It's a Zoo in Here!

Thursday night I arrived in Soroti, and shared a meal with a few families before closing the doors to my new home and starting to get reacquainted with my new house-mate, Beckie.  We went through the house – discussing the code to the small safe, also our power converters and water sources.  Our filtered water is connected in the bathroom sink and the electricity is very iffy here now days.  One for one, off for two... then off all day, on at night... it so strange and hard to plan around.  I don’t mind not having electricity during the day because I don’t like fans or air-conditioning and I cook on a gas stove.

Part of our discussions that night also included how to care for the animals.  Mustard the cat eats tiny dried fish, but not so many that she won’t also catch critters outside.  Pal eats a few dried fish also in his evening porridge.  I’m not sure what she gets, but it’s some sort of grain feed that I mix with water and serve to her when it’s cool.  At the moment I don’t like having Pal in the house because she is having her bi-annual menstruation and I have to clean a trail of blood from my floor every time she comes in the house.  I guess I never even thought about a female dog’s “system” but one can never stop learning.  J

Then there are the five chickens and two roosters.  Every morning I wake up to the sounds of their squawking just outside my window, for that is where there feed trough is also.  I usually open the front door around 8:30 am and I find it hilariously funny to watch all the chickens flap and glide their way from wherever in the yard to greet me at the front door.  On the front stoop they proceed to poop and make all sorts of noise... and if I am not careful with the front screens, the chickens are stubborn enough to come in the house and try to get at Pal’s left over foot.  I have even heard rumours that the chicken like to lay eggs in the couch cushions, but I hope to draw the line there. 

As much as the animals humour me though, I do enjoy having company in the house, especially since Beckie has been gone all week.  Mustard is the sweetest cat ever and I’m glad to have a few constant friends!