Usually when I feel like things are slow and start wondering what in the world I'm going to write about, something crazy happens. No such luck this time.
My commitment with EMM ended shortly after Thanksgiving. The clinic had closed and I felt that I was supposed to stay in Port and continue the work I was doing. So I got to spend a week in the frigid 'PA weather and then I came back to the warmth to continue working with Global DIRT. While I was gone, the team spent a few days working in the mountains in conjunction with a Mennonite clinic (go figure). When I got back, we started putting plans in place to return to take supplies. And then they announced the election results. This may or may not have been a divine intervention of sorts since my only helicopter experience involved me vomiting for over half of it, and a supply run into the mountains would be around three hours.
Since the results were announced, we've been more or less trapped in our house. There really isn't crazy stuff going on in our area, as we're right by the Embassy and the UN base, but our driver wasn't wanting to come get us and anywhere we'd want to go wasn't necessarily as safe as our house. We did manage to venture out one afternoon, and it was pretty quiet. We only encountered one blockade by the palace and saw lots of evidence of burned tires, but none actively burning.
So the most excitement we've had recently involves the resident rat. This rat has been living here longer than I have. Traps are ineffective thus far because he's too big for them. Did anyone else know that rats fly? Because this one likes running through the house and leaping off the balconies. One of the volunteers that's here now is petrified of rats, and one night around 4am we heard all this scuffling from downstairs. They managed to trap him momentarily but their efforts with a knife, broom handle, and mosquito swatter were ultimately unsuccessful. But I guess it's good to keep him around for the entertainment factor.
