i heart eating meat...

warning: this is a little bit graphic, if you like animals...

late last thursday night, i'm in my room reading when i hear...
"adzo, adzo!" (that's what they call me because no one can say kimberlee. it means a monday born girl.)
i open the door to see my friends denis and divine standing on my porch. denis says...
"we caught some rats. and we're gonna cook 'em."
me: "what?"
him: "WE CAUGHT SOME RATS AND WE ARE GOING TO EAT THEM."
me: "you caught RATS, and you're going to EAT them?"
him: "yeah"
me: "um, i've got to see this! i'm coming with."

so they take me over to the tree in which they caught the rats and show me the whole procedure. we then realized there was another one in there, so i got to see the whole thing in action. the rat is rather large, about 10 inches long, and another 8 inches on its tail. divine pulls the rat out from the tree roots by its tail and throws it up against the classroom building, breaking its neck. denis then grabs a 2x4 and gives it a good whack on the head to be sure it doesn't suffer. i notice a bit of blood on the floor; it brings tears to my eyes, which the students don't understand. they keep asking me "is it a sin to kill it to eat?" i have to answer no, so then they don't understand how i can be sad about it. we are so far removed from much of our food gathering in the u.s. that seeing things like this are hard for me. and i don't even like rats. what if it was a bunny? :)

anyways, we build a fire, and throw the rats in to burn off the fur and "sterilize" them. torchey (another student) pulls them out and starts cutting them up. he discards some of the insides, but most of the guts get thrown into the pot. in all this there is so much excitement and merriment among the students--arguments about how to make the stew, how much each will get, who will supply the onions, etc. (ps-arguments are merriment here!) and, to my horror, torchey cuts up the tails and throws them in, too. "it's very sweet." is the only explanation i get.

so we cook the rat stew and divide it up as evenly as possible... i am served first, and every one watches in anticipation. i pick up the choice piece they have given me, its a leg and it kinda looks like a chicken leg. i take a bite. you know, it wasn't that bad. i give the guys a smile and everyone cheers.

a few minutes later i realize the claw is still on the leg i'm eating. a little grossed out (and really not that hungry in the first place) i decide i'm finished. "you're not going to eat that?" asks denis. i reply "um, it's a foot." he reaches over, grabs it out of my hand and bites the claw right off. wow. its like real life fear factor. :)

but hey, i survived. and no one believed me when i said not only had i never eaten rat before, but i didn't even know anyone who had thought about eating rat before. you know, it kinda tasted like chicken. and at least i didn't have to eat the tail.

ps- i should have something up here in a few days...
www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/yav
under the ghana section, naturally.