Hungary??
Let’s talk about food…
After being in Ecuador for almost three weeks, I have officially decided that I am going to be a vegetarian…ok well, if I am going to be realistic, I am just going to avoid eating pork for awhile, hopefully at least for the next year. I just want to fill all of you in on the gruesome, yet more natural, ¨circle of life process¨ I have witnessed first hand in just the past couple weeks…
Fish. (Pescado)
Each day, one person from our team stays back with Vanessa to help her cook lunch while the rest of our team does construction. Every though yesterday was not my turn, I returned early and got to witness Paula and Patti making fish. I’m a huge fan of seafood! The only thing that freaks me out is Calamari that still has the legs attached or, any kind of food that is still looking at me while I am eating it….I definitely got over the second fear. I walked up to the door to find a huge pile of whole fish lying in a bucket. Paula and Patti each had a whole fish in their hand as they scraped off the scales with a knife. Not too bad right?? They continued to scrape the eyes, showing me how intricately it had to be done, scraping across the eyes over and over again. It was like a bad car accident that I couldn’t look away from. Before I knew what was going on, Paula took the knife and stabbed it right in the middle of the fish, dissecting it right in front of me. She pulled out the heart and said “corazon,” pulled out all the guts and said, “intestino.” She could tell by the look on my face that I was in awe that she had just manually dissected this fish right in front of me without using anything but her bare hands and a knife…it was amazing, yet completely disgusting. I took pictures and videos of it all haha
Pigs. (Chancho)
I have come to form a great relationship with one of the neighbor’s pet pig. I have given him a nickname (piggers…yea I’m that creative) and pet him and talk to him daily. While I am not naïve, and fully understand the only reason why this family continues to keep and feed the pig so much is because they want him to get fat so they can eat him, I continue to push that thought aside and pretend like he is truly their pet, and mine as well. I was doing quite well with this thought until the other afternoon when I went back out for construction…I was carrying cement blocks back and forth when I heard a couple pig grunts off in the distance. I didn’t really think too much of it at first because we are constantly surrounded by pigs, cows, chicken, dogs, you name it, I’ve probably worked right beside it. But then the grunts stopped. It was silent for about a minute before I heard some of the most horrible shrieking sounds I have ever heard come from an animal! It legitimately sounded like the pigs were screaming…because they were. I heard loud machinery noises and even louder screams. Then, silence again, this time for a couple minutes. Then more grunts. Then more shrieks. Then silence. I looked at Joseph, one of the men helping us at the construction site, and asked, “Chancho?” and held my fingers up to my neck and made a motion like I was chopping off my head. Joseph just smiled and said “SI! Muy Delicioso!” Let me tell you, I almost threw up in my mouth. This continued for about a half an hour. Apparently, the one building right beside our construction site is a slaughterhouse. Since people around here do not have the economic resources that we have in North America, they slaughter the pigs the best way they can. (A very inhumane way) I could barely concentrate on my work and my stomach was in knots. Just the other day, when we went to the market, there were pig heads everywhere. I would make a bet that I witnessed those exact pigs dying. Ever since that day, I visit Piggers even more and pet him a little longer. I am currently devising a plan to steal him but I have no idea how I am going to fit him in my pack…so, I will have to work on that because I know that pink lard of cuteness is next 🙁
Chickens. (Pollo)
I care a little less about chickens and have no problems eating them but this blog would not be complete if I didn’t share this Ecuadorian delicacy. One of the first days I was in Ecuador, I saw a man on the side of the street holding up two chickens, one in each hand. He was holding them by the feet, upside-down. Gustavo told us that people hold them this way so that the chickens almost pass out and don’t try to bite the people selling them. It’s kind of brilliant. Even though he jokes with us a lot, I’m sure that was a true fact. Again, at the market, I saw numerous people holding chickens upside-down, just walking around trying to make money. Even though I personally do not want to be near half dead chickens, it was kind of interesting to witness.
Hamster.
Yupp…Hamster. When we all went to the Equator, it was the first thing I saw…hamsters on skewers. It was like rotisserie style chicken, but with hamsters. Apparently, it is a delicacy here and actually kind of expensive. Therefore, I might be forced to eat it. Mayra thinks it’s hilarious that I make a scene about eating hamster. Every night, she comes up to me and asks me if I’m ready to eat some. I make a disgusted face and shake my head no. She just laughs and says, “hmmm…Si!” So, I will keep you posted on what actually happens….I’m not going to lie, it might happen…
Cats.
I’m just kidding!! 🙂
