3 posts tagged “colmado”
I am so pissed. It seems like everybody is doing drugs at the colmado these days. And it's mostly PRican dudes who are here for other reasons that study medicine. It's ridiculous! These are medical students, people!! It pisses me off that whenever I'm at the colmado (mind you that I'm often the only girl there) I have to watch some stupid fella doing a drug transaction or something. It makes me want to puke. I mean, if you want do drugs, that's your business but please don't make me a witness of your stupidity. Have some respect and at least do it in private. I can already tell who some of the drug dealers are (mostly taxi drivers, yeah). Guess I'll talk to the owner of the colmado and ask him to offer some drug rehabilitation services. I am no prude, but please, this is too much.
Why, oh why do I watch boxing matches?
I spend the entire fight cringing and covering my eyes. I just can't see people hitting and hurting themselves like that. I wonder if these guys take bodybuilding supplements. They look so buff and the jabs and punches don't seem to bother them much for a while. I, on the other hand, suffer like if it was me in the receiving end.
I watched the Mayweather-Hatton fight on Saturday at the colmado. I always want whoever is losing to win and I hate the people cheering the one winning. It bothers me that people enjoy watching two men fight like this. But then again, it's not like they're gladiators. They fight voluntarily, and they get a decent amount of money for doing.
So, why do I suffer?
Day 7*
I love the Dominican colmados. Colmados are neighborhood shops or small grocery stores. They sell everything in any quantity. There are always a few of them in the neighborhood, and almost all of them have a delivery guy with a motorcycle. I found this writing here, and pasted it on this post. It explains the concept of the colmado very accurately.
¡Viva el colmado!
You know what you’re making for supper. You stopped at the grocery store on your way home from work and picked up the necessary ingredients. You’ve diced your onion, your oil is a-heating. OK. Recipe calls for one sopita (a chicken broth cube). One sopita, one sopita…where in Julia Child’s name is the sopita?! You’re out of sopita, remember? You used the last square of it in that sancocho the other day. ___! (Insert your choice of swear word here)
Now, if you were in El Seybo or San Juan de la Maguana, you’d just take a few steps outside your very front door, choosing from possibly 5 or 6 different colmados (Dominican neighborhood shops), to make your purchase. (Or even better, you’d send someone else to run and get it - the chef wields a lot of authority in the Dominican kitchen.) And not only could you have your sopita almost instantaneously, but you could buy just ONE, if you so chose. No bulk mentality here, almost everything is available in the most minute quantities. 3 pesos of oil? 2 pesos of salsa? "Lo que tu quieras, mi amor". Flour, sugar, and rice by the fraction of the pound? "No hay ningún problema".
Although these phenomena are necessitated by the fact that electricity is iffy (and therefore refrigeration uncertain) and that most budgets don’t allow for people to plan too far in advance, it makes one realize how "convenience stores" in North America are not so aptly named. "Colmado", on the other hand, is no misnomer; it implies abundance, heaping spoonfuls, and so much more.
I would love to see the look on the face of my corner store cashier, if I were to buy some ham, cheese and bread and assemble myself a sandwich right there on his counter, and proceed to devour it - all the while making loud conversation and crumbs everywhere. What would my grocer say if I told him to slice my cabbage for me? And I’m almost certain I couldn’t have my phone calls forwarded to the shop on the corner OR get a line of credit.
So those of you who live in close proximity to colmados, appreciate them! Tuck your metal jarro under your arm with pride! Bring back your bottles and pay your cuenta in timely fashion. In the name of convenience!By Aunt Jane
I always go to Colmado El Goldo, located a few streets down the block. We go there at least once a week to have a few beers with the locals. The atmosphere is relaxed and very friendly. More than once a week we call to have whatever we need delivered to our front door. Here's a picture. Some faces are blurred to protect identities because I didn't really ask permission to have them displayed online. Also, I'm experimenting with Photoshop. LOL.
*And yeah, I cheated. I wasn't here all day yesterday, so this post was a little late.
