a slaughter, of sorts.

I reaped the benefits of the slaughter yesterday. tender, homemade carnitas. everything but the squeal. the guy who made them had the recipe handed down to him from his father and his father from his father, and so forth. he was extremely secretive and requested to be alone during the 3 hour process. i don´t blame him. they were some of the best carnitas i´ve ever had. the guy goes by the name of "cache." the spanish word for big cheeks, cacheton(ka-che-tone), shortened. he´s just one of the many immigrant stories that i have had the pleasure of listening to since my arrival to mexico. stories of crossing the desert, evading the migra and death, for a job. it´s nothing new to me. my parents are immigrants themselves, but it´s different to hear different stories from other people. the situation has to be pretty bad in your country if you´re willing to risk your life for a job. a job that doesn´t afford you benefits, a minimum wage, social security or respect from most euro-americans. cache talked about working from may until august in wisconsin as a landscaper, from september to december in cheese factories, then traveling to florida the remaining months to pick lettuce. that was his life for many years in the united states, all so he could feed his family back in his hometown. he´s now settled and resigned himself to making carnitas in mexico. "it´s not the best life, but it provides and that´s all that matters," he says. i´m currently reading the devils highway by luis alberto urrea. it´s about the 26 men that crossed into the arizona desert, where 14 eventually perished from the heat. it´s a tragedy that situations of "competition" have to be created in the name of progress, and that people have to flee their homes and willingly risk their lives to simply eat. i think of all of the excess and privileges that have been afforded to me in my life, and though i don´t feel guilty for ever having them, i do feel guilty for ever thinking that i ever needed more. you really have to respect someone who is willing to die to feed their family. anyone of us would act the same way, if faced w/ the same situation. this i know as truth. it´s part our animal nature. a part we insist on promoting.

dead in their tracks by john annerino
the devils highway by luis alberto urrea