Sometimes when you live abroad you miss things from home. It's to be expected I guess. A few home comforts, a reminder of home.
You can sometimes find a close alternative, something that 'will do'. Somethings you can have sent from home. I miss Fruit Pastilles, so I get them sent over on occasion and recently a Creme Egg made it's way to me without any damage (Thanks Mum and Dad). These little things mean a lot when you are so far away from home.
But there are somethings that can't be sent and these items are what I'm starting to miss the most, it's almost becoming an obsession!
So when we hear through a Facebook group that these items are available there is a rush of excitement, the anticipation that we are going to get a taste of home......
I have developed an obsession to find sweet potatoes! Something very simple and it's 'almost' impossible to find them here. I say 'almost' as I hear of people locating them, so off I go to the supermarket where they have been spotted only to find they have sold out. Of course they have, someone has announced on Facebook that they are in Izmir, so all the foreigners rush to the supermarket and get there before me. I feel so disappointed when I can't find any, after I have checked all around the fruit and veg at least three times!
The sweet potato hunt is becoming quite expensive, as I don't usually go to these supermarkets and they always have something a little bit different (and quite expensive), but I feel I need to buy something from there, a little taste of home.
I go into every supermarket and fruit and vegetable shop I pass, in the hope that I'll find the orange potato. I asked in my local shop, as it seems to be quite well stocked with unusual vegetables, but they just looked at me as if I'm crazy! I gave up looking for parsnips a while ago, but one day I will find the sweet potato.
