Baqala Buys

If you shop in my neighborhood, you shop at a local baqala. These small grocery stores look much the same on the outside, and are crammed full of an amazing assortment of imported items from around the world.  Although you can find American candy, the places don't really cater to westerners.  And until now I had been taking a taxi to the nearest mega-mall/shopping center to buy my groceries at a proper supermarket.  I came home with brands I recognized, and trusted, and avoided having to walk around my neighborhood.
Around here you will find the HIGH QUALITY SALOON FOR MEN, and the HIGH QUALITY LAUNDRY (also for men), but my neighborhood is anything but "high quality".  Walking out of my place I dodge traffic and the worst piles of garbage. I can't avoid the smells or the dust and dirt.  When going to our nearby take-out restaurants for a chicken or curry, I always feel as if I have walked into a private meeting to which I was not invited. While waiting for my order, the Indian owner offered to deliver my food to my apartment, just to get me out of his restaurant.
However, it seems silly to continue taking a taxi to an overpriced hypermarket if I can get something

locally. So I ventured out in search of orange juice and peanuts. My path was blocked by, among other things, a water truck delivering water to our nearest baqala. A group of children were waiting for a chance to play in the water that spilled out of the hose pipe.  This was their evening entertainment and had come prepared to have a bit of fun.  I watched them for a while before edging myself into the extremely narrow aisles of the store. If there are more than three customers at one time, we all have to synchronize our movements to be able to get around. I found no orange juice, so I knew I would have to go further a field.

I next tried my luck at the baqala calling itself a supermarket and advertised "VEGITIBALS".  Since the Arabic word "baqala" literally means "what comes out of the ground," I was not surprised to find sacks of seeds and beans. I had hoped to find the juice section quickly and make my purchases but I became totally engrossed in the products I found on the shelves, and the randomness of their display.  The sugar was by the flipflops, and the pasta sauce beside the screw drivers. Pumpkins were wherever they could be, and the shisha tobacco was in the refrigerated section with the milk.  What more could I find here? It became a quest. Did they have tapioca flour? Did they have peanuts or another favorite snack? What was the weirdest thing I could find?
I did finally find some 'mixed orange' juice, and some 'garlic peanuts'. The owner politely rang up my bill and asked me where I was from.  He then explained that his place was small but he had much, and could he help me find anything. He must of been watching me poke around his shop, wondering

what in the world I could possibly be looking for, and why I was taking pictures of his shisha tobacco.  (It was an interesting package!) I told him not too worry, I was just curious as to what he had.  He said he had so much more than I would be able to find by myself, I just had to ask.
He was right. I have to ask for help to be able to make the most of this neighborhood. Just as those children had been right when they decided to go out and have some fun.
On the way home I saw two colleagues who know more of Kuwait than I do. I stopped to talk for a while and knew that if they asked me if I needed anything, I would let them know. Yes, I need so much, much more than I will be able to find by myself.