Just One of Those Days...

Yesterday started out perfectly innocent and nice for me. The sun was shining when I woke up, it was supposed to be a beautiful day, the boys were happy, and I was not feeling terrible. I had grand plans to take Cameron to school in the morning, then go run some errands with Harrison before spending the rest of the morning at the park. I also planned to be very productive during the boys' nap time. I feel like the boys and the house have been very neglected while I have been sick, so I was really looking forward to spending some quality time with Harrison as well as getting some things done around the house. Well, as soon as we walked out the door in the morning, everything seemed to fall apart. First of all, as soon as I pulled out of our garage, I noticed that our street was closed in one direction. No problem I thought…I just turned the other way and went out the opposite direction. However, as soon as I got around the corner down for our house, I was greeted with another road closed barrier. We were too late to walk or grab a bus to school and our bike trailer is broken, so I began to panic a bit. Why was our road closed anyway?? Luckily, a neighbor of ours pulled out of the garage shortly after I did to head to work, so we discussed the situation and came up with a strategy. We couldn't see any reason why our street or all the streets around us were closed, so we decided we would tag team the barriers and slip through so we could get out. By this time, another neighbor came along (a local) and informed us that all the roads were closed because they were having a street market of sorts on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This neighbor said that we could get out and back in if we lived in the area, but that people would probably be upset. So he helped us moved the barriers and I was able to get Cameron to school just in time!

After dropping Cameron off at school, Harrison and I went on our way to run errands. We went to a home improvement store for some gardening supplies and then to the grocery store. It's been quite a while since I have actually done proper grocery shopping. Smells really bother me at the moment, so I've  been spending as little time in stores as possible. Anyways, we clearly really needed groceries. So after spending a good amount of time in the store stocking up, we proceeded to the checkout. Ten minutes and €100.00 later, the groceries bagged and in my cart, with five people behind me in line, I discovered that I did not have any way to pay for my things. This particular store only takes cash, which I did not have, or a chip card (not a credit card), which I did not have. I do have a chip card, but it was not in my wallet at that moment!!! It felt like all the blood drained from my body and I began to panic. I did not know how to have a conversation about not being able to pay in Dutch (or I at least lost all the Dutch that I do know), so I began, as calmly as I could, freaking out in English. The lady at the register very calmly responded to me in English, acting as if this happened more often than you would think, and called the manager over. I couldn't even bring myself to look at the growing line behind me, but I'm sure they were annoyed. The manager took my groceries and said she would keep them at the customer service desk until I could come back with money to pay. I was still panicked and extremely embarrassed, but she told to go to a hospital nearby to get some money from an ATM.

I left the store and called Cole to tell him what was going on and that I would not be able to get Cameron from school because I was trying to get money to pay for my groceries. I felt terrible because I knew he had plans for lunch and that these shenanigans would make him late. Thank goodness for a patient husband who puts up with my crazy!! He told me to take care of the grocery situation and he would go get Cameron. I hung up and headed to the hospital, thinking about the cheese, chicken, milk and other perishables that were just sitting in my cart at the store. Then, it dawned on me that, although I knew physically where the hospital was, that it was a big hospital with many buildings. How was I supposed to quickly find an ATM on the huge hospital premises? By the grace of God, I was able to find where to park and literally walk straight to an ATM to get money for the groceries. As an added bonus, I was able to get everything done quickly enough that I didn't have an pay for parking at the hospital! You might be wondering about Harrison during all this. Well, he was happily along for the ride, but was a very curious participant. He kept asking the same questions over and over…"Where are we going mommy?" "Why are we going to the hospital mommy?" "Why did you forget to bring money mommy?" After a while, I begged him to let me answer his questions later so I could figure out what I needed to do. He seemed to understand my pleadings and waited until we had the money and were back in the car to start up again. Needless to say, a whole new set of questions came up when we arrived back at the same grocery store we had just left a mere 20 minutes earlier! To bring my humiliation full circle, I returned to the customer service desk to retrieve my groceries and pay.

After retrieving the groceries, I met up with Cole so I could get Cameron and go home. There was no time for the park at this point. We had an uneventful trip home until I got back to the above mentioned closed streets by my house. Because I live on one of the closed streets, I am allowed to drive through there to get home, but I was still stopped by an unhappy woman who was sure to tell me that I was not allowed to be doing what I was doing. By this time, I wanted to loose it on someone, but I just responded that I was going to my house and she begrudgingly let me go.

