What Did a Californian Do in Boise? 🇺🇸✨ (The Unconventional Edition)

My semester finally ended, and with a week off before finals, I flew to Boise to visit my best friend! 🛫 Two Eastern European souls at heart, we made a beeline for a Bosnian supermarket as soon as we landed 🛒 (I have a talent for finding anything related to Bosnia 🇧🇦 no matter where I go). I finally got to taste the beloved ajvar—a roasted red pepper spread also known as the “Lao Gan Ma of Eastern Europe” 😋. Back at my friend’s place, we turned into master chefs and recreated a whole feast of Eastern European classics: Hungarian Goulash 🇭🇺 Bosnian stew 🇧🇦 Albanian/Kosovar Yogurt Chicken (Tavë Kosi) — originally made with lamb, but we used chicken from Trader Joe’s because their lamb leg was just too big 🐔 Balkan-style crepes (Palacinka) 🇽🇰… which I’ll wisely not assign to one specific country to avoid starting any debates 😅 After each dinner, we watched an Eastern European film. Before the Rain (North Macedonia) made it into my Top 3 films of the year (and the year’s only half over!). Its segmented storytelling, with three loosely connected narratives, felt even more structurally bold than Pulp Fiction. Mind. Blown. 🤯 We also tagged along to my friend’s office for a “take-your-friend-to-work day” 🏢, and I even scored a free workout at the gym next door! 💪 I thought Boise would be just another sleepy midwestern town—but wow, was I wrong! ☀️ Every day was sunny, the city was incredibly green, streets were wide and clean (literally zero homeless camps or trash in sight), and even the old prison-turned-museum was spotless. 🧹✨ What a charming Basque-flavored city! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Highly recommend—I’ll definitely be back! #Boise #Idaho #TravelDiaries #EasternEuropeanFood #HiddenGems #BasqueCulture #CaliforniaInIdaho #FilmLovers #FoodieAdventure