The day started well, or badly, that all depends whose side you're on. If you are in any way 'pro rat', it was a very bad day. For us on the 'anti rat' side in the volunteer's house, this morning was a good start to the day.
It all started last night when we thought we'd got two rats at the same time. They both came out of their hole together; one went into the toilet and the other behind the shelves in the kitchen. Since the shelving one wasn't visible we focused our attention on the toilet rat. And also, since our resident rat killer (Francis) was having a shower, it was left to Sue and I to panic and wonder what to do with the stationary rat in our toilet. After much deliberating and shallow breathing, I decided that I wasn't ready to use the stick that I was meant to hit rats with. Instead, I tried the bow and arrow!!…you can guess how that turned out. The shelving rat escaped too, the result last night: Rats 2, Humans 0
However! In the shower room this morning, possibly after such a close shave last night, I found this guy:
Anyway, on only a slightly less pest related note and for all those Fatty (real name Vernacio) fans out there…as a result of our rounding up on Friday, we managed to enlist Fatty and his best friend for their first day at school!! As a result of Fridays recruitment drive, I think there was an extra 4 new guys for the youngest class and maybe 3 for the class that are a year older.
A total of 9 for the first class - 10 with a latecomer.
Oh, and look who it is!
He even wore his bestest shirt for you dear reader...or maybe it was more to impress his classmates, who knows, I can't ask him, we haven't got a clue what we're saying to each other! If you can't make it out what the writing, his t-shirt says: "MY CAR is very speedy I am too small to reach the pedals when I grow up I'LL BE KING OF THE ROAD".
Fatty's first day was a relatively musical one. A bit of musical limbering up to start off with:
And then a bit of beanbag balancing on your head, set of course to music. I didn't manage a picture of that one; I was on guitar playing duties, you see. Some clapping and jumping was also in there for good measure.
We then did a bit of counting objects in Portuguese, only up to 5 mind you, you can't expect too much, they're only 3! After all that exertion it was time for squash, a couple of biscuits, playtime and then class time over.
You'll be glad to hear that Fatty wasn't in any way scarred by his encounter, he was outside and straight to the swings after his lesson, no time to waste.
I decided that the playing looked to good to miss out on, so I joined in a bit too.
As you might expect from a cheeky, rotund little child with big eyes and chubby cheeks, he does get into a bit of trouble and could do with a little discipline at times. At those particular times, I hand him over to Francis.
So, all in all, Fatty's first day didn't go too badly after all. He brushed up on his dancing, he learnt how to count, he made some new friends and he even got some refreshments for his hard work. All in all, a successful day, I think he'll be back.
But speaking of new friends, I have someone to introduce you to. Now, from where you're sitting, she may look a bit like a Mozambican Bride Of Chucky, but she just needs to work on her posing. She may also have some dried snot under her nose, but don't we all? Ladies and gentlemen, another very cute child straight out of Inhassune, Mozambique, I give you…Isabella!
