Look Out, General Mills

May 6, 2008

A few weeks ago in Ashgabat I found a box of cornflakes in a store and it was the absolute highlight of my life until I ran out. Every time I went to Mary City I scoured the bazaars and stores thinking that I just might find a box of cornflakes in one of them. You never know…it just might happen.

But every time I asked for cereal I was directed to where they kept boxes of baby food.

Then last Friday, sitting in a window in a small store in Mary City were five boxes of American cereal. It was absolutely beautiful and I got so excited I ran in the store and asked for the cereal.

Naturally I was directed to the baby food.

“IN THE WINDOW!!!” I explained.

They parted the curtains and took out the dusty items sitting in the window sill that have probably been sitting there for at least half a year.

“70,000 manat,” they told me when I asked the price.

Immediately my heart dropped. With the way prices have been rising recently there’s no way I could afford five whole dollars for a small box of cereal. Living on $120 a month is really hard sometimes.

But instead of getting pissed off about the situation I decided to do something about it. And I am proud to announce that yesterday I made my own cornflakes. They were more like corn chips than flakes, but it rocked.

Cost: $0

Taste: Fantastic

I can remember Turkmenistan as the days I learned how to milk a cow, translate phrases into three different languages consecutively, wash all my clothes by hand, and make cereal.