February 28, 2004

Yuck

I'm not feeling well again today. Blech.

This morning Kevin and I headed to Wal Mart (a different Wal Mart this time, one that doesn't require a subway transfer) to stock up on some dinners. We got 3 cookbooks the other night and decided it's time to branch out from our Fatkins* diet of pasta, pasta, and more pasta. One of the books I picked out was 50 recipes of Schnitzel. Flipping through the book I came to realize that schnitzel is any thin filet of meat. There were several promsing recipes in the book, and after extensive looking-up words in the dictionary, we selected a few to try.

Well I totally understand why Germans shop every day instead of buying in bulk like Americans do. I think Germans would be horrified by the idea of a Costco. Even the milk comes in small containers--1 liter max, which even the two of us go through in a couple of days. Anyway, carrying several days worth of dinner home with us on public transportation was a definite pain.

We needed sage for one of the recipes and the only sage they had available was either dried or in a pot. Since the cost was the same, we went for fresh sage and now have a potted herb growing on our table. This Wal Mart was small and cramped but somehow seemed to have more selection on some items. I even braved a transaction at the cheese counter, asking if they had a certain type of cheese and then ordering it. Unfortunately I underestimated the amount I wanted and only asked for 100 g. which turned out to not be very much at all. That's okay, I feel confident asking about it now so I can always get more.

On the way home from shopping I was feeling really punky. Stuffed up, tired, and light headed. We had wanted to go out and see some of the sights here but I just wasn't up to it, so I took a long nap instead. Doesn't it figure that I have to get sick on a weekend! Tomorrow we're planning on going to a museum and maybe a movie (in English).

Kevin braved the Apotheke (drug store) to get some cold medicine for me. All of the medicines here are behind the counter, meaning that you don't need a prescription but you have to ask for them. I think I'll request that my parents bring some OTC medicines along with them when they visit as it's a pain to get them here. Strangely enough, the cold medicine has caffeine in it. I guess that's to counteract the sleepy feeling you usually get with cold medicine, but somehow I just don't see that flying in the U.S.

*To give credit where credit is due, my friend Hai-Nhu was the first to call my diet "Fatkins." It cracked me up.

Posted by Shelby at February 28, 2004 06:32 PM