Going Batty

A short term team arrived from North Carolina earlier this week and it has been fun getting to know them and sharing life in Bundibugyo with them. The first day, someone asked me “What is the biggest change you’ve noticed since arriving here 3 months ago? What is now normal that was strange then?” One of the first things that came to mind was that I’ve grown somewhat used to the abundance of creatures that we share our homes with here. I don’t think I’ll ever get entirely used to it but I’m no longer terrified every time a cockroach jumps out of a cookbook or a lizard does laps in our ceiling.

I guess God heard my statement because that night I had a creature adventure at 3 am. I woke up and heard a clicking/whirring noise that sounded like a very large bug. I was thankful for my mosquito net and tried to go back to sleep. After a while I decided to get up and look around with my headlamp and I was in for a surprise. Perched on the mosquito netting at the foot of my bed was a round, furry lump. I quickly realized it was a bat. Gross. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I allowed myself to wake up a little bit and then decided I needed to get the bat out of my room before I could go back to sleep.

I found a pillowcase, stared at the bat for about 3 minutes gathering courage, and then managed to get the bat into the pillowcase. I RAN outside with it, while it was chirping and making unhappy bat noises. I tried to shake it out and let it free but it wouldn’t come out. So I left the pillowcase on our front porch, hoping it would find its way out, and went back to bed.

The next morning, Anna and Pat went outside to say good-bye to a friend. I was still in bed sleeping off my 3 am adventure. Anna saw the pillowcase and realized there was a bat inside. She and Pat were confused as to why someone would put a bat in a pillowcase on our front porch. Had someone tried to put a curse on us?

When I got up, I told them my tale and the batty pillowcase made a lot more sense. The past two nights have been bat-free and I’ve been thankful for good sleep :) You never know what you’ll find here!