the Roasting of the Rats

Did kids ever actually give apples to their teachers? I don't recall ever doing, so though I think I remember giving deer jerky or something as a Christmas gift. Kids used to joke about giving Mrs. Gronos, the third and forth grade teacher bouquets of dandelions...she was allergic to them.

This morning I walked into a fourth grade classroom to take a few pictures and generally just to see what was happening. I noticed that the teacher, above had been given something. Looking closer I discovered what it was.

Yeah, you can see the tails, can't you? Yes, they're rats. Field rats. A practical joke it is not. The teacher grinned broadly, it's supper.

I've always known that Mozambicans are fond of eating "ratos", but in all my years here, I've never been offered any, or even seen anyone eating them, roasting the, killing the, selling them, or anything. That all changed yesterday.

Brooke and I were taking a walk through Bairro 5 and meandered into an obsure market. Seeing what looked to me like a basket of charred animal waste, we stopped to enquire about what it really was. "Ratos" the younger sellerlady said at the exact moment that our special needs dog, Samson, sniffed and then snatched up a charred rat. We apologized, embarrassed, but alas, the young sellerlady doesn't tolerate thieves and we had to buy the whole pile: 10 meticais, $.4

Well, I guess it's the week of the rat because this morning when I arrived in Mecumbeze Escola, I was greeted by women charring at least a hundred of these rats. I listened to repeated stories of how they're eating the seasame and sorghum crops. The farmers capture them by the hundreds by putting a basin of water in a field and drawing the mice to their death with grain.

The mass roasting

The guy was putting a lot of care into roasting his own. Now comes a pretty gross picture, make sure you're not eating or watching the Mickey Mouse club.