January 20, 2011
Show and Tell: The Blood Sausage
I had an interesting moment in class just the other day. I came into the 3rd grade classroom, sat down at the desk to prepare for a day of reading when a student came up and wanted to show me something. “Look, Blake!” she said with loads of excitement and a proud look. I peered down into the bag at unidentifiable objects with string tied to some dark forms. Confused about what it was I began to ask what it was but just as I was finishing the question I knew what it was. The smell hit my nose. Morcilla – the Spanish blood sausage. The teacher then comes up and tells me how the student had gone to the farm to hand make this Spanish delight. “OK, class” shouts the teacher. “We are going to listen to a very special experience Maria had this weekend. Something I would love to do but must be invited to do and which no one has invited me to do yet…” The student stepped up and begins to explain the process of making blood sausage. The process is not uncommon to making other sausages, just bloodier. During the time she was explaining this, she holds up the final product from strings and the class goes wild. “Give me, give me!” “Mmmm, yum yum!” Everybody wants the sausage. The teacher informs me though the sausage must dry out for a while. Still too bloody. The student then starts walking around the classroom to show the prized item. She walks from table to table and the students, going wild over it, pull the sausages toward their faces and inhale deeply taking in the fresh aroma of…blood sausage. I was not the only one in the classroom who was slightly repulsed and astonished by the ordeal. The brightest student in the class shared my feelings. She had a horrified look on her face and would raise her hand and say, “What about the pig? Poor pig…” She did not sniff the prized meat as it went around. After the meat made its way around the room the teacher says, “Did you give Blake a chance to smell the Morcilla?” I told her it was not necessary to bring it back to me. I had seen enough, thanks.
Oh, cultural differences.
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