Breeding Animals, Growing Vegetables, Witnessing Miracles

¡Buen Día! I am still in Junín, although I am theoretically leaving in a few hours (more on that in a bit...). It has been a great week with a few bike
rides, swimming in the river, a trip to the nearby town of San Martin to eat ice
cream, and a gorgeous run along the river yesterday morning
to test out my new tennis shoes. In between these activities, Ive been
helping Tay feed the rabbits and chickens he raises, clean the house for the return
of his kiddos, cook (and eat) some free-range, home-processed deer meat - that´s right, my first red meat in Argentina! Oh, and the HIGHLIGHT - yesterday, I "harvested" a chicken.

I am currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and I really cannot think of a better time to be reading such an insightful and enlightening book. I know many of my friends have heard about - if not read - the book, and I highly recommend it! It is the story of one family who vowed that, "for one year, they´d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it." For me, this is a novel concept, one that I would perhaps LIKE to live, but I know that the closest I will ever get to such an existence is probably buying organic produce from the local farmer´s market. But in the last five weeks of my time in Argentina, I have been living this life with people who know nothing different. They have always raised their own animals, grown their own crops, and/or bought from local suppliers that which they cannot grow or raise themselves. This is changing bit by bit as feedlots, prepackaged foods, and US companies selling cheap, calorie-rich, nutrient-poor products (ex. lots and LOTS of soda) have had a much stronger presence as of late. But in this family - and this community - homegrown, homemade still reigns supreme. And I have been fortunate enough to experience the process in its many stages from helping to weed and pick veggies in the gardens in Pasman, the Mapuche school, and the garden here in Tay and Noelia´s backyard (tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, zapallo, cucumber, radish), milking cows (and making ricotta cheese from the fresh milk), feeding the rabbits and chickens that Tay raises for both meat and eggs (the chickens, not the rabbits...), and, yes, even harvesting a chicken myself. Im becoming quite the farm girl!

The most recent chapter of the book was on harvesting the chickens and turkeys they had been raising. Tay told me it was about time to harvest his own as they are quite big now, and he is headed this weekend to pick up baby chicks from a hatchery in his hometown 5 hours north of here (there is another chapter all about raising chicks once they arrive from the hatchery within 48 hours of birth). So in the spirit of trying new things and attempting to live la vida of my hosts, I asked him if I could help. And, well, I did. Chicken is a meat I eat without much reservation (although after reading this book, I may be more picky about where my meat comes from). I am aware at some point it must be killed, so if I feel free to eat the meat, I decided it is only right that I understand how one actually harvests the animal. This is my personal opinion. Feel free to think what you wish! So allow me to be graphic. I did not cut the neck to kill it as I was not sure if I would be able to hold the chicken and the knife at the same time, but short of that, once the chicken had stopped flapping it´s feet (it didn´t actually do any running once the head was cut off, but it was lying down with it´s feet "running" in the air), I did just about everything involed in the harvesting process - pour boiling water over the body to loosen up the muscles, pluck the feathers,
chop off the feet and neck, and stick my hand way up inside of it to
remove the innards - eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww! The family that I have in Mississippi that still live on their own farm would have been proud...I think...I hope:)!

And, alas, my time with this family must come to an end. The plan is to leave today when my tour guide friend German passes by on his way to Bariloche. Yet, I havent heard anything from him as to when he is passing through, so Im just chilling here. Im definitely in no rush to leave, but I fear if I stick around much longer Ill never want to leave and never see any more of the country! For the time being, Im content with going with the flow and living with a "come what may" attitude. And now I must be off to feed the rabbits... ¡VIVA!