COOL PLACES AROUND THE WORLD: Chaparro - cocina mexicana (Berlin, Germany)

Chaparro is a small, modern, fairly authentic Mexican restaurant, located in the bohemian Kreuzberg neighborhoood of Berlin, Germany. They offer tacos, tortas, burritos, and more, and have both meat and vegetarian (including vegan) options for all of these. They also sell Mexican beer, good mezcal, and fresh corn tortillas.

Chaparro es un pequeño, moderno, y bastante auténtico restaurant mexicano, ubicado en la zona bohemia de Kreuzberg, en Berlin, Alemania. Ofrecen tacos, tortas, burritos, y más, también en versión vegetariana (y vegana). También venden cervezas mexicanas, buen mezcal, y tortillas de maiz recién hechas.

Address: Wienerstr. 15-A (Kreuzberg), Berlin, Germany

Website: http://chaparro-berlin.de/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChaparroCocinaMexicana

Vegetarian/Vegan: Most of the main dishes (burritos, tortas, enchiladas, etc.) come in vegetarian and vegan versions.

Anita's Animals (San Juan Cosala, Mexico), revisited

Whenever I'm in Guadalajara, Mexico, I make a point of taking the one hour trip to San Juan Cosala, on Lake Chapala, either by car (when my friends aren't busy and can give me a ride) or by bus. The reason I go there is to visit my friend Anita (Strehlow), who runs Anita's Animals, a private no-kill animal refuge for the abandoned dogs and cats of the region. I find Anita's selfless dedication to the strays inspiring, and I try to help her out in whatever way I can. Here's a video I made with footage that I recorded during my last visit to the sanctuary.



Anita needs our financial support, so please share the video, and help keep the sanctuary running by donating money (or if you live in the area, food or other supplies).

An Easter thought - Christianity and vegetarianism

Many Christians (and especially ex-Christians) who have embraced vegetarianism and veganism for ethical reasons, are disillusioned with what they perceive to be Christianity's negative or, at best, ambiguous take on our interaction with the rest of the animal world. After all, we are always told that "even Christ ate fish", that nowhere in the Bible is the eating of meat prohibited, and that, on the contrary, passages thereof clearly demonstrate that the consumption of meat is seen as OK.

While there has been quite a bit written about this (Google, for example “Christianity and a vegan diet”), I wanted to list some personal reasons why it is, in fact, possible, and even preferable, to be a vegetarian/vegan Christian. First of all, it is OK not to take everything in the Bible literally. There are, in fact, a lot of things that are in there, details, that would be seen as more than a little strange (or violent) if taken at face value. The second point, related to the first, is that we should avoid "not seeing the forest for the trees", but, instead, try to get to the heart of the teaching, to what the main message is. I see the teachings of Jesus Christ as being full of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Sure, he was prone to outbursts of anger and did sometimes sound vengeful (though many scholars attribute some of the latter to the personalities of some of his disciples coming through, as opposed to that of Christ himself). Still, taken as a whole, this was a kind man, a man who forgave sins, and man who took care of those around him, a helper and a healer. With all of this, I ask myself: What would this compassionate man think of our modern cruel factory farming methods responsible for the death and suffering of millions of animals daily? Would he approve? I am pretty sure he would not. In fact, I'm pretty sure he would be appalled by the lack of empathy that we have for the creatures with whom we share the world. I believe that had he seen the way we currently abuse and kill other animals en masse, he likely would have said more about our relationship with the rest of the animal world.

I think that Jesus' message is ultimately a positive one: To love and help one another, to forgive, and to try to live a righteous life. This Easter, when we remember the man and his teachings, my hope is that we will try to incorporate these into our interaction with animals as well as into our interaction with other people.

