Fall in Svishtov and the WAR ON CARROTS

So, I have been taking a few photos of my everyday routine lately. This is the outside of my soviet era blok. I live in what real-estate agents might term the "penthouse," of course neglecting to add that the elevator is broken. I don't mind a bit though, keeps me in shape without even trying!

Here is our walking park in the center. Isn't it pretty with all the fall colors?

I pass this flower stand every day. Flowers are something that this country does very well. Note the ODD numbers of blossoms in each bouquet. Even numbers are for funerals, and if given to the living are considered very insulting indeed (possibly the equivalent of saying "I wish you were dead"). The American boquet of a dozen roses would NOT work here!

Everyday, I eat lunch with my colleague in what is termed in literal tranlation a "fast kitchen." It sort of reminds me of a high school or college type cafeteria in America, but with more choices and ketchup isn't considered a vegetable. Also, the food is much nicer than what I remember from my high school days. Here is a typical lunch of bean and tomato soup and a roll. It costs 90 stotinki (about 75 cents)!

My living room, with my knitting project on the couch. My computer also serves as my music source at the moment. Finally, note the end table with the family photos and bowls made by my grandfather. It is sort of my mini-shrine to things I love most about the US!

So, I know that some of my readers may be cursious about the title of this blog entry. Upon my departure, my host family gave me about 2 kilos of peppers and maybe 3 of carrots. The peppers were easy enough to cut up and saute, although they are sort of a cullinary guessing game as the peppers are in no way sorted by spiciness. The carrots are another story. They are very tasty, but they are small, and require peeling! The surface area to volume ratio of these things were not in my favor, but after a few weeks of staring at them from across the kitchen I went to work on them last night. This was my trash can afterwards.

And this is my countertop...but notice the finished product of a shredded carrot salad, with additional carrots in a ziplock for later use on the right. By the way, Bulgarian style shredded carrot salad is spectacular in in simplicity. All that is needed is shredded carrots, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, a little wine-vinegar and some salad oil.