Musings of a new vegetarian

The weather in Mexico City has felt a lot like Spring in New England. It has been about 70 degrees (F), not too dry, and smells like things are blooming. Basically, it feels exactly like early May used to back at Hampshire College. As such, we've been walking a lot. Walk from the subway (Metro) station to the University. Walk from the University to town for lunch. It's nice. I'm going to miss it when I go back to Chicago tomorrow. Current temperature in Chicago: 11 degrees, or -1 with the wind chill.

Today, we walked into town and had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. This was enjoyable, because even though Mexico City seems to be pretty veggie-friendly, it is hard to order correctly when you are only semi-literate. And twice I've ended up ordering dishes that seemed meat-free, only to end up with chicken or ham thrown into the enchiladas. Blech.

Now it is February, which means that I've been completely meat-free for over a month now. It feels good to mean it when I tell somebody that I'm vegetarian, as opposed to last year when it just meant that I wasn't feeling like explaining the definition of "pescetarian" for the umpteenth time. And being vegetarian feels weird whenever I think about it too much. Three years ago, I was barely an omnivore -- much closer to a carnivore -- and Chesh would routinely tease me about being "veggiephobic." I had said for years that I'd become a vegetarian if only I liked vegetables. Well, okay, it finally dawned on me that I couldn't instantly give up my meat addiction, but I could wean myself off of animal flesh... and it worked. Dropping food groups one at a time took longer -- over two years -- and each step was challenging, but it worked. I should publish a book: "From Carnivore to Herbivore in Three [Not So] Easy Steps"

Musings of a new vegetarian

The weather in Mexico City has felt a lot like Spring in New England. It has been about 70 degrees (F), not too dry, and smells like things are blooming. Basically, it feels exactly like early May used to back at Hampshire College. As such, we've been walking a lot. Walk from the subway (Metro) station to the University. Walk from the University to town for lunch. It's nice. I'm going to miss it when I go back to Chicago tomorrow. Current temperature in Chicago: 11 degrees, or -1 with the wind chill.

Today, we walked into town and had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. This was enjoyable, because even though Mexico City seems to be pretty veggie-friendly, it is hard to order correctly when you are only semi-literate. And twice I've ended up ordering dishes that seemed meat-free, only to end up with chicken or ham thrown into the enchiladas. Blech.

Now it is February, which means that I've been completely meat-free for over a month now. It feels good to mean it when I tell somebody that I'm vegetarian, as opposed to last year when it just meant that I wasn't feeling like explaining the definition of "pescetarian" for the umpteenth time. And being vegetarian feels weird whenever I think about it too much. Three years ago, I was barely an omnivore -- much closer to a carnivore -- and Chesh would routinely tease me about being "veggiephobic." I had said for years that I'd become a vegetarian if only I liked vegetables. Well, okay, it finally dawned on me that I couldn't instantly give up my meat addiction, but I could wean myself off of animal flesh... and it worked. Dropping food groups one at a time took longer -- over two years -- and each step was challenging, but it worked. I should publish a book: "From Carnivore to Herbivore in Three [Not So] Easy Steps"