Post of the Day--I'm Definitely Not a Vegetarian with All This Fresh Meat!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early.  And, I do mean early, especially for me, at 7 a.m.  Wil was determined to get to his family's house early, spend most of the day there, then return to our apartment, so that I could bake a cake to take to Sandy & Johnny's for Halloween.

We were at his parent's home around 9.  His mom was awake, but not feeling very well.  I let her have her time since I definitely would appreciate not being spoken to much in the morning.

Soon, Yunedy brought a chicken over to show me.  The chicken's legs were bound.  I thought maybe it was going to be in a fight, but since it was a hen and not a rooster, I was not sure what was going on.  Then, Wil's mom gave Yunedy some encouraging words (no, I'm not sure what they were) and he proceeded to wring the bird's neck.  Yeah, it was a little graphic for me at 9:30 a.m. too!  After my time at Mercado Popular the day before, I was up for anything.  And, I guessed that the dead bird meant we were having chicken for lunch.  I felt a little bad for Yunedy though.  The chickens are his pets and I saw at least a twinge of sadness as he killed the chicken.

But, it's all about survival in a developing world, and fresh chicken is good eats.  So, moments later boiling water arrived and Wil and Yunedy plucked that chicken.

Wil and Yunedy hard at work plucking feathers.

And more cleaning and plucking.  It was a nice sized chicken.

After the feathers were gone, Wil finished the butchering process.  I didn't take photos of every step, but I thought a few of the things were interesting.

It was especially intriguing to watch the toenails get clipped.  I only remember one chicken butchering in our family, though I know there were many.  The one I remember was like an event on our block in Port Orchard.  I did not enjoy watching the chicken, literally, run around with it's head cut off.

Another shot of the toenail removal.  I know the feet are popular to eat, but I haven't tried one yet.  I think my first one will have to be fried crispy...

Wil removed almost all of the skin in one piece, with just a small incision or two.  Amazing! That's my fiance!

This is the new addition on the family home.  They added this outdoor space since I left in July.

And this picture shows the incredible amount of growth in a tropical environment.  When I was here in July, these 'trees' were merely shrubs.

I looked over and saw Michael taking a rest.  I just thought it was a cool photo.

This is the intrigue that is Betta fish fighting.  The guys were pretty excited by it all.

I think the fish were more disoriented than anything else and happened to bump into each other, which thrilled the guys. They would shout, "oh, oh, oh!" any time the fist got at all close to the other. Mostly, one of the guys would pick up the jar and get the water spinning so much that I was almost dizzy, so I'm pretty sure the fish were too.

I have not seen a cock fight here yet, though they are quite popular. But, now I can say I've seen a betta fight. Thankfully, it didn't go on too long before one fish was removed from the jar.

The chicken, by the way, was scrumptious!