Ghosts and Goblins?.?.?...nope a Bat?

So this morning around 4:45am I’m laying in my bed sleeping peacefully alone, or so I thought. Now for some reason I went to sleep last night without pulling down my mosquito net. Maybe it was my lack of sleep over the last couple of days, maybe it was the bread and water I had for dinner, you never can tell. Anyway, I feel this flash of wind accompanied by a quick flapping noise. I think I hear something hit the wall or stop at the wall by my bed, I’m not even sure at this point because I’m still in la la land, dreaming about a slurpee from 7-11 and a bag of doritios. Right when I was about to take the 1st sip of my slurpee (I’m dreaming of course) I hear the flapping noise again followed by 2 quick swooshes of wind….at this point I realize I’m not sleep and this thing is flying right over my head. OK! I try and pull myself together and make out whether it’s a very vivid dream caused by the Mephaquin, my malaria medicine, or if I’m really seeing a bat fly over my bed! Well folks it wasn’t the Mephaquin, although I wish it had of been. This bat is having a field day flying over my head, swooshing in and out, getting extra points for hitting the wall. All I could do is pull the covers over my head and pray that it would leave soon. I don’t know how big it was but, it’s shadow (in the dark) was the size of a small child, I’m serious! Then I remembered something from all of those vampire movies I’d seen; bats don’t like sunlight! All I have to do is wait until the sun comes up and he’ll go back to his bat cave. OK…just wait, with the covers over my head, for another hour and a half, until the sun comes up….tick tock, tick tock, ok 3 mins have passed, no sun yet…..tick tock, ok it’s been 15mins, no sun but also no bat, that’s a good sign. Tick tock, ok 30 mins, he’s still here and I think he brought a friend….what the heck! Finally the sun comes up, the roosters are crowing and I hear people moving around, this is my queue that it’s safe to come out from hiding. I hurry up and jump out the bed, no shoes, and run into the yard where my host family mama was heating water for my bath. Now I don’t know the Swahili word for bat, but I do know night and bird…..great! I tell her with my arms flapping that there is a night bird in my room. She doesn’t get it….ok bird of the night, still flapping my arms like a chicken. Finally the daughter gets my morning game of charades and screams PoPo! Aahhhh the PoPo was in my room?.?.? That’s the Swahili word for bat, popo? Any way I guess they are use to it and I was the one acting erratic because all she said was "oh it’s gone". I had a near death experience and all they had to say was oh, it’s gone now.

Don’t worry I’m ok now. I managed to escape that episode with my life dangling by a thread, who knows what other wild and crazy things I will endure while in Africa. I’ll keep you posted.

Word of the day:
Swahili: Popo
English: killer bat-very dangerous-beware

Shani C.

this post goes out to my training bff Jayce, I'm sorry I laugh at your bat episodes :-)