Friday, June 12, 2009

Yummy Termites

I ate flying termites for dinner tonight. Every time there is significant rainfall a swarm of flying termites descends upon the house. They manage to get past the mosquito netting on all the doors and windows, where they dive bomb any light source. Soon afterwards the termites begin losing their wings and are forced to crawl instead. The first time I was visited by a biblical type plague of flying termites, I used nearly an entire can of bug spray in an effort to reclaim my bedroom. Now I simply let the termites be and in the morning I sweep up the discarded wings. Most Nigerians do not use bug spray on the termites because that makes them inedible. This afternoon I came into the kitchen and there was a large bowl of still crawling termites. They were fried and served with dinner. Most nights the Sisters make something for Helena and I to eat as an alternative. Tonight Celestina made us pancakes, which were quite good. I also ate termites with my pancake. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of eating termites, they really aren't that bad. They are crunchy and salty and Sr. Helena swears they smell like bacon. I thought the termites tasted a little bit like popcorn.

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