CAUTION

I will tell you that this post will be explicit, and, definitely not for the faint of heart.

We were honored, and, grateful, to be given the opportunity to watch a pig being slaughtered for the celebration of a quinceañera, to be held tomorrow, all day.

The quinceañera, for those that are unfamiliar with the word, is the “coming out” party for fifteen year old girls, here in México, as well as in the States. It is much the same as the “sweet sixteen” parties up North.

Here, however, with a family as large as they are, a whole sow will be gone fairly quickly, I will wager. Here she is, after one, quick knock on the head with the flat side of a hatchet. She was killed quickly, and with many salutations from the people inside the house watching.

Neither of us have ever been witnesses to such an event, although there were several children who had seen a slaughter before. Not a single person turned away from the experience or expressed any sentiment other than thanksgiving. I was very impressed.

Being a very sheltered city girl, I grew up knowing almost nothing of the world outside my little life bubble; until I started dating my, now, husband. That was when my real education started.

Ok, here are some of the photos I took. If you do not wish to go further, please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. For the rest of you, here goes.

This first photo is minutes after the sow was killed. Hence the saying, “bleeding like a stuck pig”. Really, though, she was unconscious when the farmer cut her throat.

The first thing they did was pour boiling water over her to soften the skin, and hair.

They spent at least fifteen minutes shaving off all of her hair around her body; even on her ears. Every inch, actually.

The next thing they did was take her feet.

After all of the hair was removed, the head removed, they opened the body, removed the internal organs, and proceeded to hang her up for a bit.

That was the last photo I took because we left after this. I will not be able to describe the smell, however. Blood has such a distinct odor; it is more than just sulfur. It is memorable, however.

That is a bit of what we were privileged to witness, and will let you know the end results tomorrow.

For those of you that wanted to know where your bacon comes from, besides the plastic cryo bag from the store, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.