Just one more

Just one more story about the cat. I know that some are worried cuz I am tending to go on and on and on about Willy, but just one more.

I guess that Willy wasn’t really happy at my place. I had to be told this. I wasn’t clever enough to deduce this myself. Sure, he cried a lot, but I didn’t think that meant he was miserable.

So I suggested that he might be happier at the office – a big compound, lots of people, space to roam, and lots of little critters. So on a Saturday we started to talk about relocating him.

We have a fantastic logistics group. They can move about anything. Just a couple of weeks ago I watched them move and hoist a 2-ton generator up into the back of one of our Unimogs, without any mechanical aid.

However, moving Willy generated plenty of discussion and it wasn’t until the following Wednesday that we were finally able to get him into a vehicle and bring him to the office.

He has found a home. He is very content. I check on him throughout the day, and often I will find him in the warehouse curled up on a chair or a pallet fast asleep. He does still cry occasionally, but it is usually because he is hungry. I am still accepting responsibility for his food and I try to get to the store to buy tinned tuna or other canned cat food, but I don’t always bring it back as soon as I should.

That is changing as of this morning. I got to the warehouse to say hello to Willy and I was startled by Kama and Serge as they both pounced on me when I entered. Fortunately they both like cats and are taking good care of Willy and have become quite keen to his yearnings and habits.

Brenda… Willy only likes to eat fresh fish! He really only likes to eat fresh fish!

Then they described how quickly he ate the grilled fish Kama bought him yesterday, compared to how he eats the stuff I get him.

Then they sat back and stared at me.

Ok, ok, but who will cook the fish?

The woman who cleans the office…. there is even a small stove in the kitchen.

So I hopped in a vehicle and went to the market and bought enough fresh fish for a week.

I may have to ask Amsterdam if we can have a small budget for cat food. But I promise I won’t tell you about it.

C’est tout.

Emergency Relief

I work for an emergency relief organization. I deliberately made this choice. I wanted to feel that I was doing some good and sure, I like excitement.

So this morning at 5h45 the idea came to me to create a list of top 10 emergencies in which I have been directly involved (everybody likes lists, non?).

■It was the 1st quarter budget-reporting period, so it was a busy week and would continue to be so. I had just returned from a very exhausting 140km, 7hr journey from our most distant project and I had one day to catch up on work in the office before heading out to our other 2 projects. I stepped out of the vehicle, dumped my bag, and turned on the computer to check emails.

There was a message from the project I was next going to visit. They had an emergency stock rupture. They had run out of cornflakes and mint tea – would I have time to get out to the expat grocery store?

■After a poor night of sleep, during which I had been unable to fall asleep until after 2h30, I was awoken by a rapping on my bedroom door. It was 5h30. I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. It was the expat who was catching an early flight to Europe for her 10-day vacation.

Good morning. Do you have an extra set of earphones, cuz I forgot mine in the project? No, okay, bye-bye, see you in 2 weeks.

■I stood on the terrace and watched the vehicle pull away from the house, taking her to the airport. I stood in that just-awoken daze, wondering what kind of earphones? Had she been playing a cute little joke just so she could say good-bye to me? Had this really just happened?

I then heard a cell phone ringing and ringing. I wondered why the guard didn’t answer his phone.

Then I realized that it was my phone, buried somewhere in my bag in the next room. Ah…. who could it be?

This vacationing expat just realized that she had forgotten to retrieve her banking and credit cards, which one needs for life in Europe. These cards were in the safe at the office. The car was heading back to get me… as I am the keeper of the keys.

I am sure I will be able to add to this list…..