veg life, one year later

happy one year anniversary to me! around this time last year, i was a pescatarian, setting foot on the threshold of vegetarianism. and after the first torturous week, i've never looked back (minus a meal in chile, when i realized, no, i actually did not want to eat fish again).

becoming a vegetarian has been a slow, gradual process. when people ask about it, they soon regret asking...it leads to a long, complicated answer. so here it is, for your benefit :) eight years ago, i stopped eating red meat. i was eating a hamburger in london of all places (this was mad-cow era, and i was taking my chances), and had this moment where i realized a) i wasn't enjoying eating red meat (nothing against that particular hamburger itself) and b) i completely wouldn't miss it if i didn't have it in my life. so i stopped. and i didn't miss it, not one bit.

fast forward three years. a friend's friend came over from london for a week long visit....being vegetarian, she wanted to check out all the veggie restaurants in town. so i took her to the ones i knew and then some. she was worried that she was forcing me to eat vegetarian, but i loved it. after she left, i just kept up with it.

i give a lot of credit to michael pollan's omnivore's dilemma for changing the way i eat and think about food (if you haven't read it, at least watch food, inc.). i know i probably bother too much with labels and isms and get way too excited when i meet other fellow veggies...and who knows? i may find myself eating burgers and medium-rare steak again in the future. i guess what i'm trying to say is, whether you eat meat or don't, let's be mindful about our eating.

photo: yet another amazing meal on the inca trail. shortly after this picture was taken, the condor was eaten by vegetarians.