I have this little problem. Actually, it's not so little- it's an exaggerated startle reflex. If something scares me I kind of flip out. I can't control it. It's almost like I have an out-of-body experience every time it happens. My reaction to being startled has, in the past, been compared to a cartoon character. You know, arms and legs flying everywhere, jumping eight feet off the ground, eyes bugging out, etc.
When I get startled I also let out a blood curdling scream. It usually sounds something like, "AHWHAKKAHAKKAHOEYHOEY!" It happens every time.
I have been startled a few times since I got to Mozambique, usually when I look down and something like a giant stick bug is clinging to my shirt and grinning up at me. I scream and it echoes all through the campsite, over the river and possibly into Zimbabwe. It's really embarrassing.
Bugs are just so sneaky. I have started a catch and release program for the bugs in my tent, but not all of them qualify.
The other night I was over at Rick and Heather's house and Heather told me that Glenn (another short-termer who really likes Spam and went home yesterday) was sitting in our kitchen when he was startled by a Black Mamba. I had to panic a little and scream, "AHWHAKKAHAKKAHOEYHOEY!" in my head. I crept around our kitchen on my tippy-toes for days.
Today I was walking back to my tent at lunch time. I heard a big "thwack" as something smacked onto the roof of my tent and fell to the ground. I saw a tail wiggle under my doormat. "That is either a very long skink," I thought to myself, "Or else...it's a...". I inched closer for a better look. Out from my doormat wriggled my first snake. A real snake. A real one. It was startling, but strangely enough, there were no screams. Perhaps I was frozen in terror.
Do you remember those old Christmas M&M commercials where the M&Ms see Santa and Santa see the M&Ms and they both say, "He does exist!" and then they pass out? That is how I feel. They do exist! Shoot. I ran over to Heather's and told her that I saw a tree snake (I think) by my tent. She reminded me that they are very poisonous but also very shy and have very small fangs way in the back of their mouths. It was very reassuring.
VBS is now over so I am settling into more of what I expect will be my actual routine. Here is a picture of my desk: a laptop; copies of
Where Women Have No Doctor, A Book for Midwives, a
Child-To-Child Resource Book; and a Lambchop puppet. That gives you a little glimpse into my life these days.
Tomorrow it will be one month since I left chilly Canada. There was one last thing I wanted to mention...what was it now...
Oh...yeah
I just like this picture so much. It is just a shot taken during a relay race, but the look on my face says a lot to me. Sometimes I find it hard to express just how I feel about being here, about Africa, but this picture captures a bit of it. This is my place.
This is little Tito. He is one of the kids enrolled in the orphan program. Tito doesn't want to go to school yet, but we shall provide him with wise counsel as to the importance of higher education. Surely he will come 'round.
Sometimes the grown-ups had to participate, too. In this shot I am just trying to figure out how to avoid participating in the part of the relay where we we're supposed to drink a cup of juice from a communal bucket. Every feeling revolts! I faked it and then made sure I lost the race in order to satisfy my guilty conscience.
