Food & Drink Rare imported delicacies found at Carrefour in Corrientes

[KurtLard]

It both saddened and ammused me to see how excited my kids and I got when we found Pepperidge Farms Goldfish (both original and chedder!) and Double-chocolate Nantucket cookies at the big Carrefour near our house. Its been about 18 months since we saw any Goldfish crackers at any grocery store in Corrientes or Resistencia, and the huge batch I bought in Buenos Aires back in January ran out a couple months ago. This kids were jumping and dancing as we hauled about 20 packages to the cart where my wife was buying milk and other more common junk.

Living in a 3rd world country makes one savour and relish things that seemed absurd back in the US

 

[earlyretirement]

Kurt - I know that feeling all too well. I remember when we'd load up on imported products that our kids liked at Jumbo or Carrefour.

Not just the kids but myself! A few times they would get a big stash of Dr. Pepper there and I remember once I filled up an entire shopping cart and took every can they had. It wasn't cheap but I knew that was probably my only chance. I still remember the look on the check-out girl. LOL.

Great that you were able to find some!

 

[Bakis]

SHUT UP GOLDFISH CRACKERS!? that's my all time favorite snack in the world. Off hunting I go then

 

[ScotGown]

Kurt - I know that feeling all too well. I remember when we'd load up on imported products that our kids liked at Jumbo or Carrefour.

Not just the kids but myself! A few times they would get a big stash of Dr. Pepper there and I remember once I filled up an entire shopping cart and took every can they had. It wasn't cheap but I knew that was probably my only chance. I still remember the look on the check-out girl. LOL.

Great that you were able to find some!

seen any dr pepper recently?

 

[earlyretirement]

seen any dr pepper recently?

Oh NO. Not in a long time. I love the stuff and would be surprised when I saw it. I would literally ask them for every single can they had. LOL.

 

[DaveDed]

It both saddened and ammused me to see how excited my kids and I got when we found Pepperidge Farms Goldfish (both original and chedder!) and Double-chocolate Nantucket cookies at the big Carrefour near our house. Its been about 18 months since we saw any Goldfish crackers at any grocery store in Corrientes or Resistencia, and the huge batch I bought in Buenos Aires back in January ran out a couple months ago. This kids were jumping and dancing as we hauled about 20 packages to the cart where my wife was buying milk and other more common junk.

Living in a 3rd world country makes one savour and relish things that seemed absurd back in the US

Hi Kurt, we've never exchanged comments before but I've read many of yours and they always surpass a person with average intelligence. This time I feel compelled to reply.
And just to mention, I don't have children of my own so there may be things I don't know in this case, but I have participated in the lives of many families and their children so I do have some insight.
And if I remember correctly you and your family will shortly be returning to live in the US.

My comment is as follows: Goldfish crackers, while a "fun" food are outright junk. They are not produced in Argentina, however there is a limitless variety of cracker and cookie products that are on the same par as Goldfish. Since we are not comparing high quality goods here I think that it's fair to say there are many comparable items here, maybe not of the same shape, concept and flavor of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, but fun to eat all the like.
I personally wouldn't encourage consumption to children of these types of goods living in another country and making it into a cult following and "buying up all of the stock" to ensure an endless supply.

I personally think it's better to consume local products when it comes to items in this category. If we were talking about appliances, electronics, or any type of equipment I would be all for buying the imported variety because it is simply far superior to what is available on the local market.
Also buying 20 packages of cookies or snacks is decadent, and not something I would encourage even if they were the last few packages of Oreos ever again to be produced. It's one thing to stock up on paper goods, toiletries, etc to save money on a bulk purchase, but one thing I don't miss about the US is being outside of a Wal-Mart store, seeing an endless stream of 400 pound people with swollen ankles and green yellow toenails, carting out huge quantities of junk food. I once saw a 30lb bag of potato chips offered for sale at Wal-Mart that were packaged in bags that were the size of the black plastic garbage bags that the encargado uses. Who needs this amount of potato chips at one time? When your kids return to live in the US they will have access to all of the goldfish they want, but they may never remember nice treats that do come from here like "conitos de dulce de leche", "colaciones", pepas, etc.......you get my drift? When I hear stories like this it reminds me a time that I travelled to Paris, and right next to my hotel was a McDonalds. I was standing on the sidewalk, saw a tour bus pull up and let out about 50 young people who were all speaking english and many wearing UCLA sweatshirts, all filed in to eat at McDonalds, again this was in Paris, if you get my drift.

Anyway this was not meant to bash you but I felt it was necessary to speak my mind in this case.
Cheers, David

 

[DanielEight]

As an adjunct to what David has said, maybe in an obtuse way, it does us expats a little good to consider the small things in life as luxuries.
And as many people here will agree, we have to speak from experience.
Being a Brit, tea is the essence of life and now that I'm down to emergency rations of my Brit tea bags, finding Taragui English Breakfast tea bags is a Godsend indeed.
I almost whooped for joy when I saw them in Disco.
Having said all that, if Kurt wishes to buy up the entire stock, then fair do's, but maybe leave a little for others considering the harsh times in which we live.

