Holidays in Portugal and Spain where the culture of food is either fish or meat, or meat or meat was hard.
I had to eat a lot of pizza and I found out that people will accept it better if they think you are sick and intolerant to certain foods than when you don't eat them out of ethical choices.
Sometimes I just could not avoid cheese and milk and even eggs in batter.
I'm new to this so i believe it is all a process of adaptation and also getting used and learning where to go out to eat.
I found two lovely vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Lisbon: Terra and Tibetanos which made my delights on 3 occasions.
I also found out that apart from olives and crisps there is NOTHING vegan on the flight menu, which put me a bit down. But i learned, next time i'll bring my own snacks on board. Also i felt like me not eating certain foods was an inconvenience, not for me, but for others. I had to politely refuse certain dishes saying i don't feel like eating that now, or I don't like that. People around me were always worried about what I would eat, much more than I was. Some people i know think this is a phase, others think it's silly... I know this is right and morally correct. People accept easily if you say you don't eat meat and milk but find it difficult to accept when you say you don't eat fish, eggs or yogurts. "But isn't fish good for you? You should eat fish at least" "But have a yogurt it's good for you, and this is even lactose free"
When I did struggle to find food or refusing food I always chose to refuse eggs over cheese. I still eat cheese now and then. So i guess i'm a practical-vegan for now, it's part of the adaptation phase and learning to find new tastes and new bread spreads to substitute the cheese.
There was my mom's birthday party, which at my suggestion was at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant and I ordered vegan cupcakes to match. (I ordered them from Sofia, Cakes & Cookies) I don't think people missed the meat as much as they thought they would. :D
In portugal there is a special dish which is called Leitao, basically it's a small pig roasted for a long time. Usually it's roasted in one piece and you see the head and everything. Now, i find it very disturbing and I started calling it "baby pig" and not Leitao. My mom says now she cannot eat it anymore because it reminds her of me calling it Baby Pig ...
Today is day 93 and I feel good and peaceful with my choices. I am preparing for my first veggie Christmas and I am happy to have found soy milk flavored with chocolate and strawberry :D I've also tried the Alpro yogurts which are as good or better than the regular cow's yogurt.
Venturing myself now in recipes with lentils, beans and more tofu mixes.
