The next night .....
The second night I am REALLY scared. I lay under the mosquito net, unable to sleep. One of the cats
was lying with me. We spent hours freaking each other out. We would be calm and then I would hear something. I would jump up, straining to hear... And the cat would jump up, stare at me, stare into the dark. Then I would settle down.
Then 30 minutes later, the cats ears would perk up and he would arch his back. He would listen, I would freak.
We did this to each other for a long time. And finally, the noise. Around and around the bed
and into the other room. All I can hear is a low growl from the other room. It is under the "table" (a metal truck up on cement blocks). I can hear it and it is between me and the door. How do I escape?
I wait a while. Until I can bear it no longer. The sun is coming up helping clear away some of the scaryness.
I crawl out from under the net and RUN! out the door. As I go I look under the table and I see...
the other cat.
I bring my headmaster to my home. I believe it is the cat with the punture wound making all that reackt. But I don't know why. And why does it have a puncture wound? Does it have rabies? Did it pucture itself in a fury? Is it a bite from the bat? Did the
bat give it rabies. Was it injured while saving me? I didn't know what to do!
So, I put it in a box and took it to Farafenni.
Farafenni is the town closest to mine. It is much bigger than Illiasa. They have electicity every other night for 6-8 hours. The have a movie theatre that plays old action flicks and Indian movies (from India). There are little "chop shops" or restaurants where I can buy meat or fried eggs.
All of these things that I don't have in Illiasa.
I go to Farafenni because I hear there is a vet. First I stop by the home of the Peace Corps volunteer: Abhijit Chatterjee.
But he is not home. I am sobbing, a bit hysterical as I walk around this small town looking for the vet. After being turned away from some places and ignored at others, I find the vet.
He asks me if the cat has been vaccinated for rabies.
I say no.
He chastizes me.
"But it is not my cat."
He is not listening.
He says perhaps it has worms in it's brains, perhaps rabies. Do I want to put the cat down?
"no!" It is not my cat.
There is nothing he can do for us except give me salve for the puncture. How could I put down a cat that may have saved my life and is only sick?
I head back to Abhijit's house. Now he is home. As soon as I see him I start to sob. He brings me in, takes care of me. Tells me to wash my face, we are getting something to eat.
I spend the night. The cat in a box next to me. Abhijit in the other room on a wicker bed. He keeps the doors open because it is so hot. I have no mosquito net, the door is open and cats are out and about. Peeking in...
I was so scared. I didn't sleep. Abhijit couldn't figure out what I was afraid of. DUH!
The next night I convince him to come sleep over at Bill's house.
God it was hot. It was so hot. At first he was sleeping in the other room but I asked him to sleep with me in the bed. I was scared. He did. I immediately fall asleep. I feel safe for the first time since I arrived in Illiasa. And then....
He wakes me up! He is hungry! Ahh... so I get up and heat some stew in a can from the USA. We eat. And then... Um.. maybe he needs a massage.... I give him one.... maybe I need one too...
We got pretty intimate. We didn't have sex but... we definitely were on our way.
Of course with a protector there, the cats didn't act up. He probably thought I was a baby. Oh well. But the next morning I was STILL exhausted. 3 Nights and I still hadn't had any sleep. But all of my problems would be solved because Bill was coming back today. HE could deal with the problem.
Abhijit leaves for his own hut and Bill finally arrives "home" as it starts to get dark. He gets a ride in from a English Volunteer from VSO (Volunteer Service Organization). They get their own motor scooters while PCV are not even allowed to RIDE them, let alone OWN one.
Like I said, it was getting pretty dark, so the girl decides to spend the night in Bills home. She will sleep on the wicker bed in the front room, and he in the bedroom. I go home.
The next morning I stop by Bills for breakfast and there is quite a commotion inside. It seems the cats DID freak out that night, terrifying Bill. I guess he crawled into bed with the girl. Bill is clearly shaken and has already had the cats put to death. He had 2 local boys come in, put the cats in a burlap sack and take them away to beat the to death. So humane for a PCV, I know.
With the cats gone, Bill decides we may need some help, so we head down-country for rabies shots. (But don't worry, we didn't need 14 to the belly or anything like that. In PC you get a lot of profilactic shots. We had a pre-shot for rabies alreay. All we needed were 2 booster shots, 3 days apart.
The cat incident behind me, what else is there to tell? Click
here to find out.
To my PC Table of Contents
Email: thefattraveler@hotmail.com