Something Familiar

We've been here almost 7 days already and it's been a challenge.  In trying to adjust to life here we have all been on a quest to find something familiar.  Things familiar bring comfort and a sense of security.  There is very little familiar here.  A huge challenge for me was to go grocery shopping.  I knew I would miss my Publix but I had no idea how much.  I loved the manager.  I would ask him where something was and he would walk me to it - the man knows where every single thing is in that store.  It was no nice.  But here, the grocery store is a guaranteed mental and emotional breakdown all at once.  Some things look the same and are but some are not and it's hard to tell.  For example what I thought was half and half turned out to be sour cream.  The box said "Half Cream" and it came out looking like solid cream and tasted like cream and was ok in our coffee but it was sour cream which is not sour here.  I got plain yogart without azucar (sugar)  to make a sauce for meat but it turned out to be sweet anyway.  The bag of regular Doritos (same exact bag only in Spanish) set my mouth on fire.  It's kinda funny but not when you want things to be normal and familiar.  Not only do I need to find basic things but I also have to do the currency conversion (8:1) at the same time to make sure I am not paying too much for something.  There are a few "American" things here that are in English and are exactly the same like Kraft cheese but it costs more than twice what it would cost in the states.

Life here is raw and dirty not pretty and clean like in the US.  We saw a lady feeding some dogs raw chicken and passed by a butcher shop that had the head of a cow sitting on the counter. It's eyes were open, ears perked up and a man was petting it - not kidding!  It might not be long before our family is vegan.

Yesterday was good.  We spent the morning in Buena Vista and then went to a fast food restaurant for lunch in a nearby town.  When we got back 31 boxes of familar arrived to our door - our shipment from the US.  Last night everyone slept well with our pillows and blankets from home.  It is nice to have familiar things around the house.  It could not have come at a better time.