Day 2: Day on the Town- The American Style Grocery Store

Even though I am thousands of miles away from the US, I can still find great fast food, American movies in Spanish, and American cereal! All of these great products, of course, can be purchased at the local, American style grocery store. These sorts of grocery stores contain dry products, such as chips, cereal, tissues, soaps, as well as vegetables and fruits. But fruits and vegetables can be purchased at the local market, “El Mercado,” for much cheaper. That’s enough to fill a different post… and it will!

Similar to KFC, I can eat delicious fried chicken at Pollos Copacabana. I think that the chicken at Pollos Copacabana is a lot better than KFC, but I guess you will have to try it for yourself! I ordered 2 legs and a breast- a combo meal, which comes with a soda, fries, and optional, fried plantains. The combo meal is served with Bolivia’s famous llajua (pronounced yaaa-huaaaa), similar to a salsa, and the restaurants signature sauce, which I believe contains ketchup, mustard, and a bit of mayo, but no one really knows. In Bolivia you can also find a Burger King, and Subway. You cannot, however, find any McDonalds fast food restaurants. The chain came to Bolivia many years ago and was put out of business by Burger King… interesting, right?

At the Mega Center, or a local shopping complex/ mall, I can see “Los Juegos del Hambre” – The Hunger Games, “Valiente”- Brave, or even “Hombre-Arana”- Spiderman. Almost all of the movies are shown in Spanish, with a few exceptions that only have Spanish subtitles. This is a huge change from seeing movies 5 years ago, where all movies were shown in English with Spanish subtitles.

If you head over to a local grocery store, you can find almost all American cereals—if you’re willing to pay for it. Sure, you can find Honey Nut Chereos imported from the United States, but you have to be willing to pay 124.50 Bolivianos, or $17.94. If you aren’t willing to pay such a steep price, you can settle for Chockgol (a chocolate cereal themed after Latin America’s precious soccer), or Choco Krispis (chocolate Rice Krispies), or you could settle for a familiar Froot Loops (packaged and sold from a Latin American neighbor) without such a steep price.

At the grocery store you can also find some great beverages. Coca-Cola products, from Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta, are manufactured, bottled, and sold in Bolivia so they are not as expensive as an imported beverage, but they also have a slightly different taste. Made with real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup, the Coca-Cola from Bolivia tastes much more real, with a better flavor. If you would like some Red Bull, the imported energy drink only costs 12.90 Bolivianos, or $1.86—not such a bad price.

If you like hot sauce, Louisiana Hot Sauce only costs 6 Bolivianos to 15 Bolivianos (depending on bottle size), or $0.86 to $2.16—a steal. But, this familiar hot sauce is not manufactured in the US, but at a facility near Bolivia.

It’s always nice to find American products when in a foreign country, but sometimes you have to be willing to pay for imported products. Sometimes, though, you can settle for the same brand manufactured somewhere closer to Bolivia for a cheaper price.