I take a slightly different route while walking to school now, as I drop Shehrish off on the way. This Monday, we said our goodbyes, I put on my headphones and continued on, cutting through a different neighborhood in order to get to school. This route is a bit more rural, with goats and chickens running about, but as mentioned, after getting used to animals I pay them almost no mind. I was halfway through my detour and listening to music, when all of a sudden I hear a steady 'PAT-PAT-PAT' noise coming rapidly closer. I turn around to see a massively grotesque bird running towards me with wings spread and beak open that could only be described as a hybrid duck-chicken that was the size of a turkey. I walked a little bit faster, thinking that it was only feigning attack, but the mutated specimen continued gaining on me and began to hiss. At this point I was scared, and began running with a loaded backpack to avoid getting bit. I made it to the main road but lost a sandal in the process, and had to tiptoe my way back into the bird's territory to retrieve it.
School was off on Wednesday for a festival called 'Teej', a fasting day for Hindu women where they all wear red and honor their husbands. We were back on Thursday, and as the kids were sharing what they did on their day off, a big monkey jumped in the tree right outside our window and started to eat mangoes. The kids were excited and everybody flocked to the window to watch the monkey eat and jump around in the tree. I should have continued on as usual as monkeys can carry rabies and be fierce when provoked, but I was probably the most intrigued of anyone, having never seen a wild monkey outside of Swayambhunath, the monkey temple that I have previously talked about. All of a sudden, the monkey jumps out of sight. I quickly realize that it launched itself onto the patio where the artwork dries. The door to the outside is always left open to keep the floor cool, and I raced to close it to prevent the monkey from coming inside. I saw a big shadow upon getting to the door and realized the monkey was right above me. I slammed the door shut and ran into the third grade room to shut their door to the patio, as it is always left open. The monkey had jumped down and was three feet away from me as I slammed third grade's screen door shut. The students saw the monkey and went crazy, and the monkey came right up to the door to see what the commotion was. It eventually jumped back onto the roof and went on its way. Crisis averted.
Shehrish's house has recently been inhabited by a rat. Not just a normal rat, but one the size of a morbidly obese kitten. I want to buy traps, but Shehrish's mom is opposed to harming it and a conventional snap trap would probably only sting the neck of this gargantuan monstrosity. We were watching Boardwalk Empire on Thursday when it waddled into Sherry's room, causing her to scream and jump up on her bed. The rat skittered out, but that night I woke up at 3 in the morning and heard a thud on my door. Mr. Rat was outside and trying to get in. The crack between my door and the floor is small and realistically I knew it couldn't come under, but I still shoved my towel under the door to prevent the unwanted visitor. Last night, we got back from dinner and were watching TV when we heard a big crash in the bathroom. The rat was in my shower and had knocked over all of my soap and shampoo bottles. Shehrish's maid slammed the bathroom door shut, and the vermin was trapped inside the bathroom. Sherry and I went downstairs, shut all of the doors and opened the front door wide hoping that when we opened the bathroom door, Mr. Rat would scurry outside. The maid opened the bathroom door, and the rat beelined to the kitchen, realized the doors were closed, and proceeded its way up the stairs as Sherry and I sprinted to her room. We found the rat lodged between the bookcase, and Shehrish and her maid tried to get it out by banging the case with a big stick as I fearfully watched from Sherry's room. The rat didn't move, and we went to bed. This morning, Shehrish's doormat was shredded to bits, as if the rat was angry at her for messing with it. I currently am typing this in mild fear, as the rat is still at loose and we have found the majority of evidence of it in the computer room. If anyone has some tips for extermination, please share. As I did with the frogs, I have made my pleas for the rat to leave the house, but it has shown no signs of compliance thus far. Cat-sized rodents are serious business.
