Today on the way back from the grocery store, I stopped by one of the street vendors at the back of our complex. Since they had parsley, I needed some, and the store didn’t have any. What I did have was an expat adventure with groceries!
I bent over the parsley, pointed at it, and then pointed to the number one (so meaning one bunch of parsley) because I didn’t know the Mandarin word for parsley.
The elderly lady tending to the stand smiles toothlessly and points out the number 4.
Okay. 4 RMB for some parsley. Sure. Less than a dollar.
Then she proceeds to bag all the parsley she has.
Then I try to tell her I’ll maybe just take half.
She folds all the parsley inside the bag.
Upon telling this story to Cameron once he arrived home, he informed me she was probably haggling – I offered one RMB for the bunch, and her first offer was 4.
Well, okay then.
The question remains:
What the heck am I supposed to do with this giant bunch of parsley?
Hahahaha.
UPDATE: Most of my parsley has gone into the green juices I’ve been making (believe the hype, green juices are AWESOME!). A big chunk of it also went to the quinoa tabbouleh I made for dinner yesterday.
