Vegetarians are an anomaly in Namibia and the prevalence of meat is staggering.  Thus it is understandable that people who voluntarily do not eat meat perplex them.  Upon announcing to my host family that I was a vegetarian they looked at me with mystified expressions and said, “Do you eat fish and chicken?” I gently explained to them the many reasons that I am a vegetarian; the ethical, moral, and environmental ideals that I hold that do not match with eating meat.  In response, they tried to explain to me that meat was a tasty, tasty treat and I was missing out on the wonders of a juicy carcass.  I laughed and said I was fine thinking that this would be the end of the discussion. 

Alas, two months later… we are still having the discussion… EVERY DAY.  Meat is prevalent in my household and is eaten at lunch and dinner daily, and every day without fail I get the following comment from at least one person if not two, three, or six “Mmmm, this meat is delicious. Perhaps if you just closed your eyes and ate some you would enjoy it too.”  I would start my own drinking game with the number of times I am told to eat meat, if only I could drink. 

Recently my fellow vegetarian PCV had an encounter with a member of the Catholic diocese, Father “Peter”, who claimed that we are on a slippery slope to hell because vegetarianism is the devil’s trickery.  Apparently once you start questioning the validity of slaughtering animals for their meaty goodness then you get mixed up with those damned Hindus and Buddhists and you are in for a world of trouble.   He quoted Leviticus as to why Christians should take the moral high ground and bop baby animals over the head and eat them for dinner.  Clearly these were the ravings of a sane man.  I thanked my lucky stars that while my family badgered me daily to eat meat that they weren’t toting the Bible around and telling me that I was going to hell for my belief system.  Unfortunately, my relief was short lived. 

I suppose my family realized that espousing the pleasures of meat was not changing my mind and they were going to have to use an alternative route thus they attempted to put the fear of God into me.  The conversation went a little something like this:

“God wants you to eat meat.”

“Oh, really.”

“Yep. It’s in the Bible.”

Snort.  “I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s in Genesis.”

“Well, where is it in the New Testament?  Of course they had sacrificial lambs.  They would kill their own kids in the Old Testament.”

“Son, bring me my Bible.” [Flips through Bible searching for completely random passage] “Ah, here, here.” [Quotes completely out of context verse in II Chronicles- which might I add, STILL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT] “There. You’re thwarting God’s will for your life.”

“I doubt that’s true.”

“Honey, I think she was a backsliding Christian in the States.”

[Silence as jaw drops to the floor in shock at inappropriateness of comment and situation.]

Alas, I am now more than ever determined to remain a vegetarian for the entire two years that I am in Namibia.