Picky Eating

Oranges = πορτοκαλια.

I used to hate oranges. I know, that makes me a freak, but it’s true. I didn’t like them, and I wouldn’t eat them.

And oranges weren’t the only normal foods I didn’t like. Yogurt, coffee and strawberries would have also been on that list. I wouldn’t have called myself a picky eater necessarily; I just didn’t like these foods. Did my friends make fun of me for it? Absolutely.

And then I went to Greece.

On our first trip to the λαικι — the market where we did all our weekly shopping — a little old man offered my apartmentmate and I one of his booth’s oranges, and I just couldn’t say no.

That orange was divine.

orange

And I think I ate an orange every single day I was in Greece…and then I fell in love with Greek yogurt…and ate that about every day as well…and coffee became a more-than-once daily activity…and then my last week there, I bought kilos and kilos of strawberries from vendors in Μοναστιρακι. For the first time in my life, I was craving those strawberries as I walked by them, and they were DELICIOUS.

So did this permanently change my eating habits? No. Strawberries in America are crap compared to their Greek cousins. Did I love the way all food tasted better there, and did I surprise myself at my new food loves? Ναι. (Τhat means “yes.”)

God bless those πορτοκαλια.