What the First Rain Brings...

We had our first big rain of the rainy season here in Dodoma on Friday, which means that we also received a big invasion of flying termites.

After the first rain, a huge swarm of these innocent, yet annoying, insects emerge from the earth and swarm the air in a reproductive flurry. Then they drop their wings EVERYWHERE - all over our front porch (the picture below just doesn't do the mess justice), the ground, our car. And when you have to go outside, they stick to the bottom of your shoes, and then they come inside. While I'm happy for the rain that we so desperately need, the termites kind of gross me out.

Obviously, our insect-loving children aren't so bug-squeamish. They spent literally hours on Saturday morning, picking up termites, playing with them, and collecting them in a bucket.

Some Tanzanian kids like to collect termites after the first rain too. They gather up a bunch of the them, pick off any wings that haven't already fallen, and fry them up for a snack. (I'm told they taste like - you guessed it - chicken!)

We didn't enjoy a termite feast in our house, but they did provide a full morning of "fun" for our kids. Yes, they must be MKs.