Chapulines and Scorpions - c/o Mike

I've mastered the basics of Spanish (and have a certificate to prove it!) so I've decided to go out on my own to learn the language from the people. With my newly aquired language skills I will adeptly be able to avoid sheep brain tacos as well as order food and beverage for myself when I go out with my wife. As an added incentive to improve my Spanish, I have thrown the gauntlet for a Spanish grudge match with a friend back Stateside, yes Annie that's you! This unsettled dual began a few years ago in Costa Rica and has conitued to this day. I fully plan to humilate her next time we meet not holding back just because she has a baby. This "Span-off" similar to the Zoolander "walk-off" will be a no holds barred test of "Espanol".

In spite of my failure to recognize the word for brains my first week in country, I haven't had too many gastronomic mishaps. In fact I've purposly tried everything on a menu which I might find revolting such as Chapulines (grasshoppers) and raw pig fat. On the subject of strange food, I've even gotten into the habit of eating sheep barbacoa for breakfast which is quite tasty, especially with the extra fat. I usually enjoy it when I accompany my neighbor into the field as his "academic assistant". While he does research in the various Catholic archives scattered in small villages throughout the countryside, I enjoy wandering around town having staring contests with the "gente del pueblo" and try to keep the local store owners from price gouging me for a coke.

Here are a few pictures from my field reserach: St. Christopher, a church, the sanctuary, and a page from an archive.




















Back in Oaxaca, I've managed to locate a great open market which sells great cheap eats, clothes, music, movies, and other knick-knacks. It's every Friday and is close to the school I was attending. Meri usually meets me down there for lunch.

Last Friday, as I was waiting for Meri to join me for lunch I was sipping on a fruit juice (jamaica) sitting on a tiny wall surrounding a monument of a local Mexican hero. As I sat there contemplating how I was going to order the tacos this time, not my wife, I felt a light tickle on my neck. I thought it was either a fly or maybe the wind blowing through my mullet. As an involuntary reflex I lifted my left hand and flicked the side of my neck. To my suprise a freaking scorpion flew through the air and landed a few feet from where I was sitting. I screamed and looked in utter desparation to the two young Mexican women nearby. Not that I knew what to say to them but still, I almost died. They looked at me akwardly and continued their conversation. I began to sweat, then shake, then I schizophrenically started checking my body for other scorpions. I threw my bag on the ground and tore it open waiting to squash any of his friends. After dramatically relaying the story to my wife she quickly began talking about work as if nothing happened. After a nice long lunch I went home and did about 2 hours of research on scorpions. I've decided that it was most likely S. mesaensis (Stahnke, 1957) of the Vaejovidae family. This is directly from the website as well as the picture, "Many species of this family can deliver very painful stings, but they are not belived to be dangerous to healthy humans." http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/index.php.