Nap time could not come fast enough once we got home. We had a quick lunch and then all headed to bed for a nice long nap. Once Cole was home, he was very sweet to take the boys out to enjoy the nice weather so I could relax a little more. At the end of the day, I was so thankful to fall into bed, have a good laugh with my extremely loving and understanding husband, and recognize and accept that it was just one of those days!

My Love Affair with Food and a (Relatively) New Passion

I feel like I have talked a lot about food and grocery shopping since I started blogging about our time here...probably because it is soooo yummy and I LOVE to eat! I have always loved to eat and I'm pretty sure I ate my parents out of house and home when I was living there. We have definitely taken advantage of the fact that food is so delicious here. The access to local fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and bread, combined with stricter food regulations in Europe have made for a better diet for us here.

Although I have always loved to eat, I have not always loved to eat healthy food. In fact, eating healthy is not something that comes naturally to me. If there are chips and carrots on a plates, I would much prefer the chips. If there is chocolate and grapes on a plate...chocolate all the way! One of the things I was trying to get better at before we moved was eating a cleaner diet, meaning more real food (fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole wheat, etc.), and less processed junk full of chemicals. I wanted that for Cole and me, but even more for our children. We worry so much about vaccinations, medication, too much TV, or whatever, but we don't seem to worry as much about the food we put in their little bodies. So I started to get more serious about this before we left and we began cutting things out of our diet and making changes...what we were eating, where we were shopping, etc. I still eat junk sometimes...I'm a little ashamed to admit that Taco Bell is a guilt pleasure of mine! :/ Anyways, after we moved here, some of those changes took a hit as I was trying to figure out where to shop, what to buy, and where to get clean, healthy food (it didn't help that there are waffles and chocolate readily available almost everywhere)! Luckily, thanks to websites like 100 Days of Real Food and Food Babe, I already knew before we arrived that food regulations are much stricter here and that we would be better able to tell (after translating) what was actually in our food. I am also much more educated on the ingredients in our food and what effect they have on our bodies. I'm thankful that companies are required to label products when they have GMO's in them so that we can at least make an informed decision!

Now that I am more proficient with shopping here (remember this this post?!), I am happy to say that we have been doing much better with eating food that is better for us. I'm not talking about low-fat, low-sugar, or diet options (because they are not actually better), but real food...fresh fruits and veggies, things made from scratch, and things with ingredients that we can pronounce. Although the lack of preservatives, GMO's, and other chemicals that we have in the U.S. is a good thing, it was also an adjustment for me because things don't keep in the fridge or on the shelf for nearly as long as I'm used to. Consequently, I have to go shopping more often, but I don't mind because the food we have tastes so fresh and yummy. I have especially noticed this with the fruit and cheese here! Of course we indulge in local gelato or other goodies from time to time, but for the most part, we are doing better at incorporating these new foods into our diet.

I didn't realize how much of a difference the food here was making on my way of thinking until we went to the American Grocery Store in Antwerp the other day to stock up on some black beans. I am very thankful that there is a place to get black beans because they are a staple for me, but I was shocked by what I saw in there. Of course there is junk food here and we succumb to the temptation from time to time, but I am not used to seeing what I saw when we went there. It was processed junk and more processed junk. I went through the (small) store and looked at label after label. Everything was full of ingredients that I'm not as used to seeing anymore because they are either illegal or require a warning label. Most companies find alternate and/or natural ways to make the same products here as they do in the United States so they can avoid putting the required warning labels on their food. Thanks to articles that I have read on 100 Days of Real Food like this, my eyes have really been opened up even more to discrepancies between food in America and food in Europe. I was also surprised by the size of the packages...from candy bars to bags of chips, I am not used to seeing such ginormous portions anymore!

I was affected enough by the experience that I am now going to be ordering organic black beans from Amazon.co.uk so I can avoid the chemicals in the black beans from the American Grocery Store. We are by no means perfect at this and we still have a lot to learn...of course we still have to pay attention to what is in the food here, but it is so much easier to avoid a lot of the nasty stuff that is in our food nowadays in the U.S. It makes me nervous to think about moving back (when the time comes) and having to worry so much about this stuff again. I love being able to feel good about what I am feeding my family. I'm hoping that, by the time we come back, some of these ingredients will be required to be better labeled or that they will be banned all together! I'm also hoping that our taste buds will be changed in a significant way so that we won't even desire the junk food anymore! Until then, I am going to enjoy the fact that we have access to all this yummy, fresh goodness and keep working towards a better diet!

This is Different...