 

[earlyretirement]

Hi Kurt, we've never exchanged comments before but I've read many of yours and they always surpass a person with average intelligence. This time I feel compelled to reply.
And just to mention, I don't have children of my own so there may be things I don't know in this case, but I have participated in the lives of many families and their children so I do have some insight.
And if I remember correctly you and your family will shortly be returning to live in the US.

My comment is as follows: Goldfish crackers, while a "fun" food are outright junk. They are not produced in Argentina, however there is a limitless variety of cracker and cookie products that are on the same par as Goldfish. Since we are not comparing high quality goods here I think that it's fair to say there are many comparable items here, maybe not of the same shape, concept and flavor of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, but fun to eat all the like.
I personally wouldn't encourage consumption to children of these types of goods living in another country and making it into a cult following and "buying up all of the stock" to ensure an endless supply.

I personally think it's better to consume local products when it comes to items in this category. If we were talking about appliances, electronics, or any type of equipment I would be all for buying the imported variety because it is simply far superior to what is available on the local market.
Also buying 20 packages of cookies or snacks is decadent, and not something I would encourage even if they were the last few packages of Oreos ever again to be produced. It's one thing to stock up on paper goods, toiletries, etc to save money on a bulk purchase, but one thing I don't miss about the US is being outside of a Wal-Mart store, seeing an endless stream of 400 pound people with swollen ankles and green yellow toenails, carting out huge quantities of junk food. I once saw a 30lb bag of potato chips offered for sale at Wal-Mart that were packaged in bags that were the size of the black plastic garbage bags that the encargado uses. Who needs this amount of potato chips at one time? When your kids return to live in the US they will have access to all of the goldfish they want, but they may never remember nice treats that do come from here like "conitos de dulce de leche", "colaciones", pepas, etc.......you get my drift? When I hear stories like this it reminds me a time that I travelled to Paris, and right next to my hotel was a McDonalds. I was standing on the sidewalk, saw a tour bus pull up and let out about 50 young people who were all speaking english and many wearing UCLA sweatshirts, all filed in to eat at McDonalds, again this was in Paris, if you get my drift.

Anyway this was not meant to bash you but I felt it was necessary to speak my mind in this case.
Cheers, David

Spoken like a true non-parent. You don't know what it's like when you have kids in a foreign country like Argentina. When you can give them the small luxury of getting their favorite cracker you do it.

Most people that aren't parents try to imagine they know what it's like having children. Life is totally different so spare Kurt (or anyone else with kids) the lectures.

I really laughed hard the other day because one of my friends told me he could relate to being a parent. I was like "really, HUH???!". He had a dog and he somehow thought he could relate.

Many things in principle when you don't have kids may think you non-parents can try to give advice to parents but most things don't work like you think they do.

 

[KurtLard]

I'm glad this turned into a lively thread David, thanks for your compliments about my posts overall If you don't have young kids then you don't know what its like constantly telling them 'no' to McDonalds, Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc. Most parents make accomodations, so we let our kids have Sprite once or twice per week, the rest of the time they drink water, milk, or fruit juice. Does that make me a great dad or a bad one? They haven't eaten at McDonalds or a similar fastfood restaurant in over a year. But we make compromises and let them split a bag of goldfish crackers over 3 to 4 days and we let them have ice cream for desert several nights per week. Since you don't have young kids I don't see how you can understand how many times we have to say 'no' every day, but saying 'yes' occassionally to a few bits of junk food isn't going to kill them and rewarding them when they behave well is an important part of parenting.

To Dublin who questioned my taste in snack foods, did you not notice I bought the crackers for the kids? And as Fifs and ba_2007 said, wait until you've been away from home for 4 or 5 years, you'll be surprised at how much you relish certain beers or packaged foods that you thought were crap when you lived in Dublin.

 

[DaveDed]

Kurt thanks for your well thought out response. Unfortunately SOME of the other people on this board are not intelligent to recognize that my response was in no way a personal attack, and was nothing more than my point of view in no way intended to offend you. I am not going to bother to counterattack them as their own harsh and belittling responses speak volumes about their extremely low levels of intelligence and utter lack of wit.

Although I don't have kids, I have participated in the lives of many. And see friends and relatives constantly say no to their children. I certainly am no authority and having to combat the "I want this and I want that" on a daily basis for 18 years (or more) per child. I am sure you children will grow up to be excellent citizens of where ever you reside at the time. Choosing to supply them with a sea of Pepperidge Farm goldfish will have little or no effect on them overall. I think it's more of you saving yourself the trouble of having to battle with them over what seems to be such a minute circumstance. You are benefiting more from the goldfish than they are.
Again, just my point of view, enjoy your family, the goldfish and all the best to you.

