Cockroach

Alright, so I had my first run-in with a very large, very disgusting (albeit harmless) insect, and I admit, I may not have handled it with much grace…


Since arriving in Cameroon, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of waking up each morning at 5:30am for no apparent reason. Maybe it’s the incessant crowing of roosters everywhere, maybe it’s the prayer signals from the nearby mosques, maybe it’s the slightly uncomfortable beds or the slightly uncomfortable heat. Whatever the reason, I’ve continually been waking up at this unnecessarily early hour. So I wasn’t surprised when Thursday morning, at Ann and Willie’s, I woke up again at 5:30 and found myself unable to go back to sleep. I decided that perhaps if I took a quick bathroom break, I would have an easier time returning to my pleasant dreams.

As I headed to the bathroom, I remembered that there had been a dead cockroach in the corner by the door for the past day (I had previously confirmed with Brent that it was truly dead), so I cautiously avoided that. Then it happened. As I shut the bathroom door, a huge, evil looking, squirmy, gross creature crawled rapidly the other way, out of the bathroom. As my heart skipped a beat and I stared at the floor stunned, I decided that it was out of my way for the time being and that I could briefly go about my business. But then came the hard part… leaving the bathroom to go back to bed. Praying that the insect had gone on its merry way, I start slowly prying the door open. There it was again, and I swear it was looking at me! It started coming back toward the bathroom, close to where its dead friend resided. Quick to think, I jumped up on the toilet so it wouldn’t be able to get me (as dangerous as it was…). Staring and the floor and attempting to figure out my next plan, I saw its little tail tentacles move under the door, so I did the most logical next step: yelled for Brent.

As Brent slowly arose after realizing I wasn’t in any grave danger, the cockroach decided to play a fun hiding game. As I swore to my fiancée that the cockroach was real and was “right there,” he searched and searched and found nothing. He somehow was able to convince me that I was delusional, get me down from my perch on the toilet and calm me down enough to go back to bed.

What do you know, as I was lying there in bed, I heard a quiet, “Courtney, you should get up.” Thinking it was some kind of April fool’s joke, I almost ignored him, until he advised again, “Really, you should get up!” Turns out that sneaky cockroach was RIGHT next to my bed and was making its way to my head, and who knows what kind of horrible plans it had in mind! I ran to the highest place I could find: the top of my suitcase and waited there until the roach was gone. Luckily, Brent is faster than a cockroach and was able to take care of it. Whew!

Now that that’s over, I think I’m ready for anything. The next giant insect that comes along I think I will be able to handle much more gracefully :) … perhaps.

Courtney