I'm sure posts like this will continue to pop up as we learn more about being here, but here are a few things that have stuck out to me as being pretty different from America. And when I say different, I don't necessarily mean bad, just different! I already posted a few things, but here are a some new things to add to this list of adjustments we have had to make!

Grocery shopping (or really any shopping):

I already posted a little bit about my struggles with grocery shopping, but as I think back over the past few months, there are some more things that stick out to me. When I first started going shopping by myself with the boys, it was very intimidating. I still struggle sometimes, but one of the biggest issues for me was that I couldn't then and still struggle with reading things. Take laundry detergent for example. I remember standing in the aisle looking at all the options. In my head I knew they were all laundry detergent and, for the most part, laundry detergent is laundry detergent am I right?! There were even brands I recognized, but I still had a crazy inner struggle with picking one! It would go something like this..."Ok, I recognize this brand...but I've never used it before...but there isn't anything else I recognize, so it's better than a total unknown...but it might be different in Belgium...maybe I should compare these two...you are a crazy person, just pick it up and move on." What is my problem?!? And I did that with almost EVERYTHING! I now have a translate app on my phone so I can find out what something is if I really need to know. It's not that efficient, but I can calm the crazies a little bit if I need to! :) The other difficult thing about grocery shopping is that measurements are different in Europe. In Europe they use the metric system, so things are measured in liters, kilograms, grams, etc. Of course, all my recipes have measurements in pounds, ounces, etc, so I am constantly converting things. There's no such thing as going to the store for a 15 oz can of something here. So, of course, I have an app to convert everything too...this is the 21st century! :) I hope by the end of our 3-5 years here, I will know the conversions without having to look them up every single time!  

Laundry:

This is an interesting one for me. We have a washer and dryer in our loft, which in and of itself is a very nice thing. There are many who don't have a dryer or neither of them at all! For me, laundry is almost a daily thing...or it should be! :) However, one load of laundry, from start to finish, takes at least 3 hours, if not longer! The fastest wash cycle I have takes 40 minutes and that's just a quick wash...not bad, but also not very thorough. A normal wash takes an hour and a half! Drying takes hours! I have never gotten a load completely dry in less than two hours. Two and a half hours is the least, but that's a small load! So this is VERY different from what I'm used to at home! 

Road Etiquette:

This is a big one and has been a huge adjustment...mostly because if you mess this one up, there could be very bad consequences! I think I mentioned before that bikes and pedestrians have the right of way when crossing the street. People and bikes come out of no where, so you always have to be on the lookout. It's stressful when driving, biking, and walking. You just always have to be alert of what and who is around you! While it is a little nerve-racking to just go across the street without waiting to be absolutely certain that cars are going to stop, you just have to go! If you hesitate, the locals get very annoyed with you! Now that I know that you are supposed to just cross the street without waiting for cars to stop, I get annoyed with people who hesitate...one step closer to becoming a local! :) I still haven't determined who has the right of way between a pedestrian and a bike, but I have seen a couple of people get run over by bikes! Ouch! A friend of mine who is also doing an expat assignment with her husband, told me that she always worries about her kids being run over by some form of transportation and I now understand why!  We are getting better with the rules, but it is still stressful to drive when everyone is out!

Clothing:

I'm not even sure where to start with this one. People dress very different here. Back home, unless it was a special occasion, I usually dressed pretty casual...especially if I was taking the boys somewhere to play. I will never forget the first time I took the boys to the park by myself. I was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweater with my hair was in a pony tail. There were two other mothers at the park with their children. Each of them, and their children, were dressed to the nines! The moms had on skinny jeans and boots, and their hair was all done. The kids also had on nice pants and shoes. I couldn't believe it! I had already noticed that people dress very nice here, but I guess I was shocked to see that almost everyone, in almost every circumstance dresses up. Biking, playing, shopping, you name it, they look nice! There is no such thing as a cute mom-on-the-go here (as we know it in America). I have to admit that I have gone shopping or to the park in my workout clothes or sweats and have been very happy doing so. I would get crazy looks here if I did that!! It has taken me some time to stop worrying about this very inane issue and just be me! It's not realistic for me to get a completely new wardrobe and it doesn't seem comfortable to me to be dressed so nice all the time, so I have decided that I am just going to be me, and that's good enough! However, I still get looks when I go out and I am still shocked almost daily by some of the outfits I see.      

