The other day, my eldest read about the durian fruit in a book and he’s been obsessing over it since then. Things you should know about durians:

• They are from Indonesia
• They have been known to kill people when falling from trees and hitting them on the head.
• They are mostly well-known, however, for their horrendous odor, described as rotting flesh.
• They smell so bad, they are prohibited on public transportation in Indonesia. You can find signs like this:
• It’s *supposed* to be delicious:

Naturally, we had to try it. Durians are not easy to find here in Austin, TX, but we do happen to have a wonderful Asian grocery store, MT Supermarket, and I read that they carry durians. For a homeschool lesson, we ventured out to MT Supermarket in search of durians and we DID find them…frozen, of course ;-). It was about $20 (eep), but we just had to find out it if was as bad (or as good) as everyone says.

After letting it thaw for about 12 hrs, we were able to give it a go. Um. Yeah. I’m glad we tried it, but I think the pictures say it all. Unique and beautiful on the outside, absolutely disgusting on the inside. I’m still trying to get the stench out of my mouth :-(. The little princess, by the way, preferred to keep a safe distance and munch on Jell-o instead. Smart girl.

At any rate, our $20 “trip to the other side of the world” was fun and worth it, even if it was gross, gross, gross.