We began the morning as usual with singing and group devotions. During the devotion time I noticed several of these bugs that seemed confused and wandering. They had only shed one of the two wings and were not burrowing with the rest of the group. At one point - I admit my cruelty - I squashed one of them and watched a white, pasty, goo explode from within it's body cavity!
After devotions, the students have a "tea time" (called "chai" here), and then we begin the morning class. After lecturing for a couple of hours I gave them a break to stretch their legs, use the choo (toilet), or whatever. During the break I walked over to the car to check my phone for messages. It was then that I smelled a new smell. It wasn't really a bad smell, but it wasn't good either. I figured it was dagaa (sardines) being dried for lunch later in the day. I even heard one of the students mention something about dagaa, so it strengthened my incorrect assumption about what I was smelling.
After checking my messages, I looked over my shoulder to the right and saw a large pile of something small and dark spread out across a piece of plastic on the ground. This is a typical way to dry dagaa in the sun, and not really focusing in on the small objects, I continued to assume that to be the case. As I walked closer, the students who were standing around the pile of food and taking from it and eating, began to snicker and laugh as they saw me approaching. This piqued my curiosity and I looked closer at the pile of "food".
It was then that I realized what they were eating. BUGS! Yes, the very bugs that had swarmed and mated and lost their wings the night before were now burrowing by the thousands into the soft dirt all around the campus. The school cooks and watchman had gathered a couple of thousand of them, washed them (I hope), and then fried them.
The students could tell by the look on my face that eating these grubs was not my custom (and I controlled my expression so as not to offend them). I asked what it tasted like, to which they replied, "try it". NOT! I eventually got them to tell me that it tasted similar to ground nuts. Oily and nutty is what they were trying to tell me. I watched them eat dozens of them and even bring some piles of them back to the class with them for snacking on during the second half of the lecture! When I asked what they were called I was told "Kumbi Kumbi" was the Kiswahili word for them. Westerners would call them HUGE TERMITES.
After I finished up the teaching for the day, I walked towards the car to leave, when suddenly the urge to try one of the bugs struck me! I can't explain it. I just didn't want to be that guy who lived in Africa and never tried different things like this. SO... I asked one of the students to show me how to eat it. I know that sounds funny, but I noticed that they would pick at it first so I figured this might be important. So one of the students grabbed one and picked off any remnants of the wings/legs and then handed it to me. I pretended to put it into my mouth several times as a joke and they all laughed. Then I took the plunge! I popped it into my mouth and ate it. POP! Remember the white, pasty, goo that exploded from the bug I stepped on earlier? Well, now it was in my mouth!
It really didn't taste bad. I can see the similarity with the taste of a nut. That white goo was oily and probably had some nutrients in it. But while it didn't taste horrible, it didn't taste good either. Nuts are definitely much better and I think I'll stick to them from now on.
When in Rome...
A Visual Aide - of course the one I ate was cooked and de-winged!
2 comments:
What a great cultural experience! Okay maybe not that great, I will admit that I was grossing out and laughing while I read this blog! It brought me back to the days of watching "Fear Factor". I'm sure this will only be the beginning-yay! Way to be all things to all men!=)
What a flashback that was to read about the HUGE TERMITES!
Last year, while on a missions trip in Tazania, we came back from church one night to find thousands of these "kumbi kumbi". They were on the stairs that I had to climb to get to my room at the CEFA House. While someone tried to sweep them off the stairs, I screamed and ran up the stairs, stubbed my toe and fractured it. I didn't care about the pain, only that no bugs were on me! :)
The next day there were hundreds of dead "kumbi Kumbi", but one live one was on my shirt. One of our brave brothers picked it off my shirt, popped it in his mouth and ate it alive! Yuk! He said it tasted like pepper. We took his word for it.
Thanks again, Jon, for giving us these glimpses of your adventures in East Afrika. It makes me homesick for that land that I love.
Mungu akubariki sana!
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