For perhaps the first time since arriving in Romania, I actually don’t have a craving for any type of food.

Granted, this is probably because I’m tying up yet another week stay in Bucureşti, and have had a relatively ample selection of food available to me while I’ve been here. Not like being in San Francisco, of course, and on my per diem I’ve had to employ a bit of selectiveness, but there’s been a fair bit of indulgence. Went out for Thai food one night (mmm … panang curry), had hummus and tabbouleh sandwiches, caramel tortes and fresh fruit, Illy cappuccinos and amazing croissants, apple-cinnamon muffins, burgers and avocado-cheese quesadillas. Even the supermarket here has an impressive selection of options; if you want to pay for them, there are blueberries, kumquats, lychees, Japanese rice crackers, falafel mix, good butter, three fruits marmalade. And tofu!! I’ve found tofu, in a supermarket in Bucureşti. Life is good.

I have reached the point where I’m ready to go home, though. It’s been great, getting to see people again, go out and socialise, have some good food, enjoy the luxury of sleeping in an actual bed again. But I feel like a few days is really the ideal timespan … less than that, and it seems like there isn’t enough time to do everything you want to do whilst here; longer, and it starts to feel a bit too decadent. Sure, it’s nice to be able to go to French Bakery every morning for cappuccino and croissants over the Economist, but after the third or fourth day it seems like too much. Having one good meal in town is definitely an advantage, but hitting a few restaurants in the span of several days feels like overkill. It becomes less about scratching that itch, having that bowl of red curry that you’ve been dreaming about for months or being able to peel the top off a muffin all in one go, and more about “I should cram in as much food variety as possible because I don’t know when I’ll have this opportunity again”.
The other disadvantage is that the drastic change has been screwing with me a bit; the plentiful food and the reduced exercise schedule, daily doses of carbs that are bigger than what I’m accustomed to eating in a month, more hot weather and less water, so I’ve felt sort of off for the past week. Getting back to my usual schedule and (dare I even say it) simpler food will be a small relief.