Good-bye, Meat!

A Torta Cubana (source: Prone to Wander Blog)

One folk etymology of  the word carnival is that it comes from the middle Latin "carne vale" which means "farewell to meat." So, while I didn't watch any brightly coloured dancers or have any big festivities during Carnival, on Shrove Tuesday, I said good-bye to meat. I ate a huge meat-filled "torta Cubana" (a sandwich like the one in the picture - see Vitamin T - The Mexican Special) and drank a litre of beer ("caguama" is the word they use here in Mexico - see Illegal Immigration - An Alternative Approach and the label "Beer.") and said good bye to both for the 40 days of Lent.

As a side note, this connects to a theme I've been meaning to write about for a while, namely vegetarianism, and my opinion that the proper place of vegetarianism is as means that leads to another end - first and foremost religious, and also health and economy as secondary reasons.  Interestingly enough, the "economics" of not eating meat is actually part of the religious reason; one reason to avoid eating meat (or abstaining from other items) is to save money to give to the poor.  The other part has to do with focusing on God rather than the flesh (the other meaning of "carne.")

Vegetarianism (as I see it) is misled and misleading when it becomes an end rather than the means. But more about that when I finally get around to writing that blog.

In the mean time, good-bye meat and good-bye beer.

[Note on the etymology of Carnival: the more philologically accepted etymology seems to be that it's from Italian "carne levare" which means "putting meat away."  It basically amounts to the same thing.  See - http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Carnival.]