North Carolina Farmer's Market

While in Germany I shopped at the weekly markets in Bonn and Bad Godesburg. The markets were great and offered a huge variety of vegetables, meats, and cheeses. The problem that I had shopping in these markets, though, was that I didn't always know were the food was coming from.

Some stands were labeled with the location of the farm -- and sometimes I even knew where the town was -- but more often then not I knew that the produce being sold was not local. As delicious as the pineapples, bananas, and kiwis were, there is now way that they were being grown anywhere near the Rhein no matter what the season.

Now that I'm back in Raleigh, I have been frequenting the farmer's market here. There are a number of farmer's markets in the area, and the one that I go to is the NC State Farmer's Market located at 1201 Agriculture Street in Raleigh. All of the farmers are from North Carolina and only seasonal items are sold.

The awesome thing about North Carolina is that there is a great selection of local and seasonal produce. Every week I am able to get root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, beets, onions, and turnips and a huge variety of greens, including kale, collards (of course), and mustard greens. I've also discovered that there are some unexpected treats available this time of year. There is a farmer who grows hothouse tomatoes and another one who produces a variety of lettuces (including the most delicious butter lettuce, which stays fresh in the fridge for well over a week). There is even a German baker who sells brezels and pastries.

But the single most surprising items so far -- strawberries. That alone makes me happy to be living in the south.

Blogging Blank

The baby is sleeping upstairs* and I finally have a few minutes to update this blog. The problem is: I can't think of anything to write about.

At this time last year, each day brought something new to share. Trips, festivals, customs, and strange foods were any everyday occurrence.

Today, on the other hand, I'm house bound (but happy). And while everyday still presents itself with a new set of experiences, they aren't really exciting to anyone other than me. Each day is broken into three-hour cycles of eating, activities, and naps.

I wouldn't change a thing about my life right now. (Well, maybe I would move my family closer and figure out how to avoid the overtired meltdowns.) But I also have to accept that everyday may not provide blog-able material.


* The baby was asleep when I stared to write this post. Now I"m typing with one hand.

It's American and I Like It

Living in Germany was a wonderful experience. I got to see and do so many things that I never would have been able to experience had I not lived there. But there are things about the country that I just never fully understood, like the no closets thing.

Today's post is dedicated to some of the little (or not so little) American things that I have been enjoying since I moved back to the states:

• Storage. I love having closets and cabinets and shelves built in to every room. It certainly made unpacking and setting up the house so much easier.
• A kitchen. German apartments don't come with kitchens -- the renters bring in their own. Since we knew we weren't going to live oversees forever, we has our landlord put in a small kitchen for us. It included the smallest sink ever. (My brother-in-law claims he couldn't brush his teeth in it, much less was the dishes.) Now I'm back to having all of my big ol' American appliances, and I love them.
• The clothes dryer. Even though we were one of the few people we know who owned a dryer, it still sucked. Instead of being vented to the outside, as most American dryers are, the one we had in Germany drew the moister out of the clothing and deposited the water into a drawer in the machine, which needed to be emptied before each load. The biggest complaint I had about this process was that it took forever. Now, I can't express the pleasure I get when -- 36 minutes after going in -- my clothes are dry.
• Big parking spots. I never really liked to drive in Germany. One of the chief reasons was the microscopic parking spots. Going into a garage in Germany made my heart race. Not only did I worry about getting into the tight spots, I also worried about getting out of the car without hitting another car.
• Stop signs. Sure there are stop signs in Germany, but not that many. Instead, you have to learn that the car on the right always has the right-of-way. This was counterintuitive to me when the car on the right was pulling out of a small road and on a bigger one. (The German's claim this keeps people from going too fast in residential areas.) To me, however, it is much clearer to put a stop sign up. That way, there is no question about who has the right of way.
  

Night and Day

Before the baby was born, I anticipated many long sleepless nights when the little guy just wouldn't settle down. So far, I'm happy to report that our nighttime routines have not lived up to this image. In fact, to some extent, I find that the nights are almost easier then the days.

At night there are three things that I need to do: check his diaper (I quickly learned to do this first thing when he wakes up), nurse him, and get us both back to sleep as soon as possible. To accomplish these tasks I've found that it is best to keep the rooms dim. I have a three-way light in his room, which I turn to the lowest level. Then I nurse him in my room in the complete dark, then it's directly back into the cradle. This has worked so far. He sleeps three or four hours at a time. We're even able to get through a few nursings without Kevin even stirring in his sleep.

Days, on the other hand have been a greater struggle. In between nursings, changings, and naps he's actually awake sometimes. It's during these times that I wonder, "What should I do with this kid?" So far, I've discovered that he likes to be sung to and listen to music. Green Day is his favorite; he doesn't like Stevie Wonder. Just like his Dad, he likes to be on the go. He loves riding in the car, his stroller, and his Ergo baby carrier. He also really likes the vacuum cleaner. I may now have the cleanest floors in the neighborhood.

German vs. American Baby Prep

Throughout most of pregnancy, I expected that I would be spending my first few weeks with the baby holed up in our apartment in Bonn. It wasn't until almost week 30 that I had to shift gears and start imaging what it would be like to have the baby in the states. While something were a great relief -- like being able to take birthing classes in English -- many of the things I had already planned for the baby's arrival were no longer necessary.

In my German planning, when I did get out of the house with the baby, it would be into the Rhineland’s dark, damp wither. Even though I wasn't expecting cold like I'd know in the Northeast, the temperatures I anticipated were still pretty chilly. To prepare for this weather, I purchased a super warm snowsuit and got a sleeping bag insert to go inside his stroller. My Mom and sister had the same idea, purchasing snuggly warm clothing for the baby's first few months.

Now that we are living in Raleigh, however, my adorable snuggly snowsuit may never get worn. I tried to use it on Saturday on our outing to the farmer's market, but even though it was cold the baby would have suffered heat exhaustion if I put it on him.
Another purchase I may have made differently if I had known that we'd be in the states was my stroller. The Harman VIP that we bought second-hand has big wheels to handle old cobble stone streets and maneuver easily on and off the escalators to the U-bahn (Bonn's subway). It doesn't, however, fold up to the same tiny package that American strollers do. Nor does it have the "travel system," which would allow me to pop the baby from car to stroller without taking him out of his car seat.

Also, if I had purchased the stroller in the states, we would have received instructions about how to fold it up in English. Instead, the booklet is in German, which is really no help to us. Yesterday we decided to take the baby for a walk around one of the lakes in the area. Before being able to get in the car, though, we had to call friends in Germany who had the stroller before us to ask how to fold the thing up.