I was driving home in the rain today, after trying my 3rd ATM unsuccessfully because of a widespread power outage caused by a rainstorm overnight and most of this morning. Coming up over the hill I met a group of boys running wildly towards me, screaming and shouting in panic. What on earth, I thought!? But then three stray dogs rounded corner with their teeth bared behind them at full speed and trying to think quick I started honking like a wild woman and driving towards the dogs. They gave up pretty quickly and turned around, but the boys never stopped to check. I can imagine they’re still running all the way home!
That little pit stop made me stop and think of all the things I encounter every day and never think twice about. The things that are so routine for us now, but might entertain you a little bit on this rainy afternoon :)
Last Sunday afternoon, just after Matt had arrived home from the airport, the kids (well, and me too) convinced him to drag the Christmas tree down from the shed and as we set it up in the middle of the living room, it kind of started to move! I was screaming, Fred was screaming and the giant cockroaches were leaping out of it and all over the floor before taking off in every direction! Theo grabbed the can of Doom spray and started after them while Matt took the tree in segments out side and gave it a good shake and spray down.. That still didn’t stop me from finding some critters in it while I was putting up the lights… It’s cockroach free now, but honestly… I’m a little bit weary every time I get close to it. Maybe best to admire it from afar this year!
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| It thinks it's being sneaky by freezing when we locked eyes, but I saw it twitching it's antennae at me... |
I encounter stuff every. single. day that makes absolutely no sense to me… but I love it! It’s a great story to tell, and no one ever believes that my power pole could catch fire, or I’d end up chopping off puppies’ umbilical cords with a kitchen knife, that Matt would get up in the night to check something and step on a dead, headless snake. I never believed I’d get bitten by a homeless man or end up in a fender bender with the mayor. But it’s true. It happens, and no one blinks an eye. There’s a popular saying here, “You don’t ask "why" questions in Africa” and I can see how that makes sense. But the why questions are what challenge my way of thinking and my way of looking at things, and the things I see and the people I meet are what make life so interesting (and amazing!) here.
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| The puppies that I delivered over the course of 26 hours with the help of one of our teammates and a kitchen knife! |
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| You often see lots of weird things on the backs of Bodas, but this was a first for me. |
