There have been some major changes around the world. Some include the financial crisis, the foreclosures of houses in the United States, major problems in the stock markets around the world. A new president in the United States was elected – the first black president. During his campaign he’s always called of change. “It’s time for a change” he pledged in very emotional speeches. Yes, they where so full of heart and passion that they even touched me, a person that doesn’t have any roots in the USA.</p>

It kept me up at night and thinking during the day: How could I answer Obama’s question? How could I change? So it went for weeks. When all of a sudden it struck me and I had the perfect respond: “Yes, Change! I’ll stop being a vegetarian”. This decision wasn’t easy after all I’ve fought over 8 years against the desire of eating meat. And I was pretty good in it. I changed the eating habits of my parents and even of Estefania. The only person I never was able to convince was my big brother, he’s the born carnivore. He’s that kind of person that would start to eat people, once all animals are instinct just to eat some kind of meat.

Anyway, my decision was made and my mind let me sleep again. Over the next days fear and horrible thoughts came up. Most important what would Estefania think? After all, she always got critics from me for trying to put meat in the food. And I never really accepted that she started to eat meat again.

On the 15th of February I finally hat my guts together and said to her: “I want a steak – grilled medium, no sauce, no side dish. Just meat.” The bomb was dropped. Relief on my side and laughter on the other. In my mind I already started to think: “What have I done, why?”. After some minutes the present people (Estefania’s mother and Estefania) realized that I meant it.

So, we’ve got in a truck. Drove a couple of hundred meters down the road to a: carceneria. Translated it would mean something like: butcher. Except that they also grill your meat to your wish. So, thinking now it’ll be easy to choose a piece of meat and that the hardest part was over – by that I mean convincing me… .

We went to the counter. And got asked: “What would you like?” Not knowing a lot about meat we took a shot and said: “Meat from a cow – beef I guess – for a steak.”. And there he went showing all different kind of cuts. Honestly they all looked the same to me. So in the end we ended up with more than half a kilo of Rib eye cut, for about 10 Euros.

When I saw the price I was shocked for a minute. After all without meat the world seemed cheaper… For that price I could have bought almost 4 kg of grapes. But immediately I remembered what Obama said: “It’s time for a change”.

The grilling luckily only took a couple of minutes, because I insisted my meat medium and not how it’s usual in Sonora: well-done and cut into tiny squares. The way home, with the sweet and herb smell of grilled meat filling the truck, made me think on memories of me being a child.

Memories of watching my dad grill in the backyard and my mom in the kitchen preparing salad – for me. Yes, it remembered me on the times where I’ve missed out where I only ate potatoes and the specially prepared salad for me.

But all of this was about to change. The package in my hands was the long awaited and by Obama praised change! – two tasty smelling steaks.

After a felt year we finally arrived at home… and me sitting at the table waiting to take my first bite. Rapidly after the first the second bite followed and the third.. Till it all was gone and also the entire house was filled with the sweet and herb smell we had already enjoyed in the car.

I don’t know whether the hectic and the stress, the meat or just the weather made me sleepy. I only know that I fell asleep right away, after finishing my first steak in eight years and woke up 3 hours later feeling happy and full. But most important of all I did what a foreign president told us all to do: “Change!”.

This experience gave my mouth to taste some totally different flavors of the Mexican kitchen. Now, I was ready to taste carne asada, which is a classic and must-eat in Sonora. And many other fine dishes.

Thanks Obama. Even if you can’t fix the American economy, you surely changed me…