I Wasn’t Aware I Signed Up For Lord of the Flies…
“‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’”
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 7
On Friday, Nov. 14th, we arrived at UHDP (Upland Holistic Development Project). It was a small community of people who do research and experimentation with certain methods of growing crops and raising livestock and fish. They tests different methods and things that work particularly well are implemented in nearby upland villages.
However, what I most want to talk about was the killing of the pig. I went against my instincts to not watch because everyone kept saying it would be a good thing to see… to learn how people get their meat. I WILL NEVER SECOND GUESS MY FIRST INSTINCT AGAIN! I don’t even want to go into the details of how they killed the pig because it was so horrible! I just wanted to block out the sound… the screaming of the pig but I couldnt! No matter how hard I pressed my hands against my ears! I felt desperate to get away from it and for some reason I was paralyzed from moving. I hid my face behind everyone else that was there so I couldn’t see… the sound was bad enough. It took so long! Every nerve on my body was on edge and if my legs were listening ot my brain I would have run away but instead I stood there and started to cry.
Now, let me tell you. I NEVER cry in front of people unless I really really really can’t hold it in. I was embarrassed but I couldn’t help the tears from welling up in my eyes no matter how much I tried to fight 
them! Needless to say, no matter how hypocritcal or “Western” people think I am… I like the supermarket! I like walking into a store and buying my meat neatly cut and packaged, and most importantly, already dead! I couldn’t eat meat for a week after seeing that. I have slowly been able to eat more and more meat as the days go by… but if I start thinking about it I can’t get another bite down…
That experience really made me miss the comforts of home…
