Wednesday, March 19, 2008

For the Love of Corn




I mentioned a while back that I would be doing a post about corn and I finally got around to it. Jesse had mentioned something to me about corn stands before I got here, but he didn't describe them in any detail. I was picturing something like in Kenya where they roast maize on little fires by the side of the road. It's delicious and very, very cheap. Imagine my surprise when, come to find out, they are selling frozen corn emptied from a bag into a pot, heated up with butter and salt and a dash of lemon juice served in a small cup. It is also quite delicious but not at all cheap. Apparently, it's "rich kid food" so these stands are everywhere that kids might be and priced accordingly. It's especially shocking coming from a country where they have to invent new foods just to use up all the excess corn.

So just how expensive is this frozen corn? Let's do a little comparison. At IKEA they have the little food stand just beyond the cash registers, just like in the States. There they sell the corn, and also a chicken shwarma sandwich (picture a hot dog bun stuffed with chicken bits and seasoning, soooo good). The sandwich which contains actual meat and is really yummy will set you back 250 fils. The cup of corn? 400 fils! And this is IKEA so you know it's the cheapest corn you can find. 400 fils is about $1.50. The corn we have in the pictures is from the Science Center so I would imagine the price would be above average. It was 750 fils, which is about $2.75! For a cup of corn! I've been here for two months and I still haven't gotten over the shock.

6 comments:

Kerri said...

Hi,
We are not living at Al Manshar now, but my husband was when he first got here. There are two posts from Oct. 2007 on the blog that have pics. They are titles Al Manshar and Al Kout, and Fahaheel. Are you coming over with ITT?

Kerri

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

I will be in Kuwait on April 9. Just a few more questions if you have time:

1. Do the apartments there have 110 V AC or are all the receptacles 220 V AC?

2. Is it worth it to bring my own laptop there or can you buy them there easily?

3. Are men allowed to wear short pants and short sleeve shirts in public in Kuwait?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jesse said...

Jeff:

1) 220 only. You'll need to buy transformers to get 110 (we have 2 at the moment, kinda thinking we might need one more).
2) Electronics here are spendy. I would suggest bringing yours. If I were to buy one, there's no doubt I'd order it online and have it shipped here.
3) Yes, though I generally do not wear shorts myself. Kerri does wear short sleeves down in the Al Manshar/Al Kout area as there are lots of westerners around. But it starts to feel uncomfortable when you venture into the souk areas and there are lots of men around. No one ever gives me any trouble though. Personally I can't wait to get a full dishdash made as I think it will be far more comfortable in this weather.

Kerri said...

Jeff,
Let us know when you get here.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kerri and JC,

Thanks again for all your good advice on my move to Kuwait. I will leave a note here with
my e-mail address when I get settled into company housing. I will be in it for up to 4 months then will find a flat.

How is the low dollar value affecting Americans there?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jesse said...

To give you an idea, I have $1000 from each paycheck deposited into a local bank account. Since I started that 3 months ago, I have seen the total amount that shows up decrease by 10KD. That's about $37. So basically it sucks.