One of my most memorable days in Malawi is the day we came back from a weekend at Cape Maclear.
As we walked through the door into our tiny bedroom, we noticed something was wrong… Rat droppings!
Now I’m not particularly bothered about rats, it’s spiders I have a massive phobia of, whereas my project partner had a large phobia of rats but not spiders. So naturally we had an agreement that she would dispose of the spiders, and I would get rid of the rats. It was my turn. I looked everywhere, under the beds, opened every cupboard, rummaged through the desk drawers, till finally I noticed that above our wardrobe, there was my guitar - with some scrappy pieces of paper sticking out of the soundhole.
This was going to be a challenge as the guitar was high up at the back of the wardrobe, so my partner was ready at the other side of the room with an umbrella open to shield herself (usual protocol). I slowly picked up the guitar, pulled it over my head and then held it out in front of me. I could feel the weight of the rat at the far end of the guitar. With a steady pace I walked out of the bedroom and into the office (the only way out). Unfortunately our manager had called a meeting with the family of one of the children, into which I appeared with a guitar held out horizontally in front of me, said a quick hi, and marched through the middle of the office (with my manager and the family staring at me confused…).
As I walked outside there were children playing, but that all stopped as they too stood and stared at me. I brought out the guitar, laid it on the ground and within a few seconds a large rat hopped out the hole and ran for its life on its little legs. Well, the kids laughed outrageously, some even running after the rat.
Of course I had a few questions to answer after my manager’s meeting, but he too laughed and explained how funny I looked walking through the meeting with the guitar, and the look on my face.
A story for life…
Image courtesy of Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As we walked through the door into our tiny bedroom, we noticed something was wrong… Rat droppings!
Now I’m not particularly bothered about rats, it’s spiders I have a massive phobia of, whereas my project partner had a large phobia of rats but not spiders. So naturally we had an agreement that she would dispose of the spiders, and I would get rid of the rats. It was my turn. I looked everywhere, under the beds, opened every cupboard, rummaged through the desk drawers, till finally I noticed that above our wardrobe, there was my guitar - with some scrappy pieces of paper sticking out of the soundhole.
This was going to be a challenge as the guitar was high up at the back of the wardrobe, so my partner was ready at the other side of the room with an umbrella open to shield herself (usual protocol). I slowly picked up the guitar, pulled it over my head and then held it out in front of me. I could feel the weight of the rat at the far end of the guitar. With a steady pace I walked out of the bedroom and into the office (the only way out). Unfortunately our manager had called a meeting with the family of one of the children, into which I appeared with a guitar held out horizontally in front of me, said a quick hi, and marched through the middle of the office (with my manager and the family staring at me confused…).
As I walked outside there were children playing, but that all stopped as they too stood and stared at me. I brought out the guitar, laid it on the ground and within a few seconds a large rat hopped out the hole and ran for its life on its little legs. Well, the kids laughed outrageously, some even running after the rat.
Of course I had a few questions to answer after my manager’s meeting, but he too laughed and explained how funny I looked walking through the meeting with the guitar, and the look on my face.
A story for life…
Image courtesy of Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net