I thought the bugs were bad before, but with the rainy season upon us, more critters are getting flooded out of their homes and seeking shelter indoors. Think beetles, winged termites, and yet another variety of ants. As soon as we turn the lights on in the evening, there they are, en masse. Even my 10 year-old critter lover was heard to comment, “This is just too many bugs!” But he was thrilled to have one of the girls stumble upon this one morning:

On Friday, our neighbor (who is a single guy living in a stick-and-mud hut about the size of our bathroom) noticed that the rains were causing his walls to cave in. Early in the morning, we heard him removing his metal roof so Marc and the boys went over to see what they could do to help. They donated some tools and nails and went to work smashing the walls and clearing the area. Here they are at break time:

By the end of the day, the house was demolished and the re-build was begun.

Recently Isaiah went to market with Jane.  I asked him to bring me home a small bar of chocolate and gave him permission to get a little treat for the children as well. He decided on a big block of molasses/sugar candy, which was a big hit and also a bit messy. Here’s Enoch with Jane, enjoying his first taste of the sweet stuff:

And finally, we introduce you to Paka (which means “Cat” in Swahili). She is a great lap cat and a good mouser, so everyone loves her. Enoch is her favorite, which is certainly odd. He seeks her out specifically to pull her fur and whiskers mercilessly. Yet she approaches him for attention and even purrs while he tugs on her. Here is a photo of Enoch hugging Paka while he is nursing–it was a very cute moment: