Grocery shopping 101: International students learn to find the best deals and the right peppers

Navigating the grocery aisles was a challenge for KhousmitaGopaul when she moved to P.E.I. from Mauritius in 2016.

Understanding labels, finding the best deals even just knowing where the hot peppers are kept.

That's why Gopaul was helping to guide fellow international students at UPEI through a local grocery store on Tuesday.

"When I first came here it was very difficult," she says. "I only bought frozen food, enough for a month, it was horrible and Iwas craving for fresh food."

The students chose the Charlottetown Superstore to take advantage of Tuesday's 10 per cent student discount. Groceries can be expensive for any student on a budget, and finding deals is especially important to foreign students who may not get a favourable exchange rate.

One Canadian dollar, for example, is equal to 27 Mauritian rupees, Gopaul's native currency.

"You can imagine how expensive it isfor me to be here, pay for tuition and buy everything, so Ineed to be careful," she said.

The Chinese students agree that the currency exchange makes their groceries seem expensive, so learning how and where to shop is helpful, they say.

Chicken curry

Business studentJingHuang of China finds grocery stores in Canada colourful and organized, but the products are different.

Ifeel coming here, living alone, makes me moreindependentIfind Igrow up. JingHuang

"What Ireally miss is the food, but the good thing is we also have Asian food stores on the Island so if I miss food from home I can shopthere and cook it myself," she says.

Finding the right foods can also be a challenge.

Tuesday night, threemale students from Bangladesh who just started at UPEIlast weekcruise right past the produce section. Gopaul and the other volunteers have fun teasing them. They prod them to add fruits and veggies to their shopping cart of pop, brownies, chocolate milk and because the store was out of halal organic chicken.

FarhanNayeem of Bangladesh says he's looking forrice, eggs, chili, noodles and drinks. He says he'll make chicken curry and egg fry. The big challenge, he says, is the chilies.

Someone shows him a bag of dry chilies, but they won't do. In the produce section there is one type of fresh, green chili. The students from Bangladesh are suspicious.

Different chilies

"Yes, they'rehot," Gopaul assures them.

Nayeemlooks at her and the peppers.

The chiliesare not like the ones from home but they go in the cart for a taste test.

It's all part of the learning experience.

"Ifeel coming here, living alone, makes me moreindependent," Huang says. "Ifind Igrow up."

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