And I’m a vegetarian in a different life…

Here’s an amusing story for you:

A few weeks ago, I was eating dinner with my host mom, when out of nowhere (I think from under the table) she produced a plate with a couple chunks of bone and meat (cooked). She said that it was dog, and asked if I wanted to try it. I said sure. It’s eaten here on occassion, and I hadn’t had it yet, and I’m generally open to trying new foods. (Except pig-blood soup. That one was a bad idea.)

It didn’t taste too bad.  It kind of reminded me of beef, actually, at least in the texture. However, I hadn’t even thought to ask where the meat had come from. It wasn’t until after I finished eating that it occurred to me.

My host family has a few dogs, including one which is (or was) the most unfortunate looking animal I’d ever seen in my life. It was more mange than dog, really; practically no fur, open sores all over, and on the brink of starvation since the day I arrived on Romanum. I’d been expecting the poor thing to die basically every day for the past six months. Now, I had just returned to Romanum a couple days ago from spending a weekend on Weno, and as I was swallowing my last bite of dog meat the thought crossed my mind that I hadn’t seen that sick little dog since my return…Oops. It didn’t make me sick or anything, though.

Here’s the other funny thing. While, like I said, I’m generally open to eating most different foods here, one thing I will not eat is pig. My family also owns a number of pigs and will slaughter one on occassion, for a birthday or some other celebration. But the way they cut and prepare the meat here, every piece is more fat and skin than anything else. Or maybe the pigs are mostly just fat to begin with (they certainly don’t get fed anything very good). It also isn’t flavored at all, and in order to eat it you’re basically just tearing plain fat right off the bone. I’m okay with the idea of pork in general, but not this stuff. Not appetizing at all. Even Anthony Bourdain wouldn’t enjoy it.

So, I don’t eat pig here, and my host family knows this. Except now, after happily eating dog meat, my family now thinks that I like dog, but not pig. My host parents even asked me about five times, to clarify, after I ate the dog meat: “So, you don’t like pig, but you like the dog?” Well…honestly, yes. The couple bites that I had were good, at least. ‘

I’m sure all you dog-lovers in America are blanching as you read this. I probably would’ve too, at one point, but my working relationship with all animals in general has really changed since being here. I still think of myself as a vegetarian at heart (though I’ve never actually told my host family that I didn’t eat meat in the States; the concept of not eating meat is completely unfathomable here). But all animals here are thought of strictly as food.

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~ by Kirby on Sunday, 9 May 2010.