You Are What You Teach

Today in my Anthropology class we were talking about Hominids- the earliest form of humans/primates. My professor is one of those teachers that can talk for an hour and fifty minutes (which is how long this class is) about nothing. Which isn’t good considering it’s from 8-9:50 in the morning. So, usually I don’t pay attention, but sometimes he brings in props and demonstrates things- like the time he brought in a banana and showed us just what subcircumcision is…yeah…

So, anywhen…he’s an interesting guy who’s really into what he teaches- a real Anthropologist who’s actually been places discovering things and what not. He has tons of stories. So today, I was just finishing up my sixth Sudoku puzzle when he called everyone up to the front so they could see the demonstration. He laid down a blanket, sat down, and pulled out some hand sized rocks and a leg of meat. Yes, some raw deer meat. Do I have your attention yet??

So, he began to describe to us that the meat was too tough for him to chew through with just his teeth- he demonstrated by trying. So then he showed us how hominids would make tools with rocks- as if we couldn’t grasp the description from the whole chapter about tools in our books. So, he took the cobblestone and began to hit it with the other harder rock until small pieces of flakes started to come off of it producing a sharp point. Then he used the small sharp flakes and the cobblestone to cut into the deer meat with the rocks. As soon as he got through we got a nice chunk of meat off- raw deer meat- and popped it right in his mouth. He ate the raw deer meat…right from the bone…right in class…right in front of 40 students.

And he didn’t stop there either. He then broke into the bone and ate the marrow which he described as tasting just like butter. This, he explained, was all the nutrients the hominids needed to survive and this is how they did it. No need for cooking- even though they didn’t have fire yet anyway…

Watching him do this, hitting rock to rock, ripping apart the deer leg, and chewing on the meat for minutes and minutes (apparently it’s very chewy) made me imagine him living 2 million years ago as a hominid. Apparently you are what you teach. I’m convinced he wishes he actually lived at that time and got to do that everyday instead of just every semester for a lecture.

Needless to say, I stayed awake and attentive throughout the demonstration and the rest of class.