MR. RURKA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HIDING BEHIND SARAH MILLICAN AND ALAN DAVIES?
The gentleman holding the insects is my old high school environmental science teacher, Mr. Rurka. The man was eccentric to the fullest degree (I believe he has his own helicopter) and I took every class I could with him. He even wrote a letter of recommendation for me. ROCK STAR.
My senior year of high school (here is a New York Times article about the meal that very year) he brought in some of the leftovers for us to try. All I can say is that tarantula is very crunchy.
That was the best class I ever took. Why? It was interesting. He always had an anecdote he could relate to us, whether it was a cautionary tale about always making sure you wear gloves when riding sunfish because their fins are razor-sharp or never to drink the water in the Colorado River because you’ll get dysentary. I asked him once if he would be able to get me a pet skunk. He paused, opened a book, flipped through it, and said that he could only get them wholesale and would six be okay?
Seriously, though. I wish I could take that class again, even if it was eight (?!?!) years ago.