What's common and everyday in one place is exotic in another.
It lets you get something that's just plain fun, for little money and it feels like a shared experience with the locals.
They don't usually appreciate what they have, but it's a great way to rethink your own culture's assumptions.
The shock Soviet people were getting from Western supermarkets and department stores, etc. was a significant stimulus for the "rethinking" :)
I get this shocks everyday. I bought some apples to do a cake: they were tasteless and afer rubbing them they were mostly water. The rest of the fruits are mostly unriped. Watermellon is mostly water, with a water taste. Truly a shock