June 13, 2007

I have never been more tempted to be a vegan than this morning when I was served cow feet for breakfast. As I tried to eat them, I was reminded of this book I once read from a hari krishna I met in Mexico no less (In case you don't know they don't eat cows because they believe that they are reincarnations of humans), and surprisingly the teachings in that book seemed considerably more appealing! Speaking of food I made breakfast for my family last week, here's the journal entry in case you were interested on how it turned out.

Wednesday June 6, 2007
Today I woke up early in the morning and prepared breakfast for my family! It was pretty exciting! I started by mixing up some Oatmeal. After that I made the batter for the Pancakes. Finally I cut up the potatoes for the hash browns and got cooking. It was a little different using a wood stove, but I got used to it. My family was really excited to watch me juggle all three dishes at about the same time. I first served them a dish of oatmeal, they really liked it. I think they really liked the fact that I served it with milk because they don’t eat milk very often (I’ve never eaten it with my family, surprisingly enough I think it’s a luxury item around here). Then I whipped up a bunch of hash browns for everyone. They weren’t quite sure how to react to them and most everyone used their hands to eat it instead of their spoons (we don’t have forks). They liked all the food up to this point (or at least that’s what they told me), but judging by their facial expressions I think they really loved the pancakes. Maple Syrup is super expensive here so I served them with strawberry jam. I felt bad when that the batter ran out so quickly but everyone got to try some and they were very excited!
After finishing the father told me repeated times, “if we were to eat like this for 15 days we would soon be like Matt (Matt is another student here who’s a little more heavy set; my family has given him the nickname “baaq,” which is k’iche for skinny!). After breakfast I went to play basketball with the oldest of my little brothers Xuan, and Luis Miguel. It’s pretty fun playing basketball here because the locals really like it but they’re not real good and they’re much more impressed with my moves than most people back home. I’m feeling really good right now about this whole experience; it’s just a good time away for me. I’m really learning to value what I have, including economic possibilities, family, and educational opportunities. I’m also able to spend a good amount of time reading some really good books and to think very deeply about what I am reading and how it concerns these people that I am interacting with each day. I am also being able to give the deep thought which my Honors thesis requires. All of this I can accomplish without feeling rushed or pressured to do, it’s like a study vacation abroad! I love it; I just wish Rachel was here, of course if that was the case I would not get too much studying done!