The Russian word for store or shop is Magazina. They call a Magazine a Gazeetta or a Journal - pronounced sort of like Zhernal. They also use the word SuperMarket, but I don't think they use the word Market - I do see Super as a prefix fairly frequently.
There is a Supermarket on the ground level of the building next to ours is which is very convenient. Calling it a SUPERmarket is a bit of a stretch. Size wise I would say it is comparable to the Valley Forge Trader Joe's perhaps slightly larger.
Language Lesson: You can see the store name above - Azbuka is what we call the store, but it is only the first word - I have never heard Billie Jo use the second word. If you continue down to the end of the photo you will see the word SuperMarket - sort of split up by the lamp post. From our PECTOPAH/RESTAURANT discussion earlier you may remember that the C is an S continuing on down the lower case "y" is used for the U or "oo" sound. The thing that I call a Pi sign is a P. Finally we have a match the E is an E. And then we get to a letter that English speakers view as a P - that is an R. There is another P(R) further down and the rest of the letters are all matches M, K, T and the A which is concealed by the streetlamp.
$$$
There is sticker shock for practically everything you buy in Moscow and this includes groceries. There are groceries stores with better deals than ours that really are not that far away, but when your traveling by foot and carrying bags convenience is key.
Asbuka has separate Deli counters for meat and cheese as well as a bakery and coffee counter. There is also a fairly significant wine section. Everything is of course in Metric, Grams, KG, Litres, ML etc. which you need to get used to. Billie Jo does all the talking so if we need anything from the deli she is in charge of figuring that stuff out - typically 200 or 250 grams of turkey burger, lunch meat, cheese etc etc.
There are also lots of prepared Russian dishes, Blinni (filled pancakes similar to a crepe) and some other things that I cannot spell right now - many along the lines of a stuff pastry.
Muscovich
The two oddities that immediately stick out are that for fruits and veggies they have a weigh station in the produce section rather than weighing the items at checkout. So you pick up your apples or whatever hand them to a girl at the scale and she weighs and tags them for you. The second thing is when you then get to the check out the girls are all sitting down - I am glad I don't work at the Acme at home - or else I would walk in and demand that I can sit down while working the checkout line. Note I said girls - near as I can tell the people handling these jobs are always female.
Oh one other thing - you know when you get to the checkout, your standing in line and they have all the impulse buy items right next to you - mostly candy and kids stuff. In Russia they have all those items as well - Candy, Gum, Mints (Orbits are big here), Hello Kitty, Pez, etc - There is one other item amongst the toys and candy - they also stock the condoms at the checkout. Although I read in a guidebook to be wary of domestic brands and it would be best to buy a reputable brand.
1 comment:
The Russian word for store is magazine, not magazina.
I never use the second word of the store "Azbuka" because it is just easy to say "Azbuka". The full name of the store, "Azbuka Vkusa," means the ABC's of taste, if that makes any sense.
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