There will be blood

This trip promises to be the bloodiest ever.

With any luck, none of that blood will be human.

We usually kill a pig. And oh, yeah. A pig will be killed. But this year, we're also killing a cow.* Okay, okay. I shouldn't sound so gleeful. I don't really delight in the suffering of innocent animals, but this is for the kids.

Explain? Okay. Every time I go on one of these trips, I try to do something special for the kids. In Cambodia, I usually take a bunch of the orphans to a water park. In Thailand, we throw a big barbecue party, wherein a large sow invariably meets her delicious, bacony demise.

When Savorn was in town earlier this year, I asked him if the kids wanted to go back to the pool, and he said, "This time, I think they would like to have a big party. Could you buy them a cow for a cookout?"

So, we're going to kill a cow. I don't know how it's going to go down. Either does Savorn, but he knows a guy who knows a guy. Lots of pictures to follow.

Grisly? A bit, but when you think about it, it's really beautiful. We get to throw a feast for a bunch of kids who, a year or so back, went for days without as much as a morsel of rice. In fact, this is probably as close to heaven as I'll get until, well, I get to heaven. In God's kingdom, the homeless are given homes, the hungry are feted with choice meats and the finest Fresca soft drinks.

So, if you happen to be of the vegetarian persuasion, pretend we're killing a giant tofurkey and rejoice with us, at least in theory. And if you check this blog later this week, do so with your eyes half-covered. Because there will be blood. Don't say I didn't warn you.


*and not like this