It’s a Friday night and I’m going to meet my friends in the town of Kisii tomorrow so I can’t wait to fall asleep. The only problem is that there is a funeral in the soccer field that is literally 100 meters outside my bedroom window. When I say funeral, I mean a Luo funeral which to the untrained ear could sound more like a wedding or a crazy block party. I kept looking at my clock wondering how late the bass would bumping and how long I would have to lay awake listening to someone yelling into a loudspeaker while blasting Kenyan and reggae tunes. I remember thinking, the sun will start coming up at 6am and people have to start heading home by then right? I was absolutely wrong and the music continued until I left for Kisii the following morning at 9am. Needless to say, I was completely exhausted and sleep deprived as I walked myself to my bathroom to use the toilet and wash up a little bit.
My “toilet” is a grand porcelain looking bowl that is cemented into the floor. It can be “flushed” by pouring a few pitchers of water into it and gravity does the rest. I have become accustomed to using it and really have no problem squatting and doing my business. Today was different. I was squatting down and happened to see what looked like a tarantula claw crawling out of the dark hole and making its way up the side of the porcelain bowl. I jumped up mid-stream and backed up towards the door to the bathroom to try and figure out what in the world was in my toilet. From my vantage point with my back against the door and my tired, bloodshot eyes trying to make out the shape of this creature, I determined it was either a rat or a bat and I had not the patience or energy to deal with it.
Upon my return on Sunday my bat friend was still clutching the sides of the toilet bowl but unable to climb out. I determined it was a bat because I used my camera to take a closer look at the thing without having to be physically so close. I guess I figured having it nearly between my legs the day before was as close as I ever cared to get to it again. I kindly asked my co-worker to help me with a “problem” and he came to remove the creature from my toilet. With two long sticks he picked up the bat, brought it outside and smashed its head against a rock as it let out a little batty squeak. Before coming to Africa there were many things that I mentally prepared myself for: feeling dirty, living without running water or electricity, getting sick etc. Peeing on a bat that was stuck in my squat toilet was definitely not on any such list…
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