This morning I saw a kid chewing on plastic bag, which reminded me of myself as a kid.
I ate lot’s of charcoal; only stopped because my mum pulled my ears every time my teeth and tongue became black. I sprayed Mortein Doom into my mouth because I liked the smell and how it felt on the tongue and throat. When I was in class four I used to rip an entire exercise book page and chew for many minutes before swallowing. I’d have a mouthfull of paper and swallow in bits until it all went down. I ate pencil erasers and pencils. I used to lick dust that gathered on car rims.
Chewed hard on pieces of sponge. I ripped them off of blackboard dusters. I ate mango tree leaves and some other plant we called matawi ya chumvi.I bought njugu and put in a plastic bag then chewed as chewing gum. Only problem is testa was left stuck all over my teeth.
My sister an I used to steal pumice stones - soft ones, break them into smaller pieces and eat them. Aaaaargh f_ck. Now that I think about it.
And my personal favourite; chalk. I ate so much chalk, it’s amazing am still alive. The chalk would give me headaches but that did not stop me. When teachers started using dustless chalk I slowed down a bit while I recalibrated my tastedbuds. And the party restarted in earnest.
Aiih, hii yako ilikuwa sickness buda.
The only things I remember eating as a kid is lots and lots of wild fruits many of which I can’t even remember their names. Ndare, ngenia, thigiu, ndabibi, and many others.