Items of Interest

We are in the routine: wake up, coffee/tea, gym, shower, eat breakfast, wash out gym clothes by hand, prepare for class, eat lunch downstairs outside with students, teach for two hours, play games with students in the lobby, rest, eat dinner, teach for two hours, come home and collapse.

So not much to report, except for the odd items of interest:

• Another bug! This time crawling up our toilet. A bit smaller than the first ones we killed on our first day, but still intimidating.

For reference, the red toilet label is about 4” x 4”.

I took pictures, and Phil did the honors by smashing it with a sandal. The bad news: there may be more lurking somewhere. The good news: I haven’t felt one scuttling over my face during the night yet.

• Eating bugs! One of our evening students, Grape, brought a bag of silkworm larva to class as a treat. Other students eagerly partook of them. (Some refused.)  

I’m pretty sure they came from this vendor at Tawana Market:

Watching Grape consume them, I thought, “Well, why not? You only live once.”

Yes, I ate one. And swallowed it. It’s kind of like jumping off a high dive. You have to just do it.

They taste pretty much like you’d expect: salty and crinkly on the outside, squishy and mealy tasting on the inside. Not particularly pleasant. Phil fortunately had a bag of fruit chews along, which helped mitigate the aftertaste.

•  A final item: We have also learned not to give money to beggars on the street. The reason: the money often goes to a criminal network that controls the beggars. What to do instead: buy street food and leave it with them.