Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Chicken Story

So as I am working at RUHU I am living at a traveler's hostel in Kampala called Red Chili. It's a great place, full of mzungu tourists and overland safari trucks. Most people are transient, but some things never change here- the staff, my goat and her newborn, and the chickens. The chickens run Red Chili and they know it. Each is very territorial and will scare you to death if you walk to close to their domain on a dark night. One particular chicken has decided that my dorm room is his dorm room- particularly the kitchen. He is a black chicken that likes to sleep on the gas stove top at night. The light bulb in there has burnt out, so he tends to scare the unsuspecting tourist wandering into the kitchen to do their dishes. Usually I cook before it gets dark to avoid the showdown but on one particular night I got back late and was too hungry to stand down. I've seen Ugandan women grab chickens my the ankles, but I cannot understand how you do this without getting pecked. After a few attempts at picking him up I have come no closer, but look more like I am doing starting a lawnmower as I fling my arm back each time he pecks at me.

In my next attempt I grab my purse and try to nudge the chicken off the stove top. Aware that he has the upper hand, the chicken ain't budging. As I push harder and harder his squawking gets louder, but still he won't move. I figure this isn't the first time he has had to fight for the stove top bed. By now, people are walking through the kitchen staring so in an attempt to regain a little dignity I knock the chicken as hard as my conscious will allow. This sends him off of the counter squawking and flapping, and in the free fall his leg gets wrapped up in a toaster cord. Chicken and toaster hit the ground with a bang. Europeans are walking in to see if I have slaughtered my dinner yet, because it certainly sounded like it.

Victorious I walk to my luggage to get dinner ingredients, and as I walk back into the kitchen and think to myself "finally the chicken got the hint and went outside". Apparently not. Just as I am thinking this I hit something with my foot and scream at the top of my lungs, waking up the dormers. I punted, literally sent this chicken flying, across the kitchen.

** I know it's not work related, sorry. **

1 comment:

Sharon said...

I'm confused -- did you make another trip to Uganda in October or is this a re-post from July?