This next installment has been a common question people have been asking me regarding Lizzie’s stay in the hospital. Enjoy.

So, the food post… When I checked in and they asked about dietary restrictions, they sure got a surprise. Vegetarians are few and far between in Slovakia, and I’m not sure they’ve ever even heard of vegans. I don’t actually have much of a problem with eggs, but at home I pretty much follow a vegan diet, the main exception being that I don’t stress over ingredients in packaged foods. That said, I don’t really consume any packaged foods so yeah, basically a vegan diet.

But when you remove meat and dairy from a Slovak diet, what does that leave you with? Bread. So guess what I’ve been fed here. Bread. It is currently saturday morning and over half of my provided meals here have been 90% bread. To mix it up, they give me white bread, rye bread, and bread rolls. And of course they give me a little packet of margarine with every meal, but you’re crazy if you think I’m going to eat something that is 40% fat, and 60% chemicals.

Lunch has been the meal to look forward to, as it is the main meal in Slovakia. It starts with a brothy soup, with little more than some mystery broth and maybe a few noodles or vegetable flakes. Then my first day the main course was fried cauliflower (which was inedibly soggy from condensation on the plate cover) and mashed potatoes. The next day was vegetables mixed into rice, which I unmixed and ate only the vegetables. I haven’t been here long enough to figure out the exact pattern, but I think dinner alternates between a sweet dinner (like jam filled doughy balls-blah) and bread (which, coincidentally, is the same meal as breakfast).

Regardless of how I make this sound, I am quite thankful for their consideration in attempting to prepare vegetarian meals. I know it basically blows their mind, specifically because I have heard nurses talking about me on several occasions (vegetarianska bez mlieko a bez maslo and so on). In the meantime, don’t worry too much about me contracting an acute case of scurvy, I had Burke bring me some clementines, carrots, and celery on the first day and have been nibbling on those whenever I get hungry.

Update: It appears we are in fact on a two day lunch meal rotation. Rather than fried cauliflower, I had fried mystery mush. There were bits of green in it, unfortunately that didn’t help it in the case of edibility. As I dismally recovered my plat with its lid a lady at the nearby table asked me, Nič? (nothing). Apparently my efforts to eat as much as I could/ make it look like I ate a lot failed miserably.

I have also been quite concerned with Lizzie’s recovery and her lack of proper nutrition. She has been devoid of protein for a while now. I made her a wonderful fruit smoothy complete with spinach and soy milk hoping that would not only put a smile on her face but also provide her with a decent dose of protein. Between the little vegetables I have provided her, the singular piece of fruit she is provided with her lunch, and a generous care package (complete with juice, nuts, dried fruit, and a vegetable platter) from a friend who stopped by to visit, Lizzie has not really complained about being hungry. This hasn’t really removed my concerns but she should be released soon so here is to hoping what little vitamins she has been receiving will help her heal well enough to come home.