Now that we have toddlers, whole milk is a staple in our home. We buy it a few times a week. The gents can't get enough of it. They see the carton and they want it. I have to hide bottles from them so that they don't have a fit before it's bottle time. The importance of whole milk is equal to diapers right now. Upon arrival these were the two things I cared most about having readily available. Our social sponsors, responsible for picking up a few groceries to get us started, had whole milk waiting in our refrigerator when we arrived. Knowing we'd have to get more soon, we went out for a grocery run our first afternoon here. It was a little overwhelming to be in a foreign grocery store, trying to find staples amongst the local items that are unfamiliar to us, and we had limited time, so we tag-teamed the task.
J grabbed milk, or what I thought was. I quickly looked it over as he placed it in the cart. The label was a different color than the carton our sponsors had purchased for us on arrival and I noticed it said Laban. I figured it was a different brand or maybe different stores call milk by different names? It states FULL FAT on the carton, and that it's made from cow's milk. Same-same.
A couple days later later when I filled the boys bottles I noticed that the "milk" was definitely thicker than what I'd given them earlier. Royce took a sip, gave a funny expression, and tossed it aside. I gave him the bottle a few times and he clearly didn't want it. Carter on the other hand didn't seem phased. Carter will also eat everything you put in front of him, whereas Royce has a discerning palette already. I chalked this up to Royce just not wanting a bottle and/or jet lag getting the best of him. The next bottle he also refused, again tossing it aside. Now I knew something was off. And I was concerned because I didn't want him to get dehydrated now that we're in the desert, where I drink water constantly because I'm parched.
I smelled the milk. It reminded me of greek yogurt, slightly sour. When I asked J if there was a possibility he may have grabbed something else, he was adamant, "It's whole milk! It says made from cow's milk on the carton!" I began examining the cartons closely and replied, "I don't know Arabic at at all, but I can see the symbols that make up milk vs. laban are entirely different." I got no response. I knew this was NOT whole milk.
That day we went to J's bosses house for lunch. Naturally the conversation immediately turned to our getting settled in. I made the comment that "Everything is great, except Royce isn't drinking the milk or laban." His wife smiled and said, "Laban is different than whole milk. It's sour, kind of like buttermilk." I should have trusted what Royce was trying to tell me.
I turned to Jeff with a grin that read "I told you so." We got a good laugh out of this and I'll definitely tease him about it for while. I'm sure this is the first of many food mixups and words lost in translation. Will be sure sure to our funny mishaps along the way.