Thanks to Zereth@Flickr
So much for my fussy eater! Today as we were walking through the big market in the colonial part of Oaxaca we passed a chapulines seller who I struck up a conversation with. Lillia had insisted we try chapulines when we moved to Oaxaca and at least now I can say we have. Chapulines, for the unsuspecting reader, are deep fried baby grasshoppers and are a real delicacy of the Oaxaca region. Katie’s curiosity was piqued as I spoke to the lady selling them who then offered one up to Katie to try. After nibbling on one Katie decided she loved them and asked for a bag! The sight of a little gringa girl munching on something not known to be enjoyed by tourists gathered a smiling crowd who were particularly amused when she nodded her approval! With much laughing and back slapping I bought Katie a bag to eat for less than a dollar and she happily ate some grinning from ear to ear.
We’d seen street hawkers with their metal carts selling a variety of deep fried insects in Bangkok which didn’t garner much more than disgust from Katie so I was highly amused and surprised when she guzzled these chapulines all the way home!
She kept offering me some and I tried out all my different excuses on why I wasn’t going to have any. I didn’t want to make her think herself weird by turning my nose up at them! But eventually I realised that I wasn’t going to get away with not trying at least one, well at least she wasn’t going to let me get away with it! All I can say is, they are not too bad unless a leg gets caught in your throat as it makes you cough quite a lot, yet they are rather sweet tasting. Katie has worked out that the smaller they are the better they are, the big ones are just too juicy she says!
Oh well, it’s another life experience she’s had!
We started Spanish school today which in the end turned out to be great. I took a four week intensive Spanish course in Spain seven years ago, and within minutes of todays class starting I remembered how much I hated it! I mean I love speaking Spanish and love the sense of achievement when I can hold a conversation and make myself understood by a native Spanish speaker, but sitting in classrooms makes me break out in a sweat! I have never been a ‘school’ type person and all the frustration and boredom I felt as an adolescent came flooding back during the first half which focused on grammar, but as soon as the second half started which was all conversational I got into the swing of things and really enjoyed it. Now I can’t wait for tomorrow, I just have to get through the grammar lesson!
We popped into a cafe afterwards and swapped stories of our different experiences at Spanish school. Katie gets to learn Spanish through playing games, lucky thing! Then we headed to the market and had fun chatting to some stall holders, both of us feeling super confident with our new Spanish skills.
Oh and also now Katie has discovered the delights of chapulines she wants to try deep fried cockroach, we saw them in Asia, not sure if you can get them here. The squeamish side of me doesn’t think that is such a bad thing!
Holy cow! I cannot believe that she loved them – esp after what you have said about her picky eating, lol! As much as I am open to new experiences seeing your daughter eat a cockroach may be one of those skipable ones!
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She really did love them! I couldn’t believe it! She will eat grasshoppers but not a hamburger! Although the chapulines have more protein and less fat. It was a tad distracting when she was eating on the way home and a leg became detached and stuck to her lip, we had to brush it off! The whole thing was hilarious and so out of our normal ‘zone’, it all made for a very memorable experience, as eating grasshoppers would be!
They must be good if she can get over the fact they’re grasshoppers!
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They look disgusting, I don’t care how good they taste, I think the sheer thought I was about to eat grasshoppers would have me throwing up. In my mind some things are not meant to be eaten.
My friend recently ate dog in Trinidad and thought it tasted delicious until he found out what it was. Anything can taste good depending on what you season it with and how you cook it. That doesn’t mean it is an experience that you should or want to try!
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