I have been here long enough that I have a pretty set routine when I go to bed at night. I take a cool bucket bath, I fill out the days events in my diary (by the light of a kerosene lamp), read my bible, brush my teeth, put up the mosquito net, read with the flashlight for a few minutes, and then sleep.
Normally my sleep goes undisturbed.
But sometimes I hear the noise of small claws skittering along the wall, or across the floor. The smacking of small lips. The nibbling of crumbs that I carelessly left out. RATS!!
No need to worry, I don't have an infestation. But I live in the middle of the countryside, in a house that has a few nooks and crannies through which a creature of the outside world can make its way in. And they haven't hurt me so far.
Still, it is awfully creepy when you can hear something moving in the next room. I always make sure to tuck my mosquito net in very very tight, so that nothing can crawl up onto the bed and visit me.
I also keep the machete close at hand, in case the sounds come to close. I have not yet killed a rat with a machete, but a friend of mine did at my house a few weeks ago. The rat was up on the wall, and the guy swung the machete like a baseball bat, almost cutting the thing in half. We threw it outside where it was promptly gobbled up by the local dogs.
I am currently in the market for a cat. If anyone has ideas for names, I am open for suggestions.
PepsiCo. and Nutrition in Ethiopia
12 years ago
4 comments:
i'm starting to have a normal routine before i go to sleep as well. i like the idea of writing down the day's events.
as for names: gilbert, optimus prime, theophilus, domingo, paws?
call your cat GOOBER!
stu will be the sibling kitty across the ocean. i'll make him write letters.
Mithrandir!!!
um you should call your cat Mamadou if it's a boy or Fatouma if it's a girl.
there are lots of good nicknames that can be derived from both of them :)
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