Okay gals, I need to connect because personal hygiene is not easy around here, especially at this time of the month (no photos). The biggest impediment to dealing with normal things in a manageable and easy way are the rats. When a girl is tucked into both her sheet and mosquito net as tightly as possible to keep the rats off her bed, she tends to ignore even the urgent calls of nature.
Last night I pointed the headlamp directly AT the rats. I could always hear them, but I'd never looked. They turned out to be quite visibly busy, pacing the upper edge of wall cement, just under the tin roof. Bits of concrete and sand had been falling on the surfaces in my room, and I hadn't quite figured out why.
With my gaze comfortably easing on the busy rodents, at a safe distance, suddenly one rat slipped on a loose piece of concrete and fell directly to the floor (room is 7' x 5').
"Ahhhh!" I screamed. And the guards were at the door. Our hired police helpers are here to keep the Congan rebels away, and wouldn't you know that rats steal the show. It was 2 am. I heard them say, "She should come here in winter" After my second squeal, Nelson arrived as my knight in wrapped white towel, and he made plans for 'serious discipline' tomorrow.
I have been given a tub and a jerry can of water to take care of bathing. Honestly, I don't have a problem with turning that tub into a commode if it will save me from the latrine at night.
All bathing happens outdoors, but Nelson told me that I will wash indoors because otherwise everyone would come to see my white body. The result is that I can bring various tubs of liquid from my house, no questions asked ;)
Laundry is all done by the folks around here, so there is no privacy about soiled clothing. I try to wash undies in my room, but I hesitate to keep any wet, juicy things indoors, for fear they will draw closer my long-tailed roommates.
I am being watched at all times - the neighbours and all passers-by during the day, the guards at night, everyone I pass on a boda yells directly to me - the foreign white person,"Hi, muzungu! How are you, muzungu?" Sometimes I feel like responding, "Hi local black person! How are you?"
In the end, Robina is my female go-to. She schools me on the latrines and laundry, laughing at my questions with kindness and care. Thank goodness I am through the first, heavy day. I have been to the latrine too much for my liking, but in the end, all is well and only slightly stained.
The funniest thing is that Robert served liver for dinner. It's full of iron and blood for someone who's menstruating! These people are amazing and so warmly connected. I hope to bring a bunch of that home to my family, friends, colleagues and students...liver, that is.
The rat just dropped another chunk from up there.
With love from Jen
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