Kidi

I’m just gonna get it over with and tell you all: I ate dog. I’ll give you a moment while you recoil with disgust…

Let me answer the question on all of your minds: yes, it was delicious, and no (dad), it did not taste like chicken. It actually kind of tasted like pork , but that’s perhaps because it was cooked together in the same ohmw (local oven) with a pig. Who knows?  Anyway, the point is, it was tasty.

After the last dog-eating incident at my house that resulted in me crying all day, I was forced to readjust my view of dogs here. I could not continue to look at them like American dogs, for my own personal mental and emotional health. It is impossible to love a dog and then eat it. So the solution is simple:  stop loving the dogs. Dogs here are simply livestock, like the pigs or chickens, and nothing more. Once I started thinking of the dogs the way I think of the other animals, it got a lot better and easier to deal with.

Last week there was a big celebration at my house. My sister Ioren and my sister-in-law Mary both celebrated their birthdays on the same day, and my cousin Marla gave birth to a beautiful baby boy a week prior. There was a lot to celebrate. So, as per custom, a pig was killed to be eaten in their honor, but evidently so was one of our dogs. I was unaware of this fact until I sat down to begin eating. When meat is cooked in the ohmw, it becomes fall-off-the-bone tender. It’s delicious. But as a result, the animal essentially falls apart and what’s left is several chunks of meat, no longer resembling the animal, save for the identifying bones. So as I approached the table to begin pulling off my share of meat, I did a quick count of legs and discovered there were too many. Then I saw the paws and it clicked.

At first I was horrified. I asked, “Da kotch meh? Kidi?” (What’s this? Dog?), to which everyone answered yes, then I started looking around and realized we were one dog short. I asked, “Natail kidi?” (Our dog?), and they all answered yes in unison, some of the kids starting to snicker. My sister Ioren asked, “Ke men song?” (Do you want to try?), I hesitated then said, “I mahsopwek.” (I’m afraid). So she told me to close my eyes and she would just put some in my mouth. We always joke that Ioren (now 34) is my mom, and this was no exception. I agreed, and like a child, I let her feed me my very first piece of dog while everyone laughed.

By this time, a huge crowd was gathering. I guess everyone wanted to see if I was going to puke or something. It took me a while to swallow, but I did, and then asked for more. Everyone began laughing and resumed their dinners, patting me on the back as they did so. I think I earned a lot of respect that night by eating the dog, and it really wasn’t all that emotionally scarring. It’s just meat, I kept telling myself, don’t think about it. So I didn’t. And my family is so proud of me. I have a feeling this is a new story they will be telling and retelling for a long time.

And what’s the Peace Corps for if not to try new things? I am constantly surprising myself with what can do I never thought I’d be eating dog (and liking it), and yet I just did. But then again, I never thought I’d actually have the guts to do Peace Corps, and yet here I am.

And take a look at this little man:

[Josiah Shemar, just a few hours old] 

[Josiah and his beautiful mom, Marla in the hospital on his birthday November 25, 2012]

Stay well,

Christy