Ba Ram U

Thursday June 27th, 2013

I saw a pig slaughtered today. I feel like such a hypocrite. I could never do that. Kill a living thing. Watch the life drain from its eyes. Hear it squealing in pain. See its open dead eyes. Watch it still struggling to take breaths as blood drips out of its slit throat. I honestly believe that if most people had to hunt and kill their own food most people would be vegetarians because they wouldn’t be able to do it either. But in the U.S we are so removed and desensitized from the process. Animals aren’t killed in front of your eyes, they’ve already been gutted and cleaned, cut up and packaged pristinely sitting on a shelf for you.

Maja, our dog started to lick in the blood and I had to wave him away.

I know I could have turned away but I wanted to see it. I don’t like to shy away from experiences, especially the uncomfortable ones. Sometimes to live in discomfort is necessary for growth.

I’ve been eating almost completely vegetarian since the beginning of the trip and as time has passed I haven’t had meat in weeks. Seeing animals all around here everything becomes so real and close. Cute little chickens walking alongside me and mama cows with their babies prancing alongside them. Every time my family cooks meat I honestly don’t even want it. The smell and look of it grosses me out. It’s been really hard to get my protein so I’ve basically been eating eggs, nuts and peanut butter non-stop.

Who am I to say this animal is cute and domesticated (i.e dogs and cats) therefore I could not/would not kill and eat them but these animals can’t fetch a stick or cuddle with me so therefore they are easier to kill and eat.

Pigs are sweet even though they are filthy and so are chickens even though they are the airheads of the animal world.

I don’t want to put a label on myself because if I was in another country and they offered me a meat dish that was their delicacy I’d probably try it out of respect and out my desire to experience as much as I can.

But something that I know for sure is that being vegetarian and/or vegan is a luxury and privilege and it’s something that I think is taken for granted how easy it is to fulfill in the U.S. It’s a very Western idea and practice. They don’t have Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s on every corner here, most people take and eat what they can get.