Pig and rice

I actually took these pictures in late May - I figured if pigs were going to inflict swine flu on us, the least I could do is take some revenge by eating some pig.  Go team human.

So I found an open air "restaurant" that served pig meat.  It came out of a sort of cauldron, bubbling with pig meat, and its neighboring kettle of other sort of pig meat, and it came over rice and with much pork on top and with pickled vegetables keeping it company.  It was glorious, and everything I always knew intra-species vengeance could be.

And then the proprietor, a lady who was a real artist when it came to pig meat, stopped by my table and opened a banana leaf full of I didn't know what.  And she started talking rapidly in Thai, but I caught "seafood", "delicious" and "eat".  I needed no further invitation, and dived right in - I recognized egg, and oyster, and some other sort of seafood, and some spices.  It was cold, but it was good.  

So - regardless of how bad the pig flu pandemic becomes, I can console myself with knowing that I've done my part.  Have you?

ps I didn't bother asking how much the food this restauranteur was giving me cost - I have not encountered any person in this entire town in six full months to be anything but honest about the price they have charged me, and that truly says remarkable things about the integrity of the people of Thailand.  One of the main Buddhist precepts is to not lie or cheat, and I have indeed found that to be the case.