 

[earlyretirement]

Dave, I don't think anyone was personally attacking you at all. So sorry if it came across that way. Your post came across as preachy. Simple enough. And I was just responding as a parent and someone that does have young kids.

It doesn't matter if you have "participated in the lives of many". If you don't have them I will repeat you don't know what it's like to raise them daily.

No, the Goldfish crackers won't make or break Kurt's kids. But you still don't get the point when you post things like, "you are benefiting more from the goldfish then they are'. That isn't true.

I've been in Kurt's shoes with my kids. In fact with the same goldfish crackers he is talking about. I've been in that exact same situation. It's not even the taste of the crackers and it doesn't matter where they are produced.

The point is seeing their faces light up when they see something as simple as a cracker shaped like a goldfish is truly magnificent and wonderful!

Again, I don't think anyone was personally attacking you at all. Certainly not me. If my post came across to you as an attack I apologize. That wasn't my intent.

 

[DaveDed]

Dave, I don't think anyone was personally attacking you at all. So sorry if it came across that way. Your post came across as preachy. Simple enough. And I was just responding as a parent and someone that does have young kids.

It doesn't matter if you have "participated in the lives of many". If you don't have them I will repeat you don't know what it's like to raise them daily.

No, the Goldfish crackers won't make or break Kurt's kids. But you still don't get the point when you post things like, "you are benefiting more from the goldfish then they are'. That isn't true.

I've been in Kurt's shoes with my kids. In fact with the same goldfish crackers he is talking about. I've been in that exact same situation. It's not even the taste of the crackers and it doesn't matter where they are produced.

The point is seeing their faces light up when they see something as simple as a cracker shaped like a goldfish is truly magnificent and wonderful!

Again, I don't think anyone was personally attacking you at all. Certainly not me. If my post came across to you as an attack I apologize. That wasn't my intent.

Thanks for responding and for taking a step back in regards to my response. What I will say is that this whole thing about "not knowing anything about children because you don't have any" is not fair and it's amazing how when a non-parent say something even if it's well intentioned and one gets immediately ganged up on from parents if they have an opininion on something related.

So you think it doesn't matter that I have "participated in the lives of many", well I think it does. And here's why: When I was 23 years old back in New York, my cousin was getting beat up by her husband daily, and her kids were subjected to this drama every day, we lived in the same neighborhood, she would escape to my 1 bedroom apartment, would sleep there with here 2 kids, 3 and 5 years old, worked weekends, so I had my whole 2 days off every weekend during a whole year turned into a babysitter - I cooked, cleaned, told them stories, played, said yes and no to many of their requests and did everything that a parent did. A few years later, I had a neighbor who was a single mother with an 10 year old son, mother a former drug addict, father unknown, the kid was so nice, he loved cars just like I did when I was a kid, I took him to the auto show, drag races, bought him a first set of tools, showed him how to change oil, brake pads, let him always put air in the tires of my car, spent hours at the video arcade, flying kites, playing frisbee, going to the beach, etc. So maybe SOME of us who aren't parents understand A LITTLE about kids, is that possible??

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks for responding and for taking a step back in regards to my response. What I will say is that this whole thing about "not knowing anything about children because you don't have any" is not fair and it's amazing how when a non-parent say something even if it's well intentioned and one gets immediately ganged up on from parents if they have an opininion on something related.

So you think it doesn't matter that I have "participated in the lives of many", well I think it does. And here's why: When I was 23 years old back in New York, my cousin was getting beat up by her husband daily, and her kids were subjected to this drama every day, we lived in the same neighborhood, she would escape to my 1 bedroom apartment, would sleep there with here 2 kids, 3 and 5 years old, worked weekends, so I had my whole 2 days off every weekend during a whole year turned into a babysitter - I cooked, cleaned, told them stories, played, said yes and no to many of their requests and did everything that a parent did. A few years later, I had a neighbor who was a single mother with an 10 year old son, mother a former drug addict, father unknown, the kid was so nice, he loved cars just like I did when I was a kid, I took him to the auto show, drag races, bought him a first set of tools, showed him how to change oil, brake pads, let him always put air in the tires of my car, spent hours at the video arcade, flying kites, playing frisbee, going to the beach, etc. So maybe SOME of us who aren't parents understand A LITTLE about kids, is that possible??

I think that's great that you did what you did for those kids. Again, I didn't mean to come across as attacking you. That wasn't my intent at all.

I know sometimes it's difficult to really understand true intent on message boards when you aren't face to face.

So maybe I took your posts wrong as well. It's just that I see a LOT of people with no kids trying to "Monday morning Quarterback" situations for people that have kids and it's certainly not the same thing when you don't have kids.

But again, I wasn't trying to attack you so hope you understand that. I think the best thing is for these message boards to be attack free when possible. I do however thing people can disagree with one another if they do it in a polite manner.

Best.