Breakfast:

We were invited over to our neighbors loft a couple weeks ago for breakfast to get to know them better. They told us not to bring anything and to just come and enjoy ourselves. We had no idea what to expect because this was our first time eating with some locals! Of course when we think of breakfast, we think of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, pancakes, cereal, etc. When we walked in the loft, we saw fresh breads, bagels, and pastries with butter, cream cheese, jelly, Nutella, etc., cheeses, tomatoes and cucumbers with balsamic vinegar, ham and salami, coffee, tea, and juice! It was very different than what we're used to, but it was delicious! As a side note, we have awesome neighbors and are thankful to have had the chance to get to know them.

Restaurants/Eating Out:

First of all, almost every sit down restaurant worth visiting in Gent (and other places) requires a reservation on most nights....usually several days before you want to visit. There have been several occasions where we have tried to go out to eat last minute and have been turned away from every place because we didn't have a reservation. We couldn't even wait for a table because literally every table was booked for the entire night! I'm not used to that, so we have missed out on some good meals, but I'm sure we'll get better at remembering this detail. The other thing about eating out here that's different is that meals take hours. It's not like you go in, order, eat, and pay within an hour. There's no such thing. You arrive, you have appetizers and drinks (or try to read the menus as we do), you order, eat and eat and eat, then you wait for a while and decide whether or not you have room for dessert. You then decide it's foolish not to order dessert and order what you want. During dessert and after, you are supposed to sit and drink some more, then sit and talk for a while. We have never had the ticket brought to us without asking for it so we could pay and leave. Eating out is definitely an event and, unless you really plan for it, it can be stressful...especially with kids along. It's very difficult, at least for me, to keep my kids quiet and sitting for two or three hours. Although I have yet to have a bad meal here, I usually leave a restaurant exhausted from trying to entertain the crazies so they don't disturb all the other patrons. Side note, they don't believe in ice here, so all drinks are served at room temperature, or at best, chilled. Also, water is not free, so meals can get very expensive! All that to say, eating out is a delicious event!

As I said before, these things aren't all necessarily bad, they have just taken some getting used to! It makes life interesting to introduced to new things, so we are trying to embrace them as they come and do with them what we can!

Grocery Shopping!

It may seem absurd to dedicate an entire post to grocery shopping. However, this has probably been one of the most stressful things for me since we have been here.  It's something that can't be ignored and I had to figure out how to be successful at it pretty quickly. This was one of my "jobs" in South Carolina. I had a system and a plan for meals, snacks, etc. during the week. It was a pretty well oiled machine. For probably the first three weeks here, every trip to the store resulted in tears, frustration, and the same five or ten ingredients (milk, bread, cereal, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, eggs, and tomato soup). That doesn't make for very nutritious meals or much variety.

We ate a lot of randomness during that time. I should not complain at all because we did have food to eat. We were not hungry during any of that time. But it was certainly not what we are used to. So why was it so stressful? Well, if you have ever been to the store with children, you know that trips to the store already have the potential to be stressful without adding anything else. Add in completely different products, a completely different language, no carts, and a huge double stroller and you have a recipe for stress! Oh, and I haven't even commented on the fact that you have to bring your own bags or pay for some at the store (while people are staring at you wondering where your bags are), and you have to bag your own groceries...STRESS! Thankfully, I have found that almost everyone here speaks English (at least a little) and no one has refused to help me when I have needed it.  Side note: I have only met one person who did not know any English and would not help me.

Anyway, let me comment on some things that are different about grocery stores and food products here. 

Milk: Most people buy milk that has been ultra, ultra pasteurized and sits out in the middle of the store...meaning, not in the refrigerated section. I know most people do drink that milk here, but it FREAKS ME OUT!! So far, I have not been able to jump on that train. Thankfully, they do have the option to buy milk in the refrigerated section, so that's what I do! The milk comes in small containers (1 liter), so we usually buy 4 of those a week.

Eggs: Also sit in the middle of the store...not refrigerated. Again, obviously it is fine, but again, it freaks me out. Also, sometimes the egg shells have feathers or remnants of poo on them. 

Bread: Bread is very different here. It doesn't seem to me that people buy regular loaves of bread from a store. They have a small selection of bread like you would see in America, but I don't ever see the locals buying that bread. More often, I see people buying bread in the local bakeries, or bakery like bread in groceries stores that they then cut up on their own. Not a bad thing, just different. I do a combination of both.  

Peanut Butter: Pretty much non-exsistent! If you can find it, it comes in these tiny little jars that last our family maybe a week! If you know me well, you know that I like to eat peanut butter by the spoonful, so we have gone through many jars since we have been here.

Trash bags: Trash, for the most part, is a government controlled thing. They have specific bags for specific trash items and the government controls how much the bags are. No matter where you go, they are the same price. In many stores, you can't just pick them up on a shelf in the store. You have to go to the service counter to request and pay for the bags. Again, not bad, just strange! 

Cheese: There is not much cheese here that I used to eat on a regular basis. I have learned to like gouda, which is readily available almost everywhere, but I am still searching for a go-to cheese like cheddar to keep in the fridge. 

Fruit and vegetables: Fruit and vegetables here are awesome! They taste so good, and since I'm so close to the store, I go several times a week to get them meaning they are always very fresh! While I do get some produce at the grocery store, I do more of my produce shopping at the local fruit and vegetable stands or markets. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much more fresh fruits and veggies we have been consuming since being here. Good and good for you! :)

Meat: Well, I now know what the words for chicken (kip) and beef (rundvlees) are in dutch. It has taken a while, but I can find my way around a meat section. 100% ground beef is hard to find...they like to mix beef and pork together, but I recently found a butcher close to our house where I can confidently purchase the exact meat I am looking for! I'm sure we've accidentally eaten some weird meat since we've been here (not muskrat or otters, just meat that we don't normally eat...not super adventurous with meat in our home). 

After the third week or so, things started to calm down as we were feeling more settled in the loft, so I was able to be more meticulous about shopping...making meal and shopping lists, having a route, spending a bit more time at the store, etc. By that time, I was also learning what I could and could not realistically expect to get at the store. I had to come to terms with the fact that I am not going to find all my beloved mexican food ingredients in the store no matter how hard I look! :) So I was able to start making healthy and nutritious meal plans with the knowledge that I would actually be able to follow through with them! As a side note, there are at least two grocery stores within walking distance (three minutes) of our loft. Neither of them really have carts and they are pretty small. This is a problem with my two little ones. What I now do is walk to the store with the double stroller, then when we get to the store, I push the stroller, and Cameron walks behind me pulling a little shopping basket. Sometimes he's a little rambunctious, but for the most part, he is very helpful. He pulls the groceries and then puts them on the conveyer belt while I bag the scanned groceries. We then stack them on the stroller and walk back to the loft. It's a good little partnership!        

So over the past two months, I have refined my grocery shopping and now visit the grocery store, bakery, butcher, and fruit and vegetable markets several times a week. I know it seems strange coming from America where we like to knock everything out in one trip, but I have found this to be the best way to get the best ingredients. I am thankful for all the options and for the ability to walk to all these places. 

One other nice surprise I discovered was the existence of a store called The American Food Store in Antwerp. Antwerp is about 40 minutes north east of Gent, so it's not too far! We decided to make a trip there not too long ago to see what was there. It's a little hole in the wall store, but we were very excited to be there. I know we haven't been gone that long, but it was soooo nice to walk in and know what everything in the store was!! It is mostly packaged, processed junk food, but it's nice to know that if we need a taste of home, we can get it there. The only downside to the store is that the prices are outrageous. (I think we paid $8.00 for a box of Oreos...don't judge us, we really needed some Oreos! :) We also got quite a few cans of black beans (a staple for me back home), chips and salsa, enchilada sauce, and some crackers. We ate almost a whole bag of chips and salsa on the 40 minute drive home!

So here is a rundown of my favorite (so far) places to shop around Gent:

Grocery store: There are several where I shop, but Delhaize is my favorite. I walk to this city Delhaize weekly, but there is another larger branch that I occasionally drive to when I need something more specific. 

Bakery: There are MANY bakeries that I visit, but the locals told me that Himschoot Bakery is the best. It definitely did not disappoint! This is one of the oldest bakeries in Gent and you can definitely tell they know what they are doing. It's always busy and yummy. It's not the closest bakery to our apartment, but it's worth the walk!

Butcher: I first visited Slagerij Aula on the recommendation of a neighbor. I haven't really investigated butchers other than this one, but I am very happy with it so far. There is a ton of variety and, in addition, there is a nice selection of cheeses, produce, bread, pastas, snacks, etc. There is also a nice little restaurant in the middle. 

                                                   Market: Again, I haven't investigated too many other markets because I found this little organic market that I walk to every Friday. I get all kinds of fresh, wonderful fruits and vegetables there. I also usually stop at another fruit and vegetable stand to fill in what I can't find at the organic market.

I am starting to feel more confident going out and about and just exploring to see what is out there to enjoy. I am very thankful that this area is starting to come together. My trips are not always smooth, but they are getting better each time. I hope to continue adding places to find yummy food!