Day 23: Shopping

Making a new record of 98
hits in a row.

This last week seemed to tire us out. We ALL slept in today, had a late breakfast and left for the farmers market around lunchtime.

The farmers market continues to surprise us with how inexpensive items are. I have a favourite fruit and vegetable stand (the one where Chris got in trouble for touching the beans on his own). The woman there speaks a little English and seems to always be in an upbeat mood. Today, she seemed to enjoy pronouncing items clearly for us (having us repeat after her) and telling us to have a good weekend. While she's trying to help us learn, which we do, she also speaks very fast, so it's not super easy, but I try, as she's trying to help. So, now we have a favourite meat counter, noodle dispensary, and produce stand. We have yet to buy fish. We've seen one stand that sells fish, but it always seems to come after we've purchased other items and are wanting to hustle home, so we haven't bought any yet.

On the way home, I ran into the larger market to get a few items (chips and tortillas) and Chris ran into the beer to get a few items (beer). We had quite the haul coming home. Two backpacks and three bags full. About what we can carry. The kids are getting good and being helpful carrying food back from the markets!

Our loot from today's food excursion:
cheese, tortillas, chips, 2 breads, steaks, sliced ham and salami, beans, cauliflower,
gnocchi, noodles with meat, a dozen eggs, broccoli,  4 beers ($1 each), potatoes
and perhaps something I'm forgetting!

Again, to take prepare for Sunday (closed stores), we decided to head to a new-to-us part of town to see what shops they had there (first stop, the Apple Store). The kids didn't complain at the Apple Store because they could park themselves and play the games on the sample iPhones. Chris and I were able to browse accessories and such (yay, I have new headphones!)

We visited the Tesla showroom, located next to the Apple Store,
to see the electric-customisable floor model.

I'm looking for comfortable knee-high boots (something I think doesn't exist). I tried a few on and failed. Chris tried on some new casual shoes and succeeded. Venice tried on some sandals and failed. But, not to get too discouraged, because across the street is a fancy chocolate store and the kids were able to find something tasty to appease their moods.

It rained a little while we were out. The kids played with their umbrellas, but they weren't really necessary. Jackets, however, were needed, as it was a bit chilly. So, the cozy warmth of the noodle restaurant (a coworker told Chris this was a good noodle place), was welcomed. The food... sehr lecker (so yummy!)


We were a little late getting home (7:45pm). Xander was supposed to Skype with a friend, but they never got on. So, it didn't matter we were late. And the kids found a cousin online, so fun times were had by all.

Chris and Venice walking to dinner (left)
Venice waiting for the train (middle)
Sunset, also waiting for the train (right)

Day 19: The Lazy Day, or Not? (venice)

Today was supposed to be a lazy day… Xander and I started the day off by playing on our Minecraft server (this is a video game that is roughly comparable to legos), Glass Matrix. Then when mom got back from walking dad to work we made pancake crepes. I call them this because they were made from pancake batter but we had not bakings soda so they turned into crepes. After that we just sat around, doing whatever we felt like, which was of course more electronics. At the time it was stifling hot, so we didn’t feel like leaving the apartment to do, well, anything. 

At some point I got hungry, so I suggested we try a vegetarian noodle place just below our apartment. But again, it was so hot that soup sounded unpleasant. so we went to a place called Ha-an Sushi instead. Xander and I shared 3 roles. The Tiger role, the Dragon roll, and the Ha-an extreme. The Tiger role had fried shrimp on the inside, as well as cream cheese and cucumber, and salmon wrapped around the outside. The Dragon roll was the same as the Tiger role, but instead of salmon on the outside it had eel. The third was the Ha-an extreme. This role had shrimp, cream cheese, green onion, cucumber, and avocado. and on the outside it had tuna and salmon. Mom got the spicy tiger roll with tuna, green onions, and more. Then Xander and I walked home as mom went out to get kitchen supplies. 

When mom got home we hung around (you guessed it, more electronics time) and finally at 17 o-clock (5pm) mom and I went to the store. We got ingredients for stroganoff and we also got nail polish. As we walked through the store, we had to get creative. We had to use powdered cream of mushroom soup or creamy vegetables as a substitute for the cream of chicken we get at home. We also took FOREVER to find the sour cream. Mom was afraid to ask for it because last time it was right in front of the lady who she asked and so she got a funny look. We also got baking powder and baking soda, but they came in super small packets, you had to buy like 20 to make half a cup. 

What I think I looked like
running on the sidewalk.

As we walked down to the checkout we saw it. The rain. It was pouring down everywhere! We Skyped Xander to close the windows, and it turns out he was even smarter than us and he realised to do it long before we did! Then we walked out of the store and started to run. As we ran I saw lightning. We got to the garage of the apartment and saw someone was smoking on our doorstep. Part of me wanted to tell him to get the heck off our porch and take his cigarette somewhere else, but the polite part of me refrained, (side note, I would not have said get the heck out, I would have a different word, but this blog is not the right place to write it… :) 

As we walked into the apartment, I got out of my wet clothes and into dry ones. Mom started to cook and Xander and I sat on the couch and cuddled under a warm blanket. Then mom called us to the kitchen. As we ate the stroganoff it tasted so much like home. The only difference was that this time the sauce was more of a soup, but who cares? It tasted delicious!

After that, dad came home and we all went to bed. The end to a not so lazy day.. (but really, we were super lazy)