Teacher in Tanzania

Animals, Pets, Pests -- whatever you want to call them we have not had the best of luck when it comes to them.

Here in Africa we have had a number of pets (note the past tense ‘had’) but for some reason we cannot hold onto them for long.

In the beginning, there was just the 5 teachers, no animals, no responsibilities -- just ourselves to look after. Supposedly our guard George (who is literally adorable I must say) wasn’t enough security therefore we were given our first dog, Dodger. The fact that he just lies down on our porch all day, doesn’t exactly settle my mind for feeling secure but apparently people are scared of dogs here.

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Then came along two cute little tortoises Gimney and Albert. Sadly after a play date in our garden we came out to see the last of the shell hanging out of our dog, Dodger’s mouth.

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We then had our dog Flash whom we rescued from the orphanage (the orphans use to torture the poor dog) but I wasn’t exactly a fan of Flash, as he took all Dodger’s attention away!

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So as you can imagine when my friend and I were driving to church (yes church of all places) and we heard a big crunch, I can’t say I wasn’t the teeniest, tiniest, little bit happy (please don’t judge, Flash was stinky and smelly).

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We then were blessed with our little cutie Mowgli who I adore. He is a bit crazy and still likes to suck our fingers (so gross), but it’s nice to have him fall asleep on you after a long day (I clearly am not getting enough cuddles) and finish off your crumbs from your biscuit. Besides drinking from my water, drinking from the toilet, pulling my underwear out of the laundry and waking me in the morning with his crying, I really do love him.

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I was so excited to introduce our new class pet Eldridge the hedgehog to my 3^rd and 4^th graders last week. The children loved him, fed him, cleaned him and cuddled him. We introduced him to the other classes in the school and Eldridge was sent pictures, letters and even had his own reading book when all the other children were reading.

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It was a student’s turn to take him home at the weekend. When I saw this girl at church she sadly told me Eldridge had died, she then strangely put her wallet in my hands. I laughed, confused at what she was doing until I saw it in her eyes, yes she had brought the wretched dead hedgehog back to school--yes the dead hedgehog, in her wallet.

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So as you can see we don’t exactly have the best luck with pets here, however unwelcome pets or should I call the pests have no problem staying alive, let me give you a few examples.

When one wants to eat honey in England you simply go to your cupboard open the jar and see yummy, runny, sweet-smelling honey. Unfortunately in Tanzania, you go into the cupboard, open the jar and find that you’re not the only one who like honey in this house. Ewww!

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