But grocery shopping still feels like an exercise in futility and painful tourism.
It's bad enough that I still can't figure out what kinds of snacks I'm interested in eating. (Other than chocolate, which I've pretty much mastered.) But I decided to get stuff for making sandwiches and it is like making sandwiches is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE over here. They don't seem to have grape jelly. Okay, no big deal, strawberry is fine too. They also don't have any cheeses that any normal person would put on their sandwich, such as provolone or swiss. I don't want sharp cheddar on my sandwich and I don't even know what Edam tastes like. As much as it makes me feel like a dumb tourist, I buy American, although it is not labeled as American or in fact anything other than "CHEESE." Okay, cheese it is. I go to the deli to get meat and realize I don't know how much I want to order because it is priced by the 100 grams and I have no concept of how much ham is 100 grams of ham. There are also like three choices of meat at the deli so I cut my losses and decide to get packaged meats... which are sold by the slice?? There is a sale being advertised, €4 for 14 slices of ham. (?) Then the cashier lady speaks at me in an accent that barely sounds like she is speaking English and suddenly I just want to go back to sleep even though I just slept for like twelve hours.
It's bad enough that I still can't figure out what kinds of snacks I'm interested in eating. (Other than chocolate, which I've pretty much mastered.) But I decided to get stuff for making sandwiches and it is like making sandwiches is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE over here. They don't seem to have grape jelly. Okay, no big deal, strawberry is fine too. They also don't have any cheeses that any normal person would put on their sandwich, such as provolone or swiss. I don't want sharp cheddar on my sandwich and I don't even know what Edam tastes like. As much as it makes me feel like a dumb tourist, I buy American, although it is not labeled as American or in fact anything other than "CHEESE." Okay, cheese it is. I go to the deli to get meat and realize I don't know how much I want to order because it is priced by the 100 grams and I have no concept of how much ham is 100 grams of ham. There are also like three choices of meat at the deli so I cut my losses and decide to get packaged meats... which are sold by the slice?? There is a sale being advertised, €4 for 14 slices of ham. (?) Then the cashier lady speaks at me in an accent that barely sounds like she is speaking English and suddenly I just want to go back to sleep even though I just slept for like twelve hours.
Moral: Apparently grocery shopping is the bane of my existence.
100 grams of ham would be just under 1/4 of a pound. Edam cheese is a mild cheese that would probably be a good substitute for provolone. I'm kind of surprised they don't have grape jelly but as long as they have strawberry you can still make a decent PB&J. Hope this helps Hannah.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
Guinness and chocolate, isn't that a typical college student diet?
ReplyDeleteThanks mom. I'll try Edam next time. Its possible I wasn't looking hard enough for grape jelly, I'll try again, but I have strawberry for now. I think I will survive. :D
ReplyDeleteI think your problems stem from you walking in the store and asking where to find the "sandwich materials". Of course they are going to make you buy obscure amounts of meat and hide the regular cheese. The video of the entire "meal component and related paraphernalia gathering process" is probably already on youtube.
ReplyDeleteMannah
It seems as though you have been to the grocery store a lot and you did mention you were good with the chocolate selection... but maybe the European POST is a touch slow because I have not received my Chocolate bar with one pint of Irish milk in it yet. Hmmmmm.....
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the Irish hospitality and try to avoid wearing too many jumpers with shamrocks on them!!)
SAS