When I was a kid, we had at home this illustrated book with very intense illustrations of parts of grasshopper's bodies, only the two last pages I think, and it was something about this person reorganizing them to create an insect; that is the moment I started feeding myself the feeling of disgust towards these super skilled creatures. Summers spent in Koplik enhanced these feelings when I’d always find my bed occupied by very big and green grasshoppers looking at me as if they were saying “move and I jump, I swear I’ll jump on you!”. It was so intense I would be happy every time I would see one drowned or stuck on the surface of my favorite pool in Rome, where with my best friend we would go and save all the lady bugs before swimming.
The botanical garden of Tirana also saw me freezing often while having long walks around and having my path blocked by mantises and grasshoppers or groundhoppers that wouldn’t move even if you threw rocks near to them. I was today years old when grasshoppers decided to invade the city, and especially my neighborhood given the fact that I fortunately live in the greenest part of Tirana, and nights have been quite adventurous for me! Last night we drove down a street totally filled with them and one managed to enter in the car and wouldn’t get out. They are everywhere.
I decided I have to do something about this, I can’t let the fear and disgust win, so I did what I do best.
I weirdly had so much fun illustrating this, and I learned so many cool facts about grasshoppers while researching, like did you know they have three eyes, and they can also bite, and in Japanese culture they are associated with luck! And the weirdest thing of them all, I now find them actually cute and complex (will change my mind soon when I see the next ones).
The botanical garden of Tirana also saw me freezing often while having long walks around and having my path blocked by mantises and grasshoppers or groundhoppers that wouldn’t move even if you threw rocks near to them. I was today years old when grasshoppers decided to invade the city, and especially my neighborhood given the fact that I fortunately live in the greenest part of Tirana, and nights have been quite adventurous for me! Last night we drove down a street totally filled with them and one managed to enter in the car and wouldn’t get out. They are everywhere.
I decided I have to do something about this, I can’t let the fear and disgust win, so I did what I do best.
I weirdly had so much fun illustrating this, and I learned so many cool facts about grasshoppers while researching, like did you know they have three eyes, and they can also bite, and in Japanese culture they are associated with luck! And the weirdest thing of them all, I now find them actually cute and complex (will change my mind soon when I see the next ones).
Anyhoo a friend told me they can also be grilled, they’re full in proteins, so Tirana maybe we should start a new trend? :)
