Since I’ve started sleeping inside my hut every night I’ve had several waves of houseguests: crickets, bats, frogs. The bats have been the most polite – neither as noisy as the crickets or as messy as the frogs… plus they eat mosquitoes. There is something comedic about the frogs though. There have been days when I’ve thrown at least 15 frogs out of my hut (Holy Moses! When can I expect the locusts and rivers of blood?!). And yes, I literally throw them. I pick them up and throw them like baseballs. Have you ever had a handful of frogs? I have. There are just so many of them and it doesn’t seem to really hurt them (I’ve seen them hit the back fence when my pitching arm got tired and hop off like nothing happened) and its sort of funny to watch them go flying through the air with their little legs sprawled out in every direction. Also, Senegalese people are terrified of frogs and I get a huge kick out of their reaction to the Toubab chucking them over her fence. In truth, I wouldn’t really mind the frogs hanging out in my room, especially because they’ve done an excellent job of reducing the rather disruptive cricket population, except that they leave these horrible smelly slimy messes all over. Sorry frogs, you are not welcome chez Nafi. Tanko is the only hut-mate I need.
Good for you for sticking to what you feel is the right sort of thing to bring to your village. There's nothing like knowledge being passed down from one person to the next. It's a fine gift. Love you! Mom
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