REAL PEOPLE EAT MEAT

Since my last blog post on Friday night (less than 48 hours ago), I have done 25 hours of homework. I just finished two large assignments, so I am rewarding myself by writing another blog post.

All of the students in the program are frantically working on our applications for the university's Institutional Review Board. The applications are due this Thursday at 5pm. Basically, the application is a detailed research plan, and its purpose is to ensure that human participants in our research are protected. For my research, there aren't any serious risks to participants, but for other research (like clinical trials for medicine), there are major risks.

The application has to include EVERYTHING. For example, the number of people you plan to interview, the exact questions you will ask them during the interview, the word-for-word script you will follow when you call to invite them to participate in the interview, how you will maintain the confidentiality of the participants, etc.

By the way, I haven't updated you on my research topic... I think you all knew that I was going to research tourism, but I've narrowed it down a bit. I'm going to focus on rural agritourism, which basically is tourism that takes place on farms and ranches (like a corn maze or a bed & breakfast). I plan to learn about the environmental ethics of the agritourism operators, and I'm interested in learning whether or not their environmental ethics changed after they became involved in tourism. (A basic definition of "environmental ethics" is the way in which humans perceive their relationship to nature and the way they value the natural environment.)

Here's what my classmates are planning to research:

• Candice - discourse analysis of anonymous online communities (in other words, why are people so mean and vulgar in the comments section of web sites like youtube.com?)
• Carlos - Orthodox Jews and their celebration of the Sabbath
  
• Jody - comparing traditional and nontraditional (i.e. gay) parenting styles
  
• José - how the violence in Mexico has affected communities in Texas
  
• Khalia - how language (English and/or Spanish) is involved in the identity formation of second-generation Latinos in the U.S.
  
• Martha - the practices of curanderas (traditional Mexican healers)

I finally met my faculty mentor, too. Her name is Lisa Kennon, and she works in the School of Merchandising & Hospitality Management at UNT. (That's the academic department where UNT's tourism program is located.) She is super nice. I think I'm going to enjoy working with her.

Now, on to the title of this blog post. A couple days ago, I went out to dinner with several of the students. They wanted BBQ, so José suggested Rudy's. I got online to glance at the menu before we left, and I almost didn't go with them. (Check it out here.) The restaurant pretty much sells barbecued meat and a few picnic-like side dishes. I saw a baked potato on the menu, though, and I'm making an honest attempt to be social here (rather than a reclusive introvert), so I went with them.

First of all, I'm not sure if I've already told you this or not, but it's a little awkward being a vegetarian in Texas. They really like meat here.

So, we went to Rudy's. I walked in and realized that it was different from most restaurants. First of all, the minute we walked in, the host asked us if it was our first time there. (I guess it was pretty obvious!) He went to the back and brought us several samples of barbecued meat to try. I was able to avoid eating any of it without being too obvious.

The restaurant was kind of like a mixture of a Subway and a cafeteria... but everything was BBQ. Here's photo of José and Martha that will kind of give you an idea of the ambiance.
As I stood in line to order, I noticed the t-shirts that the employees were wearing. On the backs, the shirts said, "I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain... to eat vegetables!" I was already feeling out-of-place, and the t-shirts made me even more anxious. Of course, my classmates were sure to point the shirts out to me, too. (I think they enjoy seeing how I handle--or attempt to handle--awkward situations!)

I didn't have too much time to think about it, though, because it was my turn to order. I told the man that I wanted a baked potato and that was all. He asked me if I wanted meat on my potato (because I certainly wouldn't want to just eat a potato), and I politely said, "No, thank you." He looked stunned for a couple seconds, almost said something, and then turned around to put in my order. I felt pretty silly. Luckily, I could watch them making my potato, so I know they didn't spit in it!
The kicker, however, came after we sat down to eat. Candice pointed out this freezer with the words, "REAL PEOPLE EAT MEAT" printed on the outside of it. The whole group got a good laugh out of it, and they talked me into taking a photo in front of it. I'm holding a bottle of "sissy" BBQ sauce, the less spicy version.
So, apparently, I'm not a real person. You learn something new every day. :)

I walked to IHOP with the girls for a lunch break today. The main UNT sign is near IHOP, so we took a couple photos in front of it.
Oh, and our squirrel friend stopped by the classroom again. I snapped this photo one second too late -- he had placed his paw up on the window to try to get our attention!