The profit margin here has to be very little because prices are generally not much more than at a big grocery store, but it does add up of course.
Some reasons why you might open one in your house: 1. My wife, daughter, son, mother, father, etc. is already at home everyday working/being the watchman anyway. 2. I have the means and that means I should never run out of eggs myself! 3. I like to see gringos with a little Spanish knowledge ask if we sell octopus (pulpo in Spanish)

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