A Farewell to Arms

Well hello again. I hope this day is finding you all well, and enjoying life. I've been busy showing the trainees who are staying with me around my site and village, and showing them the ropes of life at a secondary school in the middle of nowhere. I think they've been enjoying it, and Spencer has been showing them around the trails and hills near my house, so they are pleased to be escorted by such a fine guide. I recently had my first rat in the house in a long time, it chewed a hole through the bread that I had just bought because silly me, I left it out thinking it would be fine since I hadn't seen a rat in over a month. I think I know the reason for their long disappearance, and will relate the story shortly, but am completely bamboozled by their sudden re-entrance into my life. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes.

So I had been away from site for a few days, probably for some training or other, I can't recall the exact circumstances, but at any rate I was coming home from a short time away, but longer than a weekend. I walked into my house as usual, checking on everything important, opening windows, finding Spencer and putting his collar back on, checking to see if the water was working, and last but not least, checking the rat trap. To my great surprise, it was empty. It was not however still set, something had made the bar spring closed. And I could immediately tell something had at one time been under that bar, but escaped. The reason I could tell is the mess, there was grey fur everywhere, stuck to the bar and piles of it next to the trap. I was confused by this, but figured a rat had been trapped and somehow freed itself. I only figured out how it freed itself after walking into my bathroom and seeing a completely free and lonely front leg of a rat. I put two and two together, as I am a math teacher currently, and realized the rat had chewed it's own arm off to escape the certain death of my broom handle. I removed the discombobulated limb from my bathroom with a plastic bag over my hand and went about my business. Apparently the 3 legged soldier warned all of his friends, because they were afraid to enter my house for a while afterward. Unfortunately the fear has faded, and I've got to think of some new cruel and unusual punishment to keep them away. If you think of anything, please feel free to let me know.

Other than that, life goes on. We saw President Museveni today as he was making a tour of the villages where elections will shortly be held, so I'm away from home for a bit. Not sure exactly when I'll get to return, but by the time I do, I'll have Casey with me! Hopefully Kampala stays secure and no more riots stop me from getting to pick her up from the airport! Anyway, that's all for now, so keep on truckin.

cheers