Squash for Chicken

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES – I would first like to mention that I have been a vegetarian for more than half a century. It was a personal decision, without preaching that others should do the same.

Well, about 20 years ago I was working at Prensa Latina in Havana and every day I ate lunch in the dining hall of all the journalists, editors, translators and other workers.

It was a pleasant social moment and a tray of rice, black bean water, a vegetable, almost always squash and something processed that they called meat. Sometimes there was a small piece of fatty pork, fish sticks or, as the big pick-me-up of the week, a piece of fried chicken.

To my surprise, it turned out a lot of people wanted to sit with me. The news had been spread that I changed my little ration of meat for the piece of vegetable that they served (the squash). I never ate alone.

A few months later a coworker invited me to her house, where she lived with her parents, for lunch on a Sunday. And what was served to me for the main course was a large plate full of squash. While a little too much, I really enjoyed it and it’s a funny memory that I keep and that always makes me laugh. Note: there was also a lovely salad.

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