Battano (Arbuckle)

So as I enter my bedroom to snatch a pair of jeans lying on the ground to throw on, I notice in the unlit room some, small blob near the waist of my jeans. I immediately drop the jeans, and proceed to flip the switch, flooding the room with a dim light. What is this mysterious blob which I had seen lying in the pile of clothes on the floor? It looked at the time like a large prune, which would be interesting as I have yet to see a prune in this country. Upon further inspection I find the mystery blob to be a young, little, knock-kneed just out of the womb bat! Whoa now!

Battano (Arbuckle)

How did you get here?! Yes most, if not every evening I go to sleep with the not-so-pleasant of bats flying around outside or between my ceiling panels and roof. Yes I have had bats in my house that I tactfully smack out of my house with broom, not before getting smacked in the head once or twice (I guess their sonar wasn't as good as they thought?). But this little guy was a petite, moist, furball who would stretch out when being bothered and there were serious parts of me that was hoping it would jump up, bite me, and I would be the second-coming of Batman (the first coming was real). This little guy managed to find his way in to the small crevice between the back of my backpack and where the shoulder straps enter, so my work was cut out for me to get him out even though he moved at a sloth's pace—I didn't want to hurt my new little friend. Now, I must admit, I didn't have the desire or energy to take this little guy under my wing as just like Principal Figgins on Glee, I believe that Vampires are real and are soon going to take over this world. I carefully picked up Arbuckle (his name for now) and brought him outside...oh so sad I could see him shivering in the cool air away from my dirty pile of clothes! Well, as you can see from the snap, I took advantage of his inability to move at this stage, because I placed him on the cool cement next to a bitanno (500 shilling coin about the size of a nickel). After Arbuckle's little photo shoot, a small bed of dried leaves and mulch was made for him in the corner of the patio in hopes that he would warm up and fly off...

The next morning he wasn't there. I choose to hope that he dried off, spread his wings, and is thriving out in the real world. So yes, I think that is where this story goes. He now lives amongst his brothers and sisters and who knows yet if he left me a little gift of gratitude giving me an uncanny ability to fight crime while wearing skin-tight black clothes and having a better voice than the most current Hollywood Bruce Wayne.

So to my friend Battano (Arbuckle), my hat is off to you in your new life in the skies and away from the piles of dirty clothes in my room. And I must say I assume that my immediate decision to put the jeans on without inspecting for any more creatures is in fact a message to me of how used I've become to having spiders, cockroaches (in fact when I enter pit latrines I choose to talk to the cockroaches as if they are equals rather than getting terrified), bats, stray cats, goats, chickens...the list goes on...to having all of these species living side by side with me. Oh joy! (

4 Nights, 3 Days (3rd April 2008)

First of all, I have recently come across two amazing sites! I think that you should all check them out and take 'em for a spin:

http://roguevalley.bandcamp.com

http://www.lostinroguevalley.com

These guys know what it is about...




The following was written 3 years ago today in my journal—a journal which is scarcely written in as my ability to keep either a journal or a planner has lacked for almost 27 years at this point...

Shoe + Duct Tape + Head Lamp + Profuse Sweating=Long Live the Cockroach
A snap taken 3 years ago today, I had quite the adventurous evening as I scurried around my bed room on hands and knees to get the cockroach that had been disturbing my sleep by climbing all over (and in) my mosquito net...

4 Nights, 3 Days

Crazy to think that on 19/2/08 I arrived here at my homestay! After spending the past hour assisting my 7 y old sisters with their homework that I feel their parents have very little influence in, I ate dinner and had my evening exercise. By evening I mean I just broke into a profuse sweat chasing a giant cockroach around my room in my boxers, a headlamp and a sheet of paper with duct tape on its underside. What other life could I be living where this would not seem so strange? Even after I achieved apparent victory over this prehistoric nuisance, I can nearly guarantee you that his partner in crime is somewhere in this room waiting to creep under my mosquito net and to attack me!

So in waiting for dinner tonight, looking at Namakula and Hadijja's homework I came to the conclusion that my host parents really have no investment in their children's education aside from the monetary aspects, which is quite unfortunate. In look @ their work, the spelling and math errors were simple enough to happily fox in a matter of a few minutes, but the majority of work in their notebooks seemed to be marked but not corrected. Learning seems impossible in this scenario as the children are either A) learning nothing @ all because it is merely repetition, or B) learning false information which one is the case is nonetheless a tragedy, but the whole system seems to be &$*%!*!

My time here @ Eka ya Mwami Mugaya (improper Lusoga) is coming to an end. I have ultimately been quite satisfied with my experience here. It has been an unbelievable experience that could never be replicated and I have learned so much! Although clashing of cultural norms has occurred, all in all the past 8 weeks shall not be forgotten. And now I shall drift off in a damp sheet of sweat to dreams controlled by Mefloquine while I subconsciously tally one night off of this first adventure, only to get nearer to the next 2 years of my journey.....