just call me Jim Davis...

I haven't been sleeping well. Every night at around 1 a.m., I am rattled awaked by the same noise. When it first began happening, about two weeks ago, I was shocked. Later, as the lack of sleep began to wear down my sanity, I grew annoyed, and then hostile. Luckily, the students are taking exams this week and I haven't had to teach any classes, so they haven't felt my exhausted wrath.

What could the problem be? What is making these awful noises? Why, only the most disgusting animal known to man. My bedroom has been infested by mice, commonly known in Cameroon as "rats".

They emerge in the middle of the night to chew the closet doors, the legs of my desk, and the bedposts. As soon as I turn the light on or bang my hand against the headboard, they scatter into the walls and up to the ceiling. As for the ceiling, well, there must be an entire colony living up there. Even in the middle of the day, it can sound like a herd of elephants are stampeding through the attic. As soon as Sr. Theodosia and I noticed the problem, she jumped into action. There are no mouse traps in Cameroon. At the market, you can buy "Rat Poison" and "Rat Gum". I've tried both and both suck. Even after all of the poison has been eaten, I wake up to 3 mice scampering around. As for the gum, the rats must understand the trap, as they never go for the food in the middle and I have yet to wake up to a rat stuck to the sticky cardboard.

On Thursday, the problem got so bad that in the middle of the night, I got up and switched bedrooms. I've been exiled from my room ever since, sleeping in the spare storage room, but SLEEPING, thank God. Every morning, I come back to my room to get dressed and ready and find mouse feces everywhere, including my BATH TOWEL. Friday, as I walked to Fr. Renalto's house to help him with his computer, I noticed a cat and some kittens in his neighbor's yard. I have been begging Sr. to get a cat since the whole fiasco began, but we have had trouble locating any. I memorized their exact location and soldiered on.

Today, on the way home from church, I pointed out the house to Sr. Theodosia. She got exited and pulled me over to meet the "Mami" who owned the cats. $2 later, we walked away with Garfield, my new orange striped kitten. I don't even like cats, and I think he/she has fleas, but now that Garfield is hiding in my closet, I feel like I can return to my normal bed and maybe even wake up rested tomorrow. For now, the little thing is freakin' TERRIFIED and meowing quite loudly, curled up in one of my bras. But meowing is way better than the sound of rats gnawing away at furniture.

To see Garfield, visit my pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/106754477391544221556/Africa1

She/He is actually really cute.