It sat in a bucket on the grill for a few hours, yet even after that it retained its full form, obviously the head of a recently living animal. It was served in an oven dish surrounded by plenty of forks and knives. Nobody used plates or napkins. Instead, it was a free-for-all, everybody going in at the same time with their fork and knife and chiseling around the skull. I wanted to be polite and try some, but between the taste of the meat, its obvious appearance of being a head, and the chaotic eating environment, I really didn’t enjoy it. Furthermore, halfway through the process, my new host dad separated the skull, cracked it in half, and began eating the brain of the animal. I tried some of the brain as well, from a place of curiosity and also politeness. Honestly, it tasted like a bland hard-boiled egg. It didn’t taste particularly good or bad, but it didn’t leave me wanting more after. The next week, the host dad of one of my friends from training prepared a cow head for nine of us, and we all prepared side dishes such as salads to accompany it. In the instance of the pig head, it was served to celebrate a birthday. In the instance of the cow head, the dish was made to honor all of us trainees that would soon be leaving to become volunteers. On the day of the cow head, I found that my experience with eating the pig head had enabled me to be more prepared, and I enjoyed the meat more that day. I found that the cow tongue, a delicacy in the United States as well, was actually really delicious.
