A step off the normal path

My daily routine has settled into some combination of going to the weight room, cleaning, studying, piano practice, and way too much pool time. It´s getting old.

To kick the boredom, I decided to go for a walk, go figure. I grab some of the oldest clothes I have out of my closet (a white t-shirt and denim shorts) and put my hair up in a quick bun. I looked like a bum. Still, within the first ten minutes of walking under the beating sun, I was  to as ¨gurrrrl¨, ¨wuman¨,  ¨princess¨, and my favorite, ¨little mamacita¨. They´re easy to shake off as long as they don´t start following you. No followers this time; lucky me.

I´ve always been attracted to hot, dry climates, but I´ve never spent a full summer in Las Vegas. About 20 minutes into my walk I took refuge at the first place I found: the mall. Who knew I would find the Hispanic Heritage Museum of Nevada alongside Hot Topic and Sears? It was so tempting to go in, but I didn´t want to disturb the girls dancing Cumbia inside. (Actually, that´s only partly true. I waited out front looking at the display on Colombia hoping for an invite or a head nod to come in. I never got an invite. Still, I envied their Latin ways of dancing cumbia at work....).

For women, wedding dress shopping is something magical (or I imagine it to be so). So many styles, cuts, frills, sparkles to choose from. But Las Vegas takes wedding dress shopping one step further. Before you walk down the aisle ladies, don´t forget to consider a floor-length gown in neon green or electric magenta with a glittery bodice. Prefer a strapless summer-sky blue gown? Match that with thigh-high dresses with  an exorbitant amount of ruffles for your bridesmaids. You´re big day can´t come soon enough, can it?

Fifteen minutes and one water bottle later, I made it to my destination, Magura Restaurant. Okay, so I had set off without a destination but let´s be real, I´ve been dying for something authentically Bulgarian. And this is it. They have the traditional decorations, yeah, but that´s not what I think makes this place truly Bulgarian. It´s the people. The guys in the back all wear grey and black, only one speaks English. However, what makes this troupe authentically ¨Bulgarski¨ is that they don´t smile. It kind of concerns me. Being in the US and not having a smile plastered to your face can be taken offensively, especially in food service.

Not to worry, though. I have no doubt that, single-handedly, I can keep them in business. Bulgarians have this traditional pasty called Banitza. I´ve only had it once in the US (not including all the at-home attempts), but it was made by Americanized Bulgarians. Anyway, my point is that these people will make this for me even though it isn´t on the menu, no questions asked. That´s what I call service.