Itty bitty kitty committee

My life is once again full of little scraps of life. Last night, my kitten quest was satisfied. Ramata’s friend Sidiki heard about some family that had kittens and didn’t want them, so we went over to investigate. Sure enough, back hidden behind a mattress and some crates were 4 or 5 kittens that ran for cover as soon as we came in. I managed to scoop up one, a little girl kitten, but since I was looking for a male (easier to fix here), I let her go and we said we’d come back later when the kittens had calmed down. An hour or two later, we went back again, and somehow I managed to scoop up the same little kitten. At that point, I figured I was probably meant to have her if she was the one I kept catching. She’s adorable—mostly white with a little calico coloring around her forehead and ears. I named her Pili [pìlǐy], meaning ‘little white one’ in Tommo-So. I’d caught a glimpse of a beautiful little calico kitten, who I figured was male, so I said I’d come back again later on and try to take him to. I figured Pili could use a friend.

I wrapped up her tiny body in my scarf and carried her home. She was quite calm all the way, only crying when we got to the house. We got her some disgusting meat scraps (fat, stomach, etc.) and curdled milk at the market. I don’t think she knows how to eat too well yet, but she licked the milk off of my finger with her sandpaper tongue. Curiously enough, she really enjoyed the pasta we were eating for dinner, so we gave her a small dish of that.

After dinner, Sidiki and I went back for a third time to the house across the neighborhood. I guess his friend Safiatum lives there, a nice young woman, probably 19 years old. She told me I was welcome to come by at any time, and I think she meant it. Apparently the mother was back behind the crates with the kittens this time, so to my dismay, they chased her out with a broom (she shot out like a rocket, tail puffed to the highest degree) and scared out the kittens. My intuition was right, and the little calico was a boy. I fell in love and decided to take him too.

He was more scared on the way back, digging his little claws through my shirt and into my chest. When we got him home, he pretty much went and hid instantly until he found his sister. I named him Samba, the name of an adorable little kid in the village.

I took them into my room last night, where the promptly went and hid under my bookshelf, huddled together for warmth and security. I’d created a little house for them under a mosquito net, but they did not want to come out of hiding. Finally, I just went to bed. Once the lights were out, though, their pathetic mewing started up. I would shine the flashlight on them and they would stop, staring at me with their worried little eyes (Pili always looks kind of concerned). Then I would turn it off and they’d start up again. Eventually they came out and started to romp on a piece of bubble wrap (luckily without popping anything—that’s the last thing they needed) and I let them in to my mosquito net to sleep with me. They curled up their little bodies against my leg and fell asleep. They only peed on my sheets twice, but since they’re little kittens, not only was it a very small amount but it also didn’t smell too bad.

They’re getting more confident today. They sat in the armchair behind M. le Maire as we worked today, alternately napping and wrestling with one another. They’re just too adorable. As I write this, Pili is asleep on my stomach and Samba at my hip. Their soft little bodies are just what I need to give me courage.

Other than the kittens, things are going well here. I finished the rough draft of the dictionary on Friday night, and now I’m in the process of revising. I need to make sure that I have the pronunciation right for everything and that the words themselves are correct. In addition to that, I’m trying to jot down any cultural information about various words to make the dictionary more interesting. It’s slow going and I’m sure there will always be mistakes, but the progress is considerable. Two weeks and I hope to have this thing done.

Dave and Phil are coming over for dinner tonight. I think one of these days I’ll clean out the inside room of the house that has the couches and chairs in it so we can have movie nights in there. With all this work now, though, I don’t know when I’ll have time for that.