When it comes to studying cultures, I think the best way to do that is through food. Or language. But learning new language is a lot of work and it can take a long time to figure out how to speak with new tongue movements and sound. So, I think it’s probably way easier to eat food from other cultures. I like sushi, which is from Japan. I like Kung Pao chicken, which is from China. I can experience both of those cultures through those and other food items without learning to speak Japanese or Chinese.
There is one exception, however. I would way rather learn Liberian Kru Pidgen English than eat any Lberian food. The reason for this exception is that Kru Pidgen is pretty close to American English and Liberia is home to the world’s largest monkey meat industry. It appears that Liberians really, REALLY love monkeys. Not as pets. Not as sacred animals. But as food.
To be clear, I’m not judging Liberians for their protein of choice. If monkey is their other white meat, then cool for them. It’s just wouldn’t be my first (or thousandth) menu choice. To me, monkeys are a lot like little people with tails and I can’t imagine eating any little people. Hell, many of my friends and family members have referred to me as a monkey and I’m pretty dang sure that no one wants to see my head on a platter biting down on an apple. I can’t imagine that I’d taste good; flesh strewn together from donuts couldn’t possibly be flavorful. Therefore, thoughts like those arise when I think of eating monkeys and I wouldn’t want to learn about cultures that do. Since Liberians do speak versions of English, if I ever wanted to learn about their culture I’d learn their language.
Come to think of it, maybe learning about other cultures isn’t all important. Maybe i’ll just stick to good old hamburgers, hot dogs, and apple pie; they’re a lot more appetizing than raw fish. And (I imagine) monkeys.
