culture shock in my own country

I knew that Indiana would be different from Washington.

I was prepared for the weather and the geography, and I knew there would be some adjustments in day to day life.

But I was not prepared for the culture shock we felt, and still feel, just trying to navigate the town and people. We are in the same country, in a global age, and yet I feel like I have been sucked into some remote country.

I did not realize how "west coast" I was in my philosophy and mannerisms. It is the little things. Lots of little things. And then try being "green" on top of it.

The food is different. Going to the grocery store is similar to learning my way through the markets in Italy, or any other foreign county. Not only are products re-branded, even if they are the same product, but the produce is different, cheese is ungodly expensive, and finding meat that is not injected with something is near impossible.

AND we are gluten free. We had the luxury of living a short drive from the Bob's Red Mill dedicated gluten free facility in Portland, Oregon. And now I am lucky to find any gluten free baking goods other than prepackaged mixes, or rice and soy flours. First, no one uses soy flour in gluten free baking, and with the close connection to diabetes gluten free baking tries to minimize the use of rice flours because of the sugars. I use to bake bread once a week, and now I can't find the flours. 

Now, to be fair, we have discovered Schar products, which I really like because they do not use xanthan gum, and and Udi's products. However, both are terribly expensive, as much as $6 for a loaf of bread. Now, I don't know about you, but that is hard to budget. We also found Chebe products, which are very good and a great substitute for hamburger or sandwich buns, and I have also located a recipe for the traditional Brazilian Cheese bread, Poa de Queijo.

And don't even get me started on finding non-GMO products {sigh}