A spider in the bed, a bat in the house and a frog in the toilet

So, the other night, Annie was very tired as she has generally been here in Africa.  She is usually ready for bed by 8 pm.  So she headed back to her room to get under her net.  As she climbed into bed she saw a spider on the wall beside her bed.  This occurrence makes the bed unsleepable for the duration of our trip here.  So, she moved herself into Mark and my bed.  Isn’t it strange how the parents bed has some magical power to hold all noxious and supernatural creatures at bay, even when they are not in it. 

 

An hour or so later it was time for the rest of us to get beneath the nets and so we turned out the lights and headed for the bedrooms which are at the back of the house down a longish hallway.  It was then that I realized that none of us had taken our malaria prophylaxis at dinner time.  So I went and got them all and water and we washed them down.  Except for Annie.  She has big issues with taking pills and she remembers every possible side effect and instruction that goes with the medication.  She refused to take the pill without food which it says to do on the label.  The rest of us were ready for bed so we said if you want some bread or something, you’re going to have to go get it yourself.  “But I can’t go to the kitchen!  It’s dark down there.”  “So, turn on some lights.”  Annie turned on the hall light but the light to the kitchen is at the front door, all the way at the other end of the house. 

 

So Annie stood in the doorway of the back bedroom and peered down the dark hallway struggling with herself.  She didn’t want to go down the hall, but she had to take her Malarone or she might get malaria, but if she took the malarone without food on her stomach she might get really nauseated.  It went around and around, and then she said, “There’s something flopping out there in the living room.”  “Annie, there’s nothing flopping out there.”  “Yes, there is.  There’s something flopping out there.  I can’t go down there!”  FINALLY, Dad got out from under the net to go get Annie the piece of bread.  As he started down the hall (the rest of us weren’t looking) there was a big HAAAAAAAAA!!  Mark  came running back into the room with the lid to the big woven laundry basket over his head like a shield.  “There’s something flapping out there!  It’s a bat!”  Now he’s standing at the door peering down the hall protecting himself with the laundry basket lid convinced that the bat was going to bite him.  He ventured out hesitantly a couple of times,  but he eventually made it down to the kitchen where he unlocked and opened the kitchen door.  Now all of the Thorndike’s are standing at the door peering down the hall at the bat.  They are very fast and sort of swoop all over the place and in the dark you can’t quite see where they went.  After not seeing any movement for a minute or so I made it out to the living room to flip on the lights.  I went to the side door and the night guard, Patrick, was out there looking confused.  He is always very, very sweet, but he must think that we are a crazy bunch of Azungus.  The bat was swooping around the light outside the door.  We have no idea how or when it had gotten in in the first place.  We spent 10 minutes or so laughing at ourselves. 

 

So, now we had to go and re-inspect Annie’s bed for any spiders.  I had been laying in the bed for a while and so could vouch for the fact that there were none beneath the covers.  Annie got in and I tucked in the net all around so that no spiders could gain admittance through the night.  Tim was tucked into his net and I shut out the light and went to my room to get ready for bed. 

 

I went into the bathroom, came back out and announced, “There is a frog in the toilet!”  This sent the whole family into a whole other round of laughter and everyone had to run in and examine the frog in the toilet.  They are small, white frogs with small protruding black eyes.  Very cute, actually, but I am not interested in sitting down on the toilet with one.  He peered up at us from under the toilet rim.  I left him to his business and used the other bathroom.  (The next morning he was gone and then that evening he was in the other toilet!  Mark caught him this time and took him outside.)