Tasty Treat

The other night I was tranquilly reading a book (Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, highly recommend it) when I noticed what looked like a gigantic flying ant, four large wings like a dragon fly. At first I thought nothing of it hovering around my lightbulb. Then all of a sudden there were five, then six. I turned around and my whole back window screen is covered in them! They’re trying to get in at the light, entering through the kitchen. I quickly close my bedroom door, turn off all the lights except in the living room. I wait for them to fly into the living room, close off that half of my house with a curtain. Like compartments in the sinking Titanic. At this point I have about twenty in my living room, buzzing around the light in wide circles. I turn on the porch light, turn off my living room light. They all fly out. I’m brilliant! No bloodshed. There are tons outside. As I’m staring at them all wondering what type of insect just hatched, my neighbor comes running up to me with a bowl full of water and dead insects. Insect soup. She tells me to leave on the light, she’s going to collect them all to eat. “Ceux sont les termites! C’est bon!” Everyone in my compound is running around collecting them. They all laugh at my face. I needed a few more minutes to process this fact, just gawking at all the kids swatting at the termites under the light. One of my neighbors looked rather embarrassed, and explained simply “C’est la viande, non?” “It’s meat.”

I got over my initial surprise and collected a handful as my contribution. Luckily for me, that’s all I had to do, since they were almost all gone- the swarm was over. Apparently the termites emerge after heavy rains. The next day, my neighbors removed the wings, roasted them over the fire with salt, and ate them like peanuts. I tried a few- they actually are quite good. Crunchy, salty, spicy- like flavorful crackers. That doesn’t mean I’m making them my new snack. For my neighbors, it’s like eating Cheezits. No big deal. I’m gonna have to work up to that. Maybe next rainy season...And, this was in the same day I was told I had typhoid fever for the past month, except without the fever. One of those “I’m definitely in Africa/this isn’t Kansas anymore” days!