Ladoo, the baby rabbit
So, we got the bunny,
and two hamsters too. I’m distracted as I write this cause Ladoo is hoping around the room and Im trying to keep an eye on him. When Loraine brought him to the institute, Nung, the boy who used his lunch money to buy the bunny, and suggested that I take care of it, handed it to me, bundled in a small hat, big enough to fit in one hand, comfortably in two. Right now he’s settled down and is sprawled out next to me on the floor, head on the linoleum to suck up the cool from the floor on this blazing day. But let me back up. When he arrived I admit to feeling slightly possessive, if only because I was so worried about him, so small and skinny. Nung said I could name him and then when five other teachers gathered round to pat and coo and decide a name I felt the immature urge to let them know that that way my job. I didn’t say anything that obnoxious and realized that it would be better the more people could help take care of him and give him love. The five of us – an Indian from Singapore, Yamini, me, and a Chinese