African Killer Bees!

Happy Halloween!

So this morning we woke up and were too scared to leave our house because there was a huge swarm of African Killer Bees outside our door! Just yesterday, Fr. Jim was telling us all these horror stories about these African bees, about how they swarm around you, and you never just get stung by one, and that when they all sting you, you had better get to the hospital quick, or else you will swell up and die. You can imagine us when we woke up this morning, wanting to go the bathroom, and were too afraid to open the door due to the loud buzzing of a swarm of bees around our porch. Now, our house is set up so that when you walk out our front door, there is a porch that opens up to a small courtyard. Across the courtyard (about 10 ft) is our bathroom and the gate to get out. There is only one way out, we were trapped! Luckily, about 10 minutes later (after trying to brainstorm what we should do), one of the hospital watchmen walked by, so we called out to him and explained the situation, thankfully he was the one who speaks decent English. He told us to stay put, and went to get help. Fr. Jim wasn't around, so he brought the head doctor. After assessing the situation, he declared that the bees weren't acting "aggressive" and that it would be ok to walk out. So, fully garbed in close-toed shoes, long pants, and my rain jacket, I ventured out slowly (per the Dr, if you move slowly, they won't attack you), and made it out of the complex. Steph and Rach packed up stuff for the day, and we all got out safe and sound! We haven't been back yet, so hopefully the bees won't be too angry tonight when we go home. The story is you can only kill them during the night, so we'll see how that goes!

On a different note, our address here is:

Kowak Hospital

PO Box 28

Tarime, Tanzania

I guess it takes about 2-3 weeks for mail to get here. just saying. :-)