N is for new experiences.

Can you imagine just getting on a train and getting off at any random little town, or packing a couple of things and getting in your car to go visit a city that's been on your radar for a while, Just do it, no matter where you go, you are sure to be surprised.

Living abroad gives you so many new experiences, you are basically learning something new everyday,.  

I remember my first week here, I didn't have much of a culture shock since Pablo had arrived two weeks before and he had told me everything I should expect/get used to since it is different than what we're used to. But going grocery shopping the first time by myself was something completely new. 

Let me tell you about one of my first expat fails.

I wanted to make milanesa de res empanizada (breaded beef steak? meat schnitzel?) all I needed was meat, eggs, mustard and breadcrumbs. I went to the store to buy the missing ingredients (meat and breadcrumbs) since I had seen the meat and breadcrumbs the last time I had been in the store (that's what brought the idea to me). 

So I go to the store and buy everything and started preparing dinner. 

After I dipped the steak in the egg wash and coated with the crumb mixture I noticed the the breadcrumbs were turning clear. I thought that was weird, but whatever, maybe bread crumbs are different in Germany. I put them in a large skillet with oil and waited for them to cook and brown, but this wasn't happening. 

Once it finished cooking I tried it and it was definitely not what I was used to, it tasted sweet. Oops, I had bought brown sugar, not bread crumbs. So I did the rest of the steaks without the bread crumbs and was able to rescue most of our dinner.

I really wish I had taken pictures, I can still see it in my mind but it would've been better to have something to add to this post. 

In the 2.5 years here I have never tried to do it again, I have found the bread crumbs (never made that mistake again) but the steak I bought was not really the right one, I haven't found it yet, and if anybody knows which one it is you should tell me.

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