Wanted: a support group

Hi. My name is Katie and I have a problem. I can't stop shopping.

But not for clothes or accessories.  Not for purses or shoes. Not for music or movies. Not for cosmetics or perfumes. Nope. None of that stuff. That stuff is easy to avoid.

But every time I walk by a market, a Mercadona, Eroski, an ultramarinos, a fruteria, or a panaderia, it takes every ounce (metric: gram) of strength I have not to go in and wander the aisles.

Grocery shopping here is somewhat of an opiate for me. I'm a self-professed foodie, and I can't seem to get enough of the incredibly cheap produce, large shelves of inexpensive spices by the gram (saffron!!), tubs of nuts, dried fruits, and succulent olives, enormous bottles of fresh unfiltered olive oil (the definition of "extra virgin"!), and smooth red crianzas and tempranillos from just up north.

Barcelona is famous for its market, La Boqueria, right off La Ramblas. Yes... it's kind of like that. Except its much cheaper, and with a whole lot fewer tourists. In all the cities I've visited, in all the small neighborhoods, you'll find municipal markets filled with vendors of all types: fruit, vegetables, nuts, spices, fish, meat, cheese, candy, chocolates, bread, and most anything else that might tickle your fancy - as long as it's right-off-the-truck fresh.

For anything else that you need/want/found-a-great-recipe-online and it comes with a label, just head to one of the great supermarkets.  My personal favorite (and I think the Spaniards are with me on this one) is Mercadona. Last year I was fortunate enough to live spitting distance from a Mercadona (a blessing and a curse). This year, the closest one to me is about a 15 minute walk away (a blessing and a curse), but I'm also fortunate that my Monday private lessons take me right by it (a blessing and a curse).  Going with a list is futile. I've tried. My hand-basket-with-wheels gets overwhelmed within minutes after passing by the fragrant fresh bread, the yummy serving-size yogurts, the cheese self that doesn't end, the jamon sliced fresh just for you, and even more inexpensive produce to tempt me.  Only Jesus himself could resist these succulent demons. Or maybe just anyone else with slightly more will power than me.

And then there's the endless search to find those special ingredients from home - sometimes for nosalgia, or sometimes for that recipe I'm dying to make but it calls for vanilla extract or tomato paste (and no, tomate frite is just not going to cut it). With luck, El Corte Ingles has what me and all the other guiris are searching. Normally, I just get lost in their gourmet section and never find it anyway. What? Is there something wrong with that?

My food budget is definitely larger than what most others here spend. And by "budget" I mean the money I get from my lessons that usually immediately gets deposited into the register of the next grocer I see selling Huelvan strawberries for 1.50 euros a kilo (that's about 75 US cents/pound - you didn't believe me when I said cheap, did you?) You might ask: how many kilos of strawberries could you possibly buy with your tutoring money? Well, about one kilo, and a bag of other groceries to keep them company.

So in the end, here I am; a food lover, stuck in a place that indulges me and my addictions.