Reflections from Kendra

I feel sorry for car grills. What I mean by that is, until today, I didn't know how much they suffered from flying bugs. I was on the scooter coming back from the preschool today, and in order to keep my pants from continually whipping my thighs in the wind, I rolled them up. Then the bombing began. Bugs came from out of nowhere, splatting against my skin and leaving a trace of their instantaneous death behind for me to wipe up. It felt like needles, and then I knew how cars must feel after long rides.

While sitting at lunch, we saw a lizard that was quite large. It had bristles up its back and was a bright salmon color. It did little push-ups on the tree beside us, and Derek suddenly became a kid in a candy store. He jumped up to get a better look, again regretting that our camera was in our bedroom. He has a similar reaction when we see any gecko-like creatures. There is a clear-colored (if that can be a color) gecko that lives in the hallway: his name is Frederick. He has been hiding recently - maybe he found a girlfriend ;)

There have been a few dishes and products here which have successfully piqued my interest/disgust and which, were I a braver traveler with a stronger stomach, I might try - if for no other reason than to one day brag about the experience at a party thrown by someone important. They are:

* Soft-shelled Crab flavored Pringles

* Dried water bug soup

* Roasted pig cartilage

* Seaweed and Grilled Shrimp flavored Pringles

* Shrimp crackers

* Dried cod snacks

* Cow tongue

These are just the ones I can recall from memory, but don't be fooled. Thailand has an array of healthy and delicious food on which we dine daily. The farthest I've ventured was to have seafood fried rice, which contained squid. It was cooked, but it was still purple (no batter or anything) and it still had all its tentacles and suckers. I ate it all and didn't die, which I figure is great news!

When fish is served, it's served WHOLE - eyes looking at you and everything. One strange thing I've noticed is that they dry these fish until there seems to be nothing left that is eat-worthy, and somehow, they sell them. I don't know exactly what dish takes on these dehydrated swimmers, but someone's got to be eating it, and I sure hope it isn't us!