Installment 30

Installment 30...the big 3 ‘O‘.
Just some random thoughts….like I ever have any other kind.. The older kids went nuts today after school…not uncommon, but it was a little more directed this time. It seems that there were panya loose in the firewood pile….this is a big deal for the kids. Up they went…all 10 of them, so excited. I just had to go and see for myself what this attraction was. “Wazup” I asked. “There are panya in the wood” Kelvin says, barely able to contain himself. “Oh, yeah, panya…now I understand why you are excited….what’s a panya?” I asked. “You know, ‘panya’….RATS” squeals Melissa with delight. Now beginning to understand the depth of the situation, I had a hard time containing my excitement…..Rats, live rats….boy oh boy. “What do you do with the panya?” I cautiously inquired, hoping it didn’t have anything to do with the ‘sausage’ they serve here. “We will kill them” Bafo chimes in. “And this is ‘fun’?” I say. “Yes, yes” I heard at least 10 times. “Come and help us, we will find them and kill them” Brian offers. “OK, I can see why you would get so excited….I think I just heard Jeff calling me, otherwise a team of wild horses couldn’t keep me away”. I responded bravely over my shoulder. And so off they went like a herd of cats, rolling logs and moving pieces….killing rats with sticks. Boy, wait ‘til I start this craze in America…..who needs WII. It helps that Jeff pays them 10 shillings per little carcass…about 12 cents.
Another thing I noticed today at dinner time was something that Dale brought up. “How do you stand having all those runny noses and grubby hands closing in on you?” he asked through the veranda window. “It’s all a matter of gitin’ er done…if Jeff won’t let me leave, maybe I can catch some deadly disease and die….one way or another I’m gitin out.” But I have noticed that when people first come, they have a God given survival instinct and are reticent to touch or be touched. After awhile, those little buggers wear you down and you begin to touch them, mostly by pushing them away. As more time passes, the kids seem to become more than snot distributors and they put some kind of spell on you and make you want to hug them. Maybe it’s a product of losing your will to live. Now once they have you there, the next big challenge is to walk through the veranda during dinner when they are having rice and beans. You probably remember your kids at dinner…accidentally, or not, dropping food on the floor. Now gird up your loins…whatever that means and imagine 91 of the worlds best food fighters trying to see how fast they can coat the floor with food product. Most visitors find it is safer to get up on the tables and walk towards a door. Old timers like me have even fondly taken to taking off our shoes and barefoot skim boarding around the room. There was a time that liked having clean feet, but with the mud and the food, I have all but given up. Lucky for me this place has a creative way of cleaning your feet. When you come here, Jeff hands you a stone like the ones you scrub grills with. “We have found that the only way to clean your feet is to treat them as if they didn’t have any feeling and sand them down with this 60 grit stone.” Jeff says with just a hint of a smile. He knows that this is all true and that visitors think he is crazy….which by the way is true. So, when you come, go to a surgeon and have all the nerves taken out of your feet….you’ll thank me. As long as you are at it, maybe having ALL your nerves removed….just sayin.
Dori and Carla are still in the hospital. Dori is doing better…and I’m sure that Carla is doing worse. I’m glad I wasn’t born a mother….. Hopefully they will come home tomorrow.
The building continued on except for the 2 hours it rained. Fundi says we are still on schedule….finished the lumber (timber) shed today, so it will cover the wood.