“Grey” Market

  Entering through the door of the store, zero words were exchanged with the cashier, only a glance towards the back aisle of the building.  As I began to make my way further through the store, I noticed the inconsistency of the floor tiles, shelves, freezers, even checkout counter and wonder what brought me here.  Passing through a selection of various fish from the sea, noodles, and different drinks which I never seen, I continued to press deeper into the market.  As if a light was shinning down from heaven through the roof, the familiar shape of Aunt Jemima appeared before me, and she brought her friends, Ben and Jerry!  Moving through the aisle and subsequent freezer, my small cart was quickly beginning to fill up.  Oreo’s, A1, peanut butter, pancake mix, Betty Crooker Cake and Brownie mix, pop tarts, hard shell El Paso Tacos, Hershey’s Chocolate syrup, Nestle Chocolate Chips; I even found samosa’s which if you read my blog from Kenya, became apart of my daily diet.  Approaching the check-out counter I found even more items which I initially overlooked, including stacks of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Laffy Taffy’s, and Peanut Butter M&Ms.  Being the gentleman that I am, I politely take two small packages of Peanut Butter M&Ms.  I quickly realize that two is not enough, and proceed to grab all remaining Peanut Butter M&Ms.  The entire experience felt like the Seinfeld episode which Kramer and Newman attempt to by shower heads off the black market.  Upon leaving the store, cashier handed me a card uttering the words anything I want from the US, email that contact and they will get. 

  As I begin the 6^th month of my time here in Bratislava, I am amazed at how fast time has gone by.  I am really enjoying my opportunity, the new friends which I have met, the challenges and adventures which lie ahead, and continuing to share this experience with you through my blog.  A few times a week, I view statistics of my blog, and I thought I would share those with you.  I just reached the 1,000^th viewer milestone (which does not include me or else it would be 2,000) yesterday, and while 66% of the viewer reside in the US (cannot view the city), the next nine locations of viewers hail from Slovakia, The UK, Malaysia, Russia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Greece, and Switzerland.  The 6 major continents have all been represented by a viewer at one point in time, and I will definitely let you know if I ever am able to attract a view from Antarctica.  I have even had one-time views from countries ranging from Vietnam to Latvia, Tunisia to the island of Cyprus, even as far as the Cook Islands, which I googled to find it was just north east of New Zealand.  Finally, after just one month, Offshore Banking has 4 times as many views of any other blog.  While searching for Euro currency or tax shelters ideas, I am curious of the initial reactions people have who are brought to BratislavaBilly, the story of an American Expat adjusting to life in Europe and living in Slovakia.