Meditation on cucumbers

I've arrived safely in the city of Bansko for the conference on international education followed by my orientation into Bulgarian culture. At this point, most people would describe the scenery (which is gorgeous, by the way) or the conference (which is interesting and informative but hard to get through when you're jet lagged and struggling really hard to focus), but I want to take a blogging moment to talk about the food. I love it. My roommate tends to describe it as gross hotel food, but I describe it as amazing Bulgarian food. It's like Greek, Turkish, and Russian food had a love child (try not to think about the logistics of that statement). Tonight for dinner, I had chicken Romania, pressed yogurt, shepherd's pie salad, and a delicious cake-like dessert. Chicken Romania looks like yellow curried chicken, but it tastes way better (and I LOVE curry). The pressed yogurt is mixed with various, unidentifiable ingredients that turn it into a spicy (full of spices, not hot) dish of almost pudding like consistency. I have never enjoyed yogurt more. Shepherd's pie salad is a twist on a salad that is served at every meal I've had in Bulgaria: cucumber salad. Basically, it consists of cucumbers, tomatoes, and goat cheese with a little vinegar and spices over the top. Shepherd's pie salad adds ham and boiled eggs to the mix. Some of you are fighting the urge to gag right now, and I don't care. I will proudly announce the fact that I love cucumber salad. The vegetables here are incredibly fresh and crisp and juicy. I've always liked cucumbers and tomatoes, but these take vegetables to a new plain for me. They're locally grown and completely fresh. Bulgaria doesn't bother with the chemically induced super veggies that look great but lack taste. Bulgarian veggies are both gorgeous and delicious and fresh. I was walking through town earlier with a group of people, and one of the Bulgarians reached up into a tree and pulled down fresh cherries for all of us. It was the best cherry I have ever eaten. All the food here is like that. Fresh. Local. Beautiful. My toes are aching from wearing new shoes all day, and I'm exhausted from jet lag, but I forgot everything tonight while eating my divine chicken and salad combination. I ate a completely full plate of food and had to force myself not to go get more out of fear of gaining eighty pounds during my trip. Now that I'm done eating, however, the jet lag exhaustion is setting in. So, I'll cut this blog short for now and head off to slumber. Night, friends.