A blog without pictures.......March 11, 2015

My card reader won't work anymore and a new one is in the mail, so this will be a blog without pictures......I'll try to make it interesting.

I want to tell you about grocery shopping.  We usually go to Reve.....there are two close by our apartment.  One is in a small mall and we usually go there because it has underground parking....nice in rainy weather.  Another reason we go there is because there is a "variety store" and several food shops.  The  noodle shop guy knows us and what we usually order, so he asks if we want the same as always and I always do....Keith is much more adventurous.  The other shop is a doner (meat sandwich) shop.  It has a variety of things including pizza, and it has a big hunk of beef and another big hunk of pork turning in front of an upright hot wall.  They slice off the meat kinda like Arby's does.  Pretty good.

Back to shopping.....to get a cart, you have to put a Reve token or a euro in a slot on the handle of the cart.  That unlocks your cart from the other carts and off you go.  When you return your cart, you push it into the cart in front of you and use that cart's little thing that is attached to its handle and push out your token or euro.   Now the fun begins......everything is in German.  I know, I know....but it is frustrating!  We buy basically the same things over and over again.....stuff to make sandwiches for lunch, eggs, bread, paper products, soaps and stuff.    We eat pizza or pasta several times a week.  Luckily, Keith's  blood sugar numbers are staying low, we we can do the easy dinners.  We can buy Colgate toothpaste, but everything else is in German ....this is where picture reading comes in handy.....not always accurate, tho.  I have a hard time with the meats, but we usually get pork chops and hamburger, along with brots for Keith.  We usually buy a roasted chicken, but we have found it never tastes very good the next day; so we sometimes we just get a half.  Things are more expensive than at home.  Occasionally I spluge and buy an avacado for 1.75 euros......not very often, but I am worth it.  We always buy mandarine oranges and bananas.

I really miss the brands I used to buy.   I haven't found dill pickles I like,  the mayonaise isn't as good. neither is catsup or mustard, and the cottage cheese is yucky!  And we can't buy cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup.  I have made my  own.....cooker that I am!!!  The salad dressings are not good, but Kim gave me all the dry ranch dressing her mother-in-law had sent her.  It's funny but all the missionary couples have dry ranch dressng....either someone from home has sent it or a visitor has brought it.  There are a lot of things I haven't been able to find at all.....stuffing mix, cheddar cheese, 

canned pumpkin.....and no pumpkin pies in the bakeries to name a few.  

So then comes check out.   We unload our purchases onto a belt.  The cashiers are all sitting down.   They ring in the items and push them down a little ramp and we put them in the bags we brought with us.  If we forget and leave our bags in the car, we have to purchase a bag or 2 or 3......we can also just put everything back in the cart and put the groceries in  bags when we get to our car.  I usually bag the groceries while Keith pays.  He charges everything he can.  Paying with paper money is very much like at home.....one euro, five, ten, etc.  I don't quickly recognize the coins yet, so I usually pay with a bill.....and we get lots of change that way.

Then we get home....and I wonder what to fix for dinner.  Some things never change.

Hope my card reader gets here soon, don't you?  It's a lot more fun to include pictures!  Sending lots of love from our house (apartment) to yours!!