March 4, 2019
Rain, awwww Rats!
Are you intrigued by the title of this blog? You should
be.
First, I’ll start with Saturday. John and Janet and I went
to Eric and Bernice’s house for pizza. They
have an outdoor pizza oven and we made lots and lots of pizza.
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| Eric Cooks Pizza |
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| Janet talks to Bernice |
Robert and Anya came with their incredibly precocious 3 year
old who kept us entertained while speaking THREE languages! Swahili. German.
English.
These are all people almost no one reading this blog knows but suffice
it to say that a good time was had by all.
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| Robert and MaryLou |
Oh, as a side note, here’s a picture of Mt Meru which we
could see on our way UP to Eric and Bernice’s house.
Now on to the rats part. We got back home rather late. John
and Janet and I said goodbye at our doors and I went in to get ready for bed.
Within minutes, I heard Janet yelling. Then she was outside yelling at Beatrice
to come. What the #$&%#???!!!
Believe it or not, there was a rat in their toilet. Yea, a rat. At first, Janet thought it was an
ordinary turd but when she flushed the toilet, the little critter started
treading water and managed to keep his head above it all. YIPES!!! She slammed
down the lid and rushed out to call for Beatirce.
What to do…..
After a short consultation, John filled the red bucket with
water. (The bucket used to wash
unmentionables.) Then 1) John flushed the toilet. 2) Beatrice lifted the
lid. 3) John poured the bucket of water down the toilet in one big flush. Whew!
Meanwhile, Janet boiled a pot of water and poured that down
the toilet. Then another pot… down the
toilet. Whew!
The excitement was over. The rat appeared to be gone. Except that whenever they got up at night to
go potty, they flashed a light into the toilet to make sure there was no vengeful
critter waiting to…. you know.
One would think that John and Janet’s problems were over but….
read on.
On Sunday, yesterday, we went out to River Trees at Usa River for
brunch and jazz. This is the 2nd time I’d been there—a very (VERY!) nice estate-like place with
high-end rooms and lower-end great food. A fabulous jazz singer with her band
were entertaining us as we savored the incredible ribs and beef and salads.
There were about 9 of us and I enjoyed learning about the African lives of the other
Wazungu at the table. We left when it was about to pour rain. And rain it did.
Later last night, Janet knocked on my door and said that she
might not be able to go fabric shopping with me today because she had an ….er,
intestinal problem…. with, er, complications… you know. “OK,” I thought, “I can have an adventure without her.”
This morning, sure enough, Janet was sick. To make matters
worse, as I was leaving, one of the staff was bringing in a HUGE rat trap in a
box. Oh, no! Sing it out….
But the rat came back.
The very next day.
We thought he was a gonner.
But the rat came back.
Maybe he’s here to stay….
Ray arrived. We left. We went to Albino Peacemakers to pick
up Judith who said she’d help me buy some fabric at the shop where they get
their fabric. This experience is difficult to describe, and, unfortunately, I
was way too overwhelmed to take photos. But here goes. We parked on a very narrow, crowded street near the
central market and went inside what looked like a shop…. But the corridor
inside the door went back and back and back with little open fabric shops on
each side. We went into one of these little shops (think bathroom-sized) and I gazed at the stacks of fabric from
floor to ceiling. Uhhhhh. What can I say?
So many choices. I didn’t know how to choose. I kept telling myself to stay calm and not
make any impulsive decision but it
was all so beautiful. (Don’t go crazy!
Don’t go crazy! Be calm. Make some wise decisions….) NOT! I ended up buying 7 beautiful 6-yard lengths of fabric. Sigh! It looks like my friends and
family are getting fabric samples as gifts. (Sorry
friends and family.)
OK, onward with this story. Home, I went. I decided that it
was time to cook up the choroko I’d bought last month.
So I sorted, and washed and cooked it up. I planned to make
a stew with onions, carrots, potatoes but, ….oh, gee…. I was fatigued…
….and decided to rest and read some more of the novel I’ve
been working through. So I sat outside in my little corner and read from my
iPad.
ALL OF A SUDDEN!!!!!
Wind whipped through the trees. Thunder rumbled across the
sky. And the heavens opened up, pouring rain down just like John trying to
drown the rat in the toilet. Hmmm-mmmm.
It rat-tatted on the roof. It bounced on the ground. It blew
sideways and around-ways. Then it hailed. It was soooooooo exciting.
Even when the water came pouring
onto our little porch, it was exciting.
Except that it was pouring and
flowing onto John and Janet’s side of the porch. Oh my, the building slants
down their direction. My side was just
fine. And that was exciting too. (What’s
with their luck?! They need to work on their karma or something.)
Then the electricity went out….and
I wondered if I’d be having peanut butter for dinner since I hadn’t cooked up
the potatoes and carrots to go with the choroko. Oops.
Eventually, the electricity came on, I peeled and chopped
and…etc. And, eventually, I ate dinner.
YUM! A cuppa rooibos topped it all off.
Thus ends another exciting day in Arusha.
PS. What about that rat? I don’t know. There might be a part
2….