Another call to extend our field of vision

Most people limit themselves to focusing on their own happiness, or on the happiness of their immediate friends or family, doing very little to help those whom they don't know to live happier lives. While not necessarily a bad thing, per se, this type of limited focus, is, to a large extent, responsible for the sad state of the world today. If I know for a fact that someone leads a self-centered life, I cannot take any advice that that person gives about life seriously. And when that person claims to see things "clearly", I realize that what the person sees clearly is his/her limited field of vision.

Landscapes of the American South (January 2013)

Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana

Alabama

Louisiana

Mississippi

Louisiana

Alabama

Florida

Louisiana

The roach incident

I was in my friend’s bathroom the other day, and I saw a roach. It was a fairly big roach, one that most people would find fairly disgusting. I grew up in an old house in Los Angeles, one with an unfinished basement, so we always had problems with roaches, no matter how hard my parents tried to get rid of them. This is why I still get bothered by the sight of them, and even though my compassion for other animals is very strong, roaches are something I have very little compassion for. To be fair, I usually don’t kill roaches, or mosquitoes, but try to find a way to get them outside instead.

Anyway, this roach noticed me and, like most animals who perceive a threat, started to run away. He tried to hide under the door. I couldn't see where he went, but I closed the door to prevent him from going into the living room, not really caring if I squished him or not. Once I opened the door again, I noticed that I had, indeed, partially squished him. He was staggering, badly injured, with a liquid dripping from the part of his body that was caught between the door and the wall. This made me feel horrible. For the first time in my life, I felt true compassion and sadness for the suffering of a roach. I ended up putting him out of his misery.

The whole experience left a strong impression on me. It reminded me that it’s important to grow our compassion to include as many animals as possible. It is important to try to widen the range of animals for whom we feel empathy. It is easy to feel compassion for our loved ones, and, for many of us, for our pets as well. The true test of our compassion, is in expanding it to include other possibly less obvious animals. This particular incident served as a reminder for me that even an animal that is generally considered to be a pest, and is often exterminated, is a living being that suffers. This is not to say that no pests should ever be killed. Parasites, and other such creatures that feed and destroy our homes, should indeed be stopped in order to prevent disease and destruction. Most people, however, misinterpret the term “pest”, and include way too many animals in this category. Even when we’re dealing with harmful pests, we should always think about the most humane way possible to get rid of them. My whole experience with the roach was negative, but it lead to a positive realization which will hopefully prevent more such negativity in the future.

Taking a step back from our selfishness (part 2)

Driving long distances through the U.S. recently, I noticed a lot of roadkill. For those of you unfamiliar with this word, it refers to animals that are run over by cars on roads. Seeing all these dead animals made me think of the selfishness of human beings in general, and our selfishness with respect to how we relate to other animals, in specific. I have written about this concept several times already, but would like to touch on this subject again.

It’s important to put ourselves in the position of others that are suffering, especially those whose suffering is ignored by most people. Most people would downplay the whole roadkill thing, and consider it a side-effect of better roads, of faster cars, etc. In other words, they have no problem with increasing their convenience at the expense of other living beings. They buy into the whole concept that’s fed to them from birth: That it doesn't matter how many animals suffer and die, as long as they get to live a convenient life.

A truly empathetic individual would never agree with this line of thinking. I believe that whenever we decide to construct something, we have to do our best to ensure the well-being of the animal residents of that area. If there is a concern about this well-being, if there is a danger that a certain ecosystem might suffer because of our intrusion, we should not build. With regards to minimizing the number of animals killed on our roads, there are steps we can take, both as individuals and collectively. As individuals we can simply be more careful when we drive. We should not trivialize the lives of wild animals, or think their lives are worthless. Collectively, we should strive to implement the construction of roads that minimize the possibility of contact between wild animals and drivers. In Norway and other countries, for example, there are special bridges over highways where moose (and other animals) can cross. This not only helps the moose, it also minimizes the risk of injury and death for drivers. In other parts of the world, the implementation of various types of barriers along highways has lowered the number of unnecessary deaths. Like any developments which minimize the harm we do while interacting with other creatures, these examples represent true progress.