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The Termite Roast |
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5/18/99 An odd thing happened last night and incredibly it's not the first time. The first time was about two weeks ago and then it didn't seem odd but actually kind of scary. The first time I was sitting in my main room writing, reading or thinking (there are no other options, really) when I began to notice the tap of insects against the map on the wall. This is normal since the map hangs below the one light that naturally attracts all the bugs. I glanced over and saw that a few large-winged insects had gotten in and were making the extra noise. It didn't strike me as significant because in Ouake bugs come in all sizes and big isn't a problem. I continued whatever I was working on, forgetting the random noise and large bugs. Five minutes later when I noticed that the tap had grown into a roar, I looked to my right to see the corner under the light to be crawling with more than a thousand winged termites. I was completely panicked, not even knowing what kind of bugs they were, if they were dangerous, or even if I was going to be swarmed. I took a broom and began to beat the pile but only to see it continue to grow as many more streamed in. I looked around for their point of origin and found the loosely screened windows to be covered in them. I ran around in the dark screaming, swatting at the flying bugs, and trying to knock as many as I could off of each window before I closed it from the outside. Once the windows were secure, I came back inside to face the pile that covered several feet of floor space and could easily have been a few thousand. Well, one thing I'll say for concrete houses is that you can set them on fire without doing any damage. I doused the pile of bugs in kerosene and set them on fire right in my living room and used the broom to push in strays and tend the pile. After the fire was out and it looked pretty safe, I was thoroughly disgusted by the whole experience and had to go get a beer. On the way to the bar I found little pools of children gathering around the light poles in the streets collecting the bugs! They were catching them in their hands and putting them into basins of water, soaking their wings and drowning the bugs. I continued to the bar and found them covering the ground under the outside lights, like blind soldiers or zombies. I asked the waitress what the cause was and she said it was because it had rained during the day. It had rained that day for the first time since the rains have started. Usually it rains at night. She went on to explain that people eat them and how good they are, as if I would doubt it. She said they take off the wings and cook the bodies over fire. I laughed and told her I'd just prepared a feast at my house. She didn't get it. Well, so I figured it was an unusual experience and I'd have to remember to shut my windows if it rains during the day. It rained during the day yesterday and when I went up the block at 7:30 last night I didn't even think about it. I was working with Rahiem, a local entreprenuer who recently bought a computer but doesn't know how to use it, when the bugs started coming into his office. He and his assistant started swatting at the bugs and I knew I was doomed as well. I grabbed one of the flashlights and ran down the block to find, as I'd known I would, bugs crawling up and in all five windows. This time I did the work in silence and just calmly closed each window, opened the door and looked at the pile. So the second time this month I got a pile of roasted termites going to waste on my living room floor, and I'm definitely going to have to remember to close my windows if it rains. END |
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