las cucarachas

las cucarachas. a part of my mexican experience. mi madre said it's not Tehuacan de las granadas... our town is called Tehucan de las cucarachas. because they are everywhere. and it is inevitable that you will see one somewhere. maybe even in your suitcase as you're starting to pack. trust me. it's not a fun experience.
here is some useless. but still very interesting. information i recently learned about cockroaches. 'cockroaches have quite a capacity for survival. If the head of one is removed carefully, so as to prevent it from bleeding to death, the cockroach can survive for several weeks. When it dies, it is from starvation.'

 

now i haven't sat down and carefully removed the head of a cockroach. but i have experienced their strange capacity for survival. the other day i picked up one of my shoes to put on. guess what fell out? yup. a cucaracha. i refrained from yelping, because i've actually become quite good at killing them. but this one was different. i hit it with my flip flop. then again. again. again. finally it looked like it was dead. i didn't want to touch it or pick it up, so i just left it there. in the middle of my floor. the next day i woke up and it was still there. on it's back. i thought it was dead. WRONG! i tried to pick it up with a piece of paper and it flipped over and scurried away. fast! but no worries. it freaked me out enough that i just kept wacking it with my flip flop until i was absolutely positive that it was dead. those crazy, long living cucarachas.