BS4 - ML

When I walked in the kitchen for lunch at my work, a distinct smell occupied the place. It was a smell that I had never encountered before. It was neither bad nor was it pleasant. As I got in line to get food, I saw a plate of small pieces of fried meat looking item. I asked the cook what it was. She replied “caterpillar”. I was intrigued and surprised as I had only seen a live caterpillar (outdoors) but never a fried one, on a plate ready to be eaten for lunch. I asked my coworkers to find that the caterpillar is a very popular food item in Zambia and Zambians love it. So what do you? You try it right. And that’s what it did.

As for taste, it was interesting, to put it mildly. It was very crunchy and had a distinct aftertaste to it. It was one of those tastes that you can’t explain it to someone. You have to try it yourself and experience it.

I believe the above picture symbolizes my time here in Zambia. I feel it is being open to new experiences. It means trying new things even when it challenges my comfort zone. Especially with the cuisine here, as it markedly different from what we have in the United States and Nepal. Cuisine is so interesting as it is so telling of the culture, history and the people of the nation. Along with nshima, rape, fried fish I have tried capenta (small fried fish), caterpillar and chicken foot (along with its toenail – that’s another blog post itself) which all are new experiences I have accumulated. Peace Corps trip, Livingstone trip, communing in a minibus every day, conducting independent research with a partner, staying with homestay family have all included situations that challenged my comfort zone. To simply put it you have to be open to new experience here to really experience the culture and allure of Zambia.