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I’m finally sitting down and relaxing, kind of, after an enjoyable day and quite a traumatic evening involving a mouse, about 8 kids and a Mama from next door. Fred, my favorite teacher from school, came over today because I promised I’d teach him how to bake a cake for his girlfriend. We whipped up the batter for a yellow cake, set up the makeshift oven, and had 45 minutes to let the charcoal do its magic. He is such a great guy and we had the best, most open conversation about Tanzanian and American cultural, relationships, AIDS, everything. It’s always interesting to hear Tanzanian’s perceptions of American’s and what the
Then this evening I sat out on my back stoop reading a book to my neighbor kids and eating tangerines with them. Three of the really young ones were stomping around in the mud and my favorite, Rama, kept yelling, “Marisa, nione!” (Marisa, look at me!) and it put the biggest smile on my face. I’d like to hide him in my carry-on when I come back… After it had started to get dark is when the drama started. I was standing outside explaining to Mama Lela and some kids what a skyscraper is, and clearing up that no, there are not roads and soccer fields way up in the sky in Europe and the U.S., when I saw a mouse scurry into my kitchen. I asked for one of the kids to come chase it out but of course all of them came in to see. Well, this little vermin was quick and well-hidden. Mama Ashura and a couple of the kids, all armed with brooms or sticks, got him out of the kitchen only to have him run under the couch in the living room. At one point during the debacle I looked around and just started laughing. Mama Ashura was on her hands and knees looking for him under the couch. She and the kids were attacking it with brooms and sticks every time it came into view. Six other kids were just running around laughing and yelling, and I was standing on a chair scared of a mouse who, it turns out, is about the size of my thumb. These are the moments I will remember.
We never caught the mouse, so that’s why I’m only kind of relaxing. I’m still keeping an eye out for it, and I have my broom handy just in case. For now though, I’m going to try to go to sleep.