As many of you may know, my mother is an extremely talented cook; therefore, she gave me a few of her recipes before I left so that I would have some of "my mama's cookin'" while away. Well, let's just say that grocery shopping in a different language is quite a difficult task...even if you have the recipe ingredients. The little things throw me off the most. For example, I was looking for peeled tomatoes in the can during my first grocery outing last month. Well, it is easy to find a can of tomatoes; however, I also have to know the word for peeled and whole. Good thing I found someone who spoke English, because I had picked up a can of "mushed" tomatoes...DEFINITELY not what I wanted. You wouldn't think that the smallest details would make such a difference. I stood for about 5 minutes in front of the juices trying to figure out which orange juice contained pulp (I really don't like orange juice without pulp, so this is kind of a big deal). Well, if any of you wanted to know...the word for pulp is "fruchtfleisch," which translates to "fruit flesh." I also stood in front of the soups for a while trying to figure out if the cream of mushroom soup was concentrated or already mixed with milk/water.
Anyway, it is already hard enough that everything is in a different language, but all the brands are different too! I think I am slowly getting the hang of the shopping, but there is more madness to these necessary outings I make on a bi/tri-weekly basis. Everyone walks in Berlin; therefore, you buy what you can carry. So I walk 5 minutes to the grocery store with empty bags, 5 minutes back to my apartment with heavy bags. Oh and did I mention that I have 88 stairs to walk up at my apartment? I consider grocery shopping both intellectually and physically grueling.
My hosts are impressed by my ability to cook however. They told me that I was the first student that actually prepares her own meals...everyone else just used the microwave. I guess I can thank my mom for that :)
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