Creature Comforts : When a Craigslist Roommate Search Goes Bad.

I have been blessed with an amazing, new, large concrete house for my sojourn here in Burkina. It comes equipped with a large salon; two bedrooms, an indoor washing area and high ceilings. My new “pad” has been enviously admired by other volunteers, but I found out recently that it is not only other volunteers who think moving into my house is a good idea. My humble abode also houses innumerable lizards, termites, crickets and spiders, the occasional fuzzy caterpillar, inchworms, millipieds and a toad. A toad who likes to stop by and leave me presents. But the newest seen housemate (although he has been around for a month) is a rat who has taken up residence in my walls.

I will be the first to admit that my house is pretty large for a single occupant, being that it is bigger than previous apartments I have shared; but my new “roomie” is definitely not one I would have picked. Roommates almost always have some habits that the other may not agree with, but my new roomie is grossly deficient in the “human decency” field. Staying up all night making noise, digging in the walls, eating other housemates, going to the bathroom in the house (this is why we have a latrine), and never once has he offered to take out the trash. If I had wanted a husband, I would have asked for a ring.

Although there is no official rental agreement to depend on, I think it is time for my roommate to be evicted.

Reader’s Poll:
Who/what will Krista’s next housemate be?
A. Poisonous snake.
B. Family of bats.
C. Herd of goats.
D. Some other random menagerie.

***Update as of Oct 28: New housemates: bats, mice, and scorpions***