Season of the Nseenene

'Tis the month of Nseenene (In-sen-nay-nay).

I've been hearing that since the beginning of November, but hadn't really seen any. While I had managed to try some, they didn't really seem to be EVERYWHERE, which is what I was expecting. A plastic mug of nseenene was selling for about 5,000UGX (about $2USD). This is actually fairly high, which indicates that they weren't as abundant. However, a couple of days ago, that changed. As I was leaving for work in the morning, there was a small group of kids out on the road laughing and seemingly just standing there and holding bags and water bottles. Then, I saw them. Swirling around them were copious amounts of grasshoppers flying in and out of the bushes and trees. It was a neat thing to see. And that very day, the price came down to 2,500UGX for a mug. I think the current price is 1,500UGX.

When I arrived home at the end of the day, I came across my youngest host sister, Fazirat (about 8 or 9 years old), in the yard with her own plastic water bottle. Of course, I dumped my stuff off, changed into my shorts and joined her in the farm to go grasshopper hunting! The pros who catch and sell the grasshoppers use big steel drums and a lot of bright lights to catch them and you can see these set-ups in Town. I haven't yet had a chance to watch this. However, there is apparently some controversy with this complete with allegations of bribery (of course), given the whole power situation.

Not being pros nor catching them for profit (but rather for our own personal feast), Fazirat and I had to rely on stealth, quickness, a water bottle to hold them once captured, and our bare hands. It was pretty fun, running around the banana plantation, skulking up to plants and trees and trying to grab grasshoppers; there was a lot of slipping on mud and laughing and yelling. I managed to catch a few out of mid-air, which even impressed Fazirat. I'll admit, I felt pretty ninja. Note: grasshoppers DO bite or pinch or whatever. But ultimately, the whole being-at-the-top-of-the-food-chain thing worked in our favour.

Fazirat on the hunt...

NINJA!!

At one point, my mom called me for our weekly phone chat:
Mom: Hi, Sandra. What are you doing?
Me (in hushed tones): Hunting grasshoppers.
Mom: <pause> ...What?

After spending about an hour sneaking up on the unsuspecting Nseenene, we decided to call it a night (plus, it was starting to get dark). As we tromped up to the housing compound with muddy feet and proudly holding the bottle which was 3/4 full, Mariam (Fazirat's eldest sister, 20 years old) was standing there with arms crossed and shaking her head at us and our muddy states. Fazirat made the quintessential youngest-sister comment (and probably something I would have said to my own older sisters): "Nseenene are your favourite, so why are you shaking your head at us? I'm going to cook them for just me and Alex since WE caught them and you can watch us!" I wasn't around when the wings and legs were taken off, but my host mother, Sophie, fried them up and served them during evening tea the next day. They were DELICIOUS (and yes, we all partook in them). Mr. Jjuuko (my host father) also came home with a big batch so there was plenty to go around.

I see you, Nseenenes!

To the victors go the spoils