Cultural funnies

While at a high-brow grocery store we decided that we wanted to make some coconut curry, but didn't know the word for coconut. That was solved by finding a container of piña colada (they have the most incredibly fresh and tasty juice here!) with both pineapple and coconut listed in the description. A similar container with only pineapple juice in it helped us narrow it down to "кокос".  Then we found the word for milk in the dairy section.  Armed with a few words we went and asked a grocery store attendant for "кокос молоко".

And we bought it.  

And the curry was delicious.

But we probably won't make it again because the coconut milk was expensive!!!  Funny thing, though:  the can said "coconut milk" in English!  It was just located in an odd spot so we couldn't find it. 

While I was making the curry, Ben went to the little grocery store near us for some canned pineapple. When he brought it home we realized that we were in trouble:  no can opener. All of the cans we had used up to that time had had pop-top lids. So he went down to the front desk to ask. 

The ladies said, "This thing (meaning the can opener)... I will find for you. Will bring."

A few minutes later one of the maids knocked on our door. She selected a knife from the cutting block, held it in both hands, and jabbed it into the can and cut around the lid until she had cut it off.  The sawing noise it made was like nail on a chalk board. Ben and I just gaped at her and then chuckled. Perhaps that is the common way to manage it here.

Sometimes Google translate is helpful and sometimes it is not. One day one of the maids brought us something. As she was leaving, she said something that we didn't understand.  After closing the door we pulled out the translator and tried to mimic what she had said.  When the reponse came through Ben looked at me and deadpanned, "I am pretty sure she didn't say 'dolphinarium'."  I just busted up.  

We have had similar funny experiences with our driver.  Somehow Google translate mixes up months with times on the clock.  When we were working out the schedule to go and see "Inside Out" the translator kept telling us that we could see it October 14 and that it would end May 16, but what it really meant was that it started at 2 (14:00) and ended at 4 (16:00).  That would have been one LONG movie!!

Russian words roll around in our heads all day long, but I keep responding affirmatively to people with "si" instead of "да" and Ben laughs at me.  And then proceeds to chide me in Spanish. That is what happens when you have taken beginner steps in five different languages. You never know what will come out!  Sign language seems to be the most readily at my fingertips... ;)

Here are a few more grocery store photos.  Big marks for presentation!  The bottom one is their cheese counter.