The Zoo

Lately I feel like I live in a zoo. We have more animals in our yard and near our house than I would have thought possible. We have ants all over almost everywhere. In the kitchen, on the floor, in my bed sometimes. But they're not that bad. We have dogs and cats. Lately, we've had chickens and chicks, and even a rooster in our yard. I don't know how the chickens can get through our gate. . .

We've always had geckos (little lizards) which I like. We've always had toukays (bigger lizards - maybe 10 inches long?). One night I came downstairs to pee in the middle of the night. There was a big toukay on the wall in our living room. I was a little surprised!

It is rainy season now, which is GREAT! I love the rain! But it's also (I think) bringing frogs and toads to our house. They're always by our gate, so when I go at night to lock the gate, I can't see them until they start hopping. Yuck. Thankfully we don't have any big gross bugs - like cockroaches.

We still have the cats and dogs. And kittens which are actually a little cute.

I think tomorrow I'm going to the Lao Zoo! I've wanted to go for a while. It's about 2 hours away from Vientiane.

Speaking of animals, I hope this doesn't bother anyone too much. I went to my friend's house the other day. When I arrived, her nephew shoved a long stick with a small lizard hanging on the end by a string in my face. The string was tied around his neck, and I thought he was dead. But then the nephew tried to make the lizard walk on the ground and climb the tree, which it could actually do, so it was still alive. I asked my friend, and she said when she was young she always used to tie lizards to the end of strings to play with them for a couple of hours. Kinda mean, but the little boy was sure having fun!

Sick

Today I was feeling a little sick. I texted my class president and a few others in the class to tell them there would be no class at 10:00 because I'm not feeling the best. I laid on the couch to take a little nap. One of my students who I see outside of class texted me and said, "Yes! After school I will go." I am often confused by the texts I receive from my students. So, I first thought, No, please don't come to my house, I want to sleep. But then thought, maybe she didn't understand . . .

I had been kinda sleeping on the couch and I heard our gate open and a motorbike come in a little after ten. I got up to let them in. It was only two girls. They brought me yogurt/milk stuff and some fruit and bread. It was really sweet! Then we just sat around on the couches and talked. Then one of them gave me a massage so I wouldn't feel sore. :) And we sat and talked more. I fell asleep for a little bit and it was totally fine. They were just checking on me to make sure I was doing ok. It was actually pretty nice having them here. It would have been nice to sleep, but it was super sweet of them! I feel like in the States people like to be left alone when they're sick, but not in Laos. I've also gotten tons of texts from my students checking on me and hoping that I feel better soon! I only have a small headache and stomachache.

Then a few hours after they left, they called to check on me again. She thinks that I should go to the doctor and she will take me now if I want to go. I assured her I was fine!