crossing my fingers that this post will not spark discussions of my ignorance

I am going to the states next week—my first time back in over a year. In addition to seeing family and friends and being able to effortlessly eavesdrop, I am looking forward to being able to buy well-labeled spices.

In Serbian, cumin and caraway, despite having very different flavors, have the same name, kim. [I have heard that German doesn’t differentiate between them either.] I don’t get it. They taste so different; how can they share a name?

I am running low on cumin & have been trying to unsuccessfully resupply. I have bought a few packets of kim—the same brand that was cumin before—only to end up with caraway. My attempts at Mexican and Indian food are really suffering.

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.
Maybe I should just make rye bread instead.