Rats, insects and aerobics but first catch your cicada

This
afternoon we went to Rat’s farm to catch some food which Waree called eeh-ehh
or something like that. When we arrived
at the farm we went into the thatched building on stilts that all the farms
have, which is the farm house. Rat’s
father-in-law was there which was of interest to me as he will be marrying us
on Friday. He is a lovely old man and I
have seen him conduct other ceremonies. Weddings seem to be performed by any village elder.

Lunch Issan style

I found out
today that after having my feet washed at the entrance to Waree’s house I have
to pay the washer and then some ladies will try to prevent me entering. I said OK if they won’t let me in I will take
the truck to Phompisai and have a couple of beers in that restaurant on the
banks of the Mekong, but apparently this is not serious and they really will
let me in but I have to pay them as well.

I expect it
will be chaotic and everybody will have a good laugh at my expense. These are such good natured people that
nothing would worry them unduly.

They were
eating. Rural Thai people are always
eating. As always they invited me to
join them. I wasn’t really hungry but as
they were eating rat which I have never tasted before I nibbled on a leg of
rat. I it was very tasty.

Delicious charcoal grilled rat

I think
it’s a rice field rat which is different from the rat infested sewers of London rats. Anyway it was well cooked and tasted good.

Then we
collected these long thing bamboo poles about 4 metres long with another thin
bit of bamboo stuck in the end. We then
smeared the end bit with glue and went into the woods.

 

Putting glue on the sticks - the balaclavas are normal when people work in the fields as are thick clothing.  They are designed to keep the heat out and to stop your skin darkening, as all Thai people whant to be white!  I have tried wearing them and contrary to what you might think its not hot at all

The noise
was deafening the sound of cicadas and they were our prey. I had great difficulty in seeing them and
even more difficulty in getting them to stick to the end of my pole. You have to sort of sneak up under them and
just at you tap them they fly off and if you are lucky get their wings stuck to
the pole. I was very unlucky but
everybody else got lots.

 

Waree catching a cicada

When you
unstick them you rip the poor little bugger’s wings off and stick them in a
bottle. It was very hot and humid so I
ended up sitting under a tree and taking photos.

 

Stuck!

Having one's wings pulled off

I couldn't see them

Jit (Waree's sister) the bandit

Waree the fearless hunter

Back at the farm

On the way
back we drove along the lake Nong Kai which Rat’s farm
fronts on to. As we drove in we had seen
people with larger and heavier bamboo poles with cotton bags on the end. These were for collecting green tree ant eggs
which are a great delicacy at this time of the year.

However
this time we saw a guy with a catapult (commonly used and for sale in many
shops – I use one to scare the chooks away from the verandah). I couldn’t work out what he would be trying
to catch in the lake with a catapult, and then Waree pointed out the Water
Buffalo way over on a stretch of weed in the middle of the lake and said he was
a cow herdsman. This is amazing to me. He could actually control the bests who where
about 100 metres away in inaccessible swampy water with a catapult. I have watched them send the creatures
running with a ping from a stone in the past but never over such a distance.

 

Water Buffalo herdsman

When we got
back we had a good fry up and everybody munched into cicadas. Some preferred them raw. I tried one but like most insects it was
similar to eating a prawn with its shell on except that the body had little
taste just a sort of creamy sensation. Perhaps a little brothy like that 5 taste that the Japanese discovered.

 

Counting the catch

You eat the cicadas with leaves and other very very hot dishes often made from chopped up raw pork or beef

Huan enjoys a fresh cicada

Later I
joined the ladies in their aerobics in a nearby street. Thai men don’t do
aerobics of course but the session is led by a Lady Boy but I suppose he
doesn’t count as a man any more than Farangs do. 30 or so nubile (most) ladies all jumping
around in the heat and humidity, quite pleasant really.

 

I have been doing this the last couple of nights and it goes
on for about an hour interrupted only by the water buffaloes making their way
home up the street where we exercise.  I can almost keep up with
everything but some of the jumping and skipping things tire me out too
much.  A few years ago I could have kept it up all night.

Right now I am in my air conditioned studio but sweat is still dripping off me
on the floor.  I will have a shower once my system has cooled down.