"Shtop Looking at Me Shwan!!"

Before I left for Albania, my family had a strange meats festival where an assortment of exotic meats and seafood was served. One the menu, was bear chili, kangaroo patties, buffalo,elk, wild boar, Kobe beef and crocodile (Mom, if you're reading this, will you remind me what else you guys served?). I’m NOT sorry to say that that day I stuck to eating seafood. Since moving to Albania, I have definitely moved way out of my comfort zone in terms of eating meats that, quite honestly, I would prefer not to (like my next door neighbor’s adorable little lamb). But, let me say, that I am so grateful that I WASN’T invited to the following family’s house for lunch!

A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting a family when we began discussing the phenomenal plane crash into the Hudson. Naturally, we began talking about the causes and the possibility of geese being the problem. The college aged daughter chimed in and said, “We have a goose, do you want to see it?!”

Seeing that this family lived in a small apartment, I was extremely curious about this goose!! I wondered why and where they kept it!(Obviously...it didn’t occur to me that the “goose” was dead...duh!)

The girl went out on the balcony and proudly came back displaying a large plastic bag. From the bag, she revealed, not a goose, but a swan!! (Apparently, in Albanian, it’s the same word). She pulled out the lifeless head and neck, which was wet, dirty, and quite frankly, disgusting. Lovingly, she began to stroke its LONG limp neck and kept saying, “Isn’t it beautiful? I just love him!” She playfully moved its bill and explained that they’d eat the swan the next day and then stuff just the head and neck for a house decoration!

Quite honesty, I don’t know what else to say about this, except that next time my family has a strange meats festival...I think I know what should be on the menu!!