Duane Reade
I miss Duane Reade. It's the familiarity of knowing where to go for certain products I miss. Duane Reade (and by DR i mean American drugstores in general) are great. Where else can you go and get your toiletries, paper products, drugs, medicine, cosmetics, greeting cards, soda, a snack, batteries, photo prints, etc in one place???
I'm still trying to figure out where to go to get all those items for reach i took DR for granted. Though it is part of the fun of a new culture!
The pharmacies here have a lot of that stuff, but certainly not everything. I do like the fact you can always spot one blocks away - they all have a green cross outside, which flashes if it's open. And they are more plentiful than starbucks in new york. But it does seem like 95% of the products are some sort of lotion. I generally have to ask the pharmacist for what i want, and they disappear for a second and mysteriously come back with the item. Items i've asked for are
-mouchoirs (tissues). The pharmacist asked me if i wanted 1, 2, or a packet? They sell them individually?? So i said a packet, which turned out to be a packet of about 10 packets. But they are tiny packets, smaller than those travel size kleenex packet in the US! Don't french people blow their nose? I must ask my colleagues where to buy a big packet of mouchoirs.
- creme pour douleurs musculaire (cream for muscular pain). In other words i needed Ben-gay! I had a stiff neck and back after my 11 hours of sleep sat night. But i'm happy to report the french "bengay" worked wonders!
I could go on but you get the idea. I'm sure at the end of my 3 years here i will have asked for every item they stock. :)
I'm still trying to figure out where to go to get all those items for reach i took DR for granted. Though it is part of the fun of a new culture!
The pharmacies here have a lot of that stuff, but certainly not everything. I do like the fact you can always spot one blocks away - they all have a green cross outside, which flashes if it's open. And they are more plentiful than starbucks in new york. But it does seem like 95% of the products are some sort of lotion. I generally have to ask the pharmacist for what i want, and they disappear for a second and mysteriously come back with the item. Items i've asked for are
-mouchoirs (tissues). The pharmacist asked me if i wanted 1, 2, or a packet? They sell them individually?? So i said a packet, which turned out to be a packet of about 10 packets. But they are tiny packets, smaller than those travel size kleenex packet in the US! Don't french people blow their nose? I must ask my colleagues where to buy a big packet of mouchoirs.
- creme pour douleurs musculaire (cream for muscular pain). In other words i needed Ben-gay! I had a stiff neck and back after my 11 hours of sleep sat night. But i'm happy to report the french "bengay" worked wonders!
I could go on but you get the idea. I'm sure at the end of my 3 years here i will have asked for every item they stock. :)
posted by SB at 4:38 PM
1 Comments:
Salut Sarah!
Your blog posts are great. I love the picture of Paris and the pics of your apartment. I am so jealous! I would love to be in Paris right now. :) I can so relate to what you are experiencing with adjusting to a new culture. It reminds me a lot of my stay in Grenoble. I'm happy to hear that the French have been friendly for the most part. Thinking of you. Porte-toi bien et j'espere que tu passes un tres bon week-end!
Kari
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