My Not So Organic Life.

I feel the need to take a minute and comment on my recent supermarket experiences. It never occurred to me that shopping in a supermarket in Italy would mean I would not know how many calories are in something, or heaven forbid, if it contains high fructose corn syrup (I can hear Daniela gasping from 10,000 miles away). Now instead of going to Whole Foods or Trader Joes, I am shopping in Milano Bianco euphoria (i.e. Italian Cookie Company). It also freaks me out that the same company that makes all the cookies also makes the bread, and my “natural” granola. Hmmm…
The good news is I am finally mastering the art of shopping for only what you need each day. This means I am now eating more yogurt than anything because everything else takes more time than my allotted grocery excursion can handle. By the time I get the plastic produce bags open (a task indeed) and remember the number to weigh all the produce I have just resorted to finding my way to the yogurt isle. I made sure I learned the word for “soy” and I have stayed faithful. It’s a good thing the Europeans know how to do yogurt!
Mom thinks that going to Harris Teeter in Fayetteville is a visiting party. Try having a grocery store in your apartment building. It is impossible to get out of Inters-par without seeing people you know having at least three different conversations. Yesterday, such happened to me as I was hustling around in my 10 minutes of free time. As if looking Italian, and being accompanied by two blonde girls doesn’t make me enough of a spectacle, we all walk around speaking English. This is how we make friends. “You speak English?” “Where are you from?” “Wow, English! I haven’t heard that in a couple of months.” Meeting people this way is not surprising to us anymore, unless they are 7’4! Yes, a foot taller than my brother, my dad, and most men in my life. I seriously met the tallest man I have ever seen yesterday and all I could think was “Wow, I need a ladder”. Matt, from Maryland, is playing basketball for a team here in Ferrara. Kate and Ellie are disappointed that we didn’t get his number, but I’m sure it won’t b e hard to find him.