What we miss about the U.S.

Yeah, I know. I'm risking sounding horribly bratty because of this, but it must be done. Some of you might think I'm crazy for missing some things while we're over in Europe of all places, but we do. And I have a list to prove it.

1. Guacamole/rice and beans/Cafe Rio/mexican food of any kind.

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I never realized how much my diet regularly consisted of the aforementioned items until I moved over here and a) have only seen one Mexican restaurant, and that was in Switzerland. b) have not seen an avocado of any shape or form, or the glorious goop that is produced from one since I've been over here c) often catch myself dreaming of guacamole and that perfect combination of food items that is the Cafe Rio salad only to hear my stomach grumble shortly thereafter. Mark misses those pork burritos with the medium sauce and black beans. If you leave near a Cafe Rio, get thee to the restaurant and scarf down a salad for me, please.

By the way, Sue, if you are reading this: Tell Ryan I desperately miss that lovely guacamole of his. We need to eat some together ASAP when we get back. :)

2. Tom's toothpaste.

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We switched to Tom's about a year ago because, as much as I loved my Colgate, I wanted to shy away from a company that tested on animals and used animal products (although I heard recently that Tom's sold out to Colgate--whatever. At least their toothpaste originally wasn't tested on animals and contain animal products). At first, it tasted different but I grew to really love it. Now that we're over here we've had to switch back to Colgate because of the lack of Tom's, and I really, really miss it. Colgate tastes much too chemical-y and silicone-y for me now. Really missing my Tom's. By the way, should you ever want to try it (and I think you should), I suggest this kind. The peppermint flavor is great, too.

3. Good deodorant.

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This one is mostly Mark because I'm still getting by with my stick that I brought from back home.

I guess Germany doesn't allow for certain ingredients in their deodorant like the U.S. does so it apparently doesn't work as well. I think it might be aluminum because I know a lot of people are skeptical about it being in deodorant. It might also do with the fact that Europeans are a little skeptical of deodorant anyway, well at least the old people are. (If you are ever in Europe on a hot summer day, stay away from the old men as much as possible.)

In fact, when our downstairs neighbors heard that my parents were coming over from the states, she promptly put in a request for American deodorant for her husband because that's what works for him. And there you have it. A deodorant black market.

When Mark ran out of his Old Spice from back home, we went to the store to get some more. He left with an aerosol (more aerosol choices than sticks) can of Adidas deodorant. PHEW. It is nasty smelling. When he sprays it, it's almost like a skunk has been let loose in our apartment. I gag, and sometimes cough a little. Mark hates it, too, and complains that it really and truly doesn't work as well as the Old Spice from back home. So Old Spice, Mark misses you.

4. Fresh produce.

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Oh my. I really love my farmer's market and Smith's Marketplace back in Logan. Good produce has been a bit of a challenge to find over here. It reminds me of shopping at the Montpelier Broulim's. Recent horror stories:

A few weeks ago, I bought a head of broccoli on Friday night. I check on it Sunday afternoon? Yellow and wilted. How does this happen in the span of one day?!

A recent trip to the grocery store yielded a withered bag of lettuce with a fly on the inside, a shriveled up pepper that almost looked like a prune, and oozing tomatoes. Gah!

Good, solid lettuce is really hard to find. I've been on the hunt for it since I've been here. I think the whole "we miss good produce" thing started about a month ago when I lamented to Mark about how much I missed having bagged spinach (he agreed). Then that avalanched into what it has become today. I asked my downstairs neighbor how she gets by with such produce and she said she buys a lot of frozen stuff. There is a farmer's market here, but the produce is expensive. Not something our wallets can handle for the time being, so frozen it is. I'm still on the hunt for the good stuff though. It's gotta be out there!

So there you have it, some things we miss from the U.S. I think it should be noted that when you move to another country, there are always going to be things you miss from back home that you wish you had, no matter how much you like it where you are. I know this is true, because I'm already building my list of things from Germany that I will deeply miss when I get back home. And it's going to be big.