This is probably the only post until this weekend. We leave at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday to take the students to Florence and return very late on Friday night. Exciting but also demanding. I thought I'd talk about groceries today.

• Kim and I shop at several places. We tend to buy most of our produce on Wednesday from two guys in the market. Their prices are actually a little higher than another vendor, but the product is fresher, you choose your own (rather than the vendor sticking items in your bag for you) and they always add a little something to the bag - garlic, celery, carrots - just a little something as a thank you for your business. They also play by the rules - we always get a reciept, which is the law in Italy. The place that was cheaper didn't give us one.
• We also have one bakery that we tend to frequent more than others for bread. Grocery stores carry both bread and produce, and we do buy from them, but we more often get them (as do many Italians) at the places that specialize. We end up having to shop more often, but that's not just due to "specialized shops." When you have no car, and you have to carry whatever you buy, and you have an apartment-sized refrigerator, that's just the way it is.
• For other day in/day out groceries, we have a small grocery store inside the walls that we frequent. Tigre is a chain store with store brands, but ours is smaller than bigger stores in the suburbs. Still, they have a deli counter where we can get fresh meats/cheeses. Hours are 8-8 Mon - Sat, but they close 2-4 p.m. for midday.
• We make occasional bus trips to the mall, where Cityper is located. It is a large store, much like a Super Wal-Mart or Super Target, complete with all the clothes, household items etc. They are also open SOME Sundays. Busses run on an abbreviated schedule Sundays, so those trips have to be carefully planed.
• Inflation is a real problem here. Forget the fact that the exchange rate is killing us Americans - even Italians feel the pinch at the grocery store. There was a story in today's paper that 75 items will have price controls inposed for 6 months beginning March 1.
• In spite of this, there are still some items cheaper here than in the U.S. Most notably, wine prices make me smile. I have not paid more than $7.50 for a bottle of wine in the grocery store, and it's all been good. Kim's actually bought stuff for $1.50 (for a standard 750 ml bottle), but the lowest I've gone has been about $2.40. I tend to drink Montepulciano most. We do drink it in the US as well, but that has come to be what I've been drinking most here. Other less expensive items are local produce. We were getting artichokes for less than $1 each, and blood oranges from Sicily run less than $1/pound - Clementine tangerines even less. Believe it or not, dry pasta prices are just about the same as what we see in the U.S. (and a lot of the same brands). The good stuff runs about $1.60 for 500 grams (just over a pound) while the cheap stuff can go on sale for about 60 cents.
• Conversely, the more foreign something is, the more expensive it is likely to be. Peanut butter runs about $3.60 for a small (10-12 oz) and boxed tortilla shells are about $5 for 10.
• In spite of this (or maybe because it's so profitable) many stores have a lot more imported stuff than I recall. It used to be students wanting ketchup or Mexican salsa or breakfast cereals would have to jump on the bus for Cityper to find it. Now even our small stores inside the walls carry most of these.
• Standard operating procedure is to bring bags with you. Most grocery stores charge 5 cents per bag for the plastic ones they provide. Our Tigre has small flimsy bags available for you to use free, but if you want the larger more durable bags, the cashier sells those to you.
• Even small grocery stores note the country of origin of the fish and produce. I could be exaggerating but I think they're more attentive to the way products are raised. We bought some chicken/pork sausage in the "regular" meat counter (not some organic stuff) and the package mentioned the fact that the chickens were not caged and that the animals were humanely treated. The company makes a big deal about it. They are also VERY big on not using any form of growth hormone.

OK, again I'll finish with some local statistics:

• 7.4 percent of the Macerata population is foreign. The largest portion is Morrocan, followed by Indians and Albanians. There are 90 different ethnic origins represented.
• There are 1.2 percent more cars registered than a year ago. Registered drivers and traffic citations are also up.