We’ve lived in Germany for 13 weeks! Whew. That span of time can sound like a lifetime or like a quick blip in time. Honestly, it has sounded and felt like both to me over the past 13 weeks. Last week, I went to the grocery store for my oh-so-European midweek grocery shopping trip and saw TWO families I knew. Who even am I??!! Running into people I know by name at the grocery store?! Unreal.
Side note: we all shop mid-week here because we can’t fit 7 days of food in our European fridges. Eggs come in packages of 10 here… not 12. Because 12 eggs in a row won’t fit in the fridge. It’s true. Our fridge is exactly 10 eggs deep. And the freezer? Barely fits ice cream. But I digress.
In other news, I bought my first black beans. The only black beans I’ve found in grocery stores are canned and with spices. And I like our black beans the way we cook them. Well, apparently Germans prefer lentils… because lentils are everywhere, but not black beans. I finally ordered schwartze Bohnen — 6 bags of them. And tomorrow night? It’s going to taste like home in our home. (Bohnen is capitalized because in German, all nouns are capitalized. Say what?!)
Also, I bought succulents. Plants. Plants make me happy. I like watering, inspecting, pruning, the whole bit. But, I don’t go as far as naming… I’m crazy… but I’m not crazy.
Oh, and date night. Houston, we have a baby-sitter. At least, I hope she hasn’t quit, yet. In any case… that felt like an amazing milestone to hit… Getting out. Alone. We barely knew how to express our joy clearly enough in not toting two lolly-gagging toddlers to the car… We just… walked. At a normal pace. Crazy. (I also didn’t worry about ordering fries directly upon sitting down to keep our little squirrels happy… but don’t worry. I ordered (truffle) fries. Because that’s what keeps this squirrel happy.)
So, we’re getting there, and I’m taking solace in the 1 year to transition after a move reality/goal. Because we still have art to put up and furniture to buy and oh, I have an entire language to learn. BUT, we’re beginning to schedule fun and travel in because we refuse to be sick for 80% of our future here… (Yes, 80% of our time so far has looked like sitting around at home with more than a few Paw Patrols on tap.) We’re determined to travel and enjoy Europe and the adventure that we’ve jumped into. So stay tuned!
Tschüss!
Couch von Rot 