I woke up in the middle of the night from another mefloquine induced nightmare. This time Hannibal Lecter was out to eat me. I could still hear, "Hello, Lacy," in his satonic voice, so I closed off all my windows and connections to breeze and light and again curled up in bed.
The day before, my host father, Papa Foday, asked me how I slept. I told him there were a few noises that kept me up at night. His response, "Oh... the rats." THE RATS!?!? It sounded like A PERSON was walking on the roof. I have yet to see one, and I'm hoping it stays that way.
While rats are my least favorite animal here, baby goats are my favorite. Walking down the streets you will also see dogs, chickens, donkeys, voltures, guinea hens, lizards, pigs, and a few cats.
I do enjoy being surrounded by wildlife, but I have to admit when I was first walking up the dirt road to my compound I had a near breakdown. "What in the world am I doing? Am I crazy?" and "I want my MAMA!" all ran through my head. Thank God, for my fellow volunteer Casey. If it wasn't for him I would've broken into tears. We cleared our minds by playing cards and fetching each other's water together.
When I was finally ready to return to my compound the children's smiling faces put me at ease. Isa, my host sister who is in 4th grade explained in broken English how happy she was to see me walking up. My thoughts immediately changed as I began to brainstorm ways I can be a benefit to her. As I taught her the hokey pokey and sang, "That's what it's all about," I focused on service. THAT IS what it's all about.
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