Carne

I recently asked Changa, what in life made him happy.  He replied, eating meat.  This to him is the epitome of the good life.  Once, while in my car on the way to the market, we saw a very large, unhappy looking woman crossing the street.  Changa said, "Ella es muy gorda.".  I said yes, she was and she also seemed very unhappy.  He replied, "Por que? Ella come muchas carne !"

Today while working, I was trying to explain to Changa the concept of vegetarianism, something he does not seem to comprehend.  Why would someone choose to not eat meat, if it were available.  I told him about a friend I had who did not eat meat because she did not want to eat an animals; I said she felt a connection to animals and did not think it right to kill them for food.  He shook his head.  I have been reading about the Spanish conquest of Mexico, most recently, Bernal Diaz's account, The Conquest of New Spain".  There are many accounts of the Aztecs and neighboring tribes killing and eating human captives.  Some speculate that there was not enough wildlife in the basin of Mexico to give a diet of meat to the inhabitants, so they began feasting on enemies they captured during battles.  It was also part of their religious belief, to sacrafice young humans to the Gods.  As I mentioned earlier, Changa has very little education.  I do not know what he was taught and what history of his country he knows.  I told him the Aztecas ate humans for meat.  He immediately replied that Gallina (one of the bakers who is very, very thin) would not be good for eating, but that Bill (very large, who works in the office) would be very good for meat indeed.