Would you believe me if i said due to the crazy time difference and the slow internet cafe's here that i'm actually posting this on the 4th? probably not, but we'll go with it. Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the holiday. We tried to be as Americana as possible here.
Friday Kel and I hung around Mbarara waiting for two fellow volunteers to arrive, but per usual Ugandan fashion they were held up leaving Kampala on public transport and didn't get in till late. After they got in we headed out to Kel's house and tried a campfire but didn't have any firewood and African tree roots don't tend to burn very well, then resorted to a small charcoal stove to cook our burgers, which took about an hour. Writing this now it seems like a boring night but we all had a great time trying our best to authenticate the holiday.
Saturday we indulged and headed to a local mzungu resort in Mbarara. Spent the day hanging out at the pool with beers and good bar food. After lunch we picked up a few things in town and headed back out to Kel's. Had bean taco's and played catch phrase before heading to bed. This lasted for just over 4 hours. And now...the true reason for this post.
African red ants....
Around 3am I awoke to the frightened shrills of three girls. Two of our fellow volunteers were sleeping on a makeshift bed in the living room made with kel's couch cushions. One was awakened by the sounds of critters above the papyrus ceiling (bats, lizards, rats, etc - a normal thing at night in this house). When she woke up she kept feeling strange pinches all over herr body and couldn't quite figure out the cause. Once we got the flashlights out we realized what we were dealing with. The house had been invaded by hundreds of fire ants. They were covering the cushions in the living room, couches, floor, walls and generally everywhere else in the house. It would be one thing if they were just plain old american black ants, but these suckers came with a bite. Anywhere you stood they came crawling up your legs and began biting. I think we were all wishing to be able to just jump into a bathtub of water to escape them. We tried going into the backyard to get away but the yard was even more populated with them. Armed with cans of insecticide and anything else that could kill we combed the rooms killing a many as we could. Kel's room seemed to be the only safe place so we all hunkered down in there and stuffed the cracks around the door and tried to forget about what was outside the room. Alas a few hours of sleep came with the (rare) dry season rain. This morning we began the cleanup sweeping dead ants up like dirt from 3 of the rooms in the house. We haven't figured out exactly why they chose last night to strike us. I've seen these ants before in her backyard but they've never invaded the house like that. This morning we acquired some more ammunition and will spend the day creating an insecticide wall around the foundation of the house and cleaning any trace of food from inside before I head back home for classes tomorrow...as well as washing everything in the kitchen that was doomed in the killing process last night.
TIA
love and miss you all,
eric
3 comments:
Now THAT sounds like a lovely way to spend an evening!! Gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Bet they won't come back and visit again!!! Hope you get the problem solved!!
Oh, Eric. That sounds perfectly AWFUL! I think you all did a good job of trying to prevent the situation from happening again. Glad you enjoyed your 4th. It rained here ALL DAY!
Dang man. Your not supposed to kill animals you need to embrace them in your hippie heart.
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