Selection of oddities at the supermarket

I'm only gonna nurture the typical stereotype which is that food is horrible in the United States, but nevermind. It's just to show you the weird stuff we can find at the supermarket. It was too tempting. Of course it is possible to eat well here too, if you buy the rights products and cook a little bit. 
Almost all the pictures were taken in Walmart, which is the furthest you can be from sophistication. Although all those items can be found elsewehere, Walmart is just really good at giving an unbeatable choice of monstruosities.   

Springles galore... in a whole array of crazy fake flavours: Pizza, Hamburger, loaded potatoe, to name a few. 

Who wants gallons of chemical juice?

"I can't believe it's not butter!" Uhhh Yes I can... They don't know what real butter is. The butter aisle is mostly filled with giant containers of substitute butter, cheaper and easy to spread. "I can't believe it's not butter": It's a brand, and it seems like they want to make you believe that their produce has the same taste than butter. Bullshit. 

Mickey shaped cheese or sticks of blended cheese? MMmmm

The rest of the cheese aisle: sliced and under plastic. Yes, Walmart doesn't really have a cheese aisle. Everything is pre-sliced, ready to put in your sandwich. In the "gourmet' section you can find some very pasteurized goat cheese, brie or camembert, at best. 

If you want to find sliced ham, they sell it to you without the rind and cut in square. You wonder where the "ham" comes from... 

If you find it not convenient to cut a piece of margarine and make it melt to grease your pan, no problem! Here it also comes in a spray bottle... wtf!

Cute mini marshmallows (I like a few in hot coco... for real, it's not bad.)


Left: the snack that everybody seem to swear by: fake jelly in a fake cookie with fake frosting on top.
Right: some kind of sandwiches with ice cream between two layers of soft cookie. Meh.

Here is an ice cream brand I like. I won't speak for the weird flavours like "birthday cake", but I'm satisfied with Cookies & Cream. 

Frozen cakes aisle: lots of stuff with cream. I'm not a fan, except for the cookies and cream pie. But it's fair to say you can give me cookies and cream under any shape and form.

The dressing section got to be the most staggering of the supermarket. So much variety of vinaigrettes and other ranch sauces that it takes a whole aisle. It's sad but out of all the people I know here I must be the only one able to make vinaigrette myself. 

Cookies are always disappointing. Why aren't they able to make a BN or Pepito??! Cookies are all so bad here that I don't even take an afternoon snack anymore! 

When I saw that thing the hair stood up on the back of my head! Potatoes individually wrapped in plastic paper. You can cook that thing directly in the micro wave in its wrapper and in 6 minutes it is said to have the same taste than baked in the oven. It's magic. 

At  Target (another supermarket) they downright wrap EVERY vegetable in plastic. It's clear they don't know the concept of wrapping savings... What a shame. 

Well, after that I'm sure that everybody is comforted in their ideas. So yes, i do know that it's much better in France, no need to remind it to me and make me suffer! Otherwise I'll stop bringing back Peanut Butter M&Ms! ;)

Road Trip in the American Southwest // #1: Jerome Ghost Town

We started our trip from Phoenix, Arizona. As soon as we landed and got our rental car, we quickly got out of this ugly stifling urban area in the middle of the desert, and headed north on Road 17. It is already well past noon so we don't have much time to spare. We have to spend the night in Flagstaff, about two hours away. But on the way there we want to make a detour via the old mining town of Jerome and get a view of Sedona landscapes, which makes us go through smaller roads and will require more time.  

Jerome is a tiny village, 5,200 feet high, that barely appears on maps. It is located northeast of Prescott and southwest of Sedona, next to the villages of Clarkdale and Cottonwood. From Clarkdale, we take road 89A, which climbs pretty stiffly, and after a short ascent we enter what is the biggest ghost town in the US. This old mining camp was built on the biggest copper mine in Arizona. First it was only a settlement of tents but then grew into a roaring mining community. 

The town was founded in 1876 and once was the biggest city in Arizona. Population reached 15,000 in 1920. Mining operations slowed down during the Depression but took off again during WWII because of the high demand in copper. Following the war, it declined for good and the mine was closed in 1953. The remaining 50 to 100 inhabitants promoted Jerome as a historic ghost town. It now has become an artist community with a population of about 450. It almost looks like the way it used to a hundred years ago, although some buildings have been renovated. Others have simply felt down the mountainside. Considering the stiff slope that is not too surprising.

 

 

When wandering the streets by feet, one can find a few art galleries, antique shops, pottery and hand made jewelry boutiques, a few restaurants and bars, and here and there out in the street, random bizarre attractions that make for an original atmosphere. 

Why I love the dentist in America

As a lot of people I guess, I've always been scared of going to the dentist. As a kid or a teenager, every trip to the dentist meant I'd get to subject myself to the drill. Painful memory... What I've only figured out since I live in the United States, is that my french dentist (like all the other ones? I don't know) actually had somewhat barbaric methods! Drilling without anesthesia does not exist any more in the US guys!! Needless to say, it's bound to change your life! 

So here is the story. The first time I went to the dentist in America was because I had received a good deal for a check up and whitening. Since back then I did not have any dental insurance, and because honestly, I could barely remember my last visit to the dentist in France, it seemed to be a bargain. Additionally, teeth whitening may be a common thing here in the US, but it is definitely not in France. I had never done it so it was cool. I figured I might finally get my dream white american smile. Well, it kinda happened... Only, even though I thought I had a pretty decent set of teeth, I ended up with a not so joyful diagnosis: cavities at every corner of my mouth, cost estimate to repair the damage: a little over $1000. Even with whiter teeth, it put a damper on my excitement right away. 

As a result I'm quite familiar with the dentist now. But it's a far more pleasant experience than anything I could remember! It doesn't even hurt! Never! I almost hop and hum on my way there, seriously! Plus after they clean, scratch, scour, and polish your teeth at each visit, they give you a little gift bag with toothbrush, floss and toothpaste! They sure want to entice you to come back to visit them! In the end, maybe I have a shitty health insurance, but I get a free check up, scaling and polishing every 6 months... Go figure. 

Actually Americans are a little obsessive about dental hygiene... First thing the hygienist asks you right after you opened your mouth: "Are you flossing every day?" So at that point honestly... awkwardness... You end up spinning the truth to not seem too filthy... (Because French people already have a bad enough reputation when it comes to hygiene...) Then the dentist shows up, and he makes you damned ashamed again: "Wow they still do silver fillings in France?!" - Ok got it, my teeth are really gross I guess. Luckily, over time, after a few visits to the dentist and a few visits in the supermarkets dental care aisles, "the american smile" is not a secret for you anymore! Now I only need to actually do everything the lady said...

"A smile is to the Americans what a handshake is to the French: a sign of welcome and courtesy." (JJ Dupuis)