The Bats and I did Laundry

The roof makes the apartment. Last night, I decided I didn’t want to endanger any of my clothes to the bleeding experience that happened last time. So after a 5 hour soak, I rinsed and hung my laundry at 10:30. Of course, I had to wear my sweet headlamp (thank you mama) and hose myself and my dress in bug spray. (Yes the horrible dress that bled all over my clothes last time)

I’ll be honest. I hate hand washing clothes, but I love the urban feel of hanging my clothes on the line. And the urban feel of everything. We have guards at our gates to greet us and there are kids riding their bikes inside the gate, playing hide and seek behind the cars. When I wake up in the morning, as I brush my teeth, I wave over to the next apartment whose kitchen window is 10 feet away from ours. It feels like we cook dinner with them every night.

There are babies crying all the time-but it will all of the sudden go completely quiet and you will hear a few women softly singing, harmonized and everything. The little kids all yell from balcony to balcony to see if someone wants to play or if it is time to go home for dinner. Sometimes I go up on the roof to sit and read and the little kids will hide behind the pillars around me whispering mzungu or just hiding until I chase them to the stairs. I also love the sound of cats fighting each other. That’s another class favorite.

So back to my thoughts on laundry in the dark on our apartment roof. It is great. I listened to some great tunes-you know some Postal Service, The Corrs, and Coldplay. And as I sat down on the cement, next to the laundry line, I saw a shooting star go all the way across the sky and watched the bats chase each other. Not a bad life.