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Wednesday, December 12th, Albuquerque, New
Mexico, USA
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Culture shock is gradually fading into
familiarity after more than a week Stateside. All of the normal daily activities of
living on solid ground in our own country are eagerly appreciated after a year's
absence. Grocery shopping, a trip to the mall, and a night at the movies
are deliciously familiar experiences that have somehow inspired awe. These
feelings will fade quickly as we begin to take them for granted again, but it is
fun to savor them while the contrast between life here and life on the boat is
fresh in our minds.
Driving to the grocery store, navigating
through the endless aisles, choosing from amongst the dozens of selections for
each item, loading the bags in the trunk and driving back home was a thrilling
experience. In Greece and Turkey recently, the simple task of buying milk
had become a real challenge. They package drinkable yogurt in the same
kind of bottles and I don't know enough of the language to decipher the labels.
They do offer a low fat variety of milk. Seeing 3.2% and 1.5% written on
the labels was my clue to determine which bottle to pick up. Oh, and have you ever
noticed the astonishing variety of cheeses displayed in your average American
grocery store? Even in the specialty cheese shops in Italy, you mostly
found Italian cheese; maybe a little Swiss. We had been jonesing for
cheddar cheese for quite some time until we found it in the Ionian Islands of
Greece, which are popular amongst British tourists who also favor cheddar. Of course, we bought a
huge chunk of it while we could. The grocery stores in the big European
cities have most things you want, although you still can't find peanut butter,
tortillas, syrup or Bisquick. The smaller supermarkets
often don't even carry fruits or vegetables. Here, anything you need is
available in abundance, regardless of season or location. I know it
seems silly to picture me wondering through a grocery store with this quizzical,
delighted grin on my face. I can't wait to shop for our own home once we
return to Annapolis. Sam's Club here I come!
One of our first outings after we arrived was
to the mall to buy the girls some new pants. They have been wearing the
same ones with holes in the knees since the beginning of October. We had
tried to shop for them in Turkey and Greece but couldn't find anything they
liked or that fit them. Although I'm usually quite comfortable
negotiating my way through strange supermarkets, I haven't quite gotten there
shopping for clothing. What size do I wear? Can we try the items on?
What if we need to return something? Anyway, the girls now have SEVERAL
pairs of new pants (I love Old Navy) to wear so my parents aren't embarrassed to
be seen with them. On our way out of the mall, Cassie commented "I keep
turning around when I hear someone speaking English and then I remind myself
that everyone speaks English here."
A trip to the movies provided a glimpse into
some of the changes in popular culture that have occurred while we have been
away. Advertising seems to have gotten much more innovative. The
little panda guy telling you to shut off your cell phone, talking directly to an
imagined guy in the audience supposedly texting was particularly funny. It
seems a radical change from the dancing popcorn and candy bars enticing you to
visit the concession stand that I remember. We had dinner after the movie
and finished up around 8:30. It still amazes me that restaurants are
basically wrapping things up by that time. Everywhere in Europe, things
are just getting going at 8:30pm and in many places that is still early.
Alongside the wonder and delight, you also have
the horror of the Omaha mall shootings. Slightly less horrific are the
political debates and news stories leading up to the primaries. We still
haven't watched much TV, but I'm sure we will find plenty to comment upon when
we do.
Still, we are thrilled to be back and loving
every minute. We left the kids in Seattle with Gran and Gramps Fisher
while Joe and I flew to Albuquerque to see his niece graduate from the
University of New Mexico on Friday. It's been a long time since we have
had any time away from them, so we are enjoying a bit of freedom. We'll be
back in Seattle to celebrate Christmas with the whole Fisher clan. The
kids are really hoping for some snow so keep your fingers crossed for us!
Happy Holidays to you all.
Next Entry >>>>>>>>>>
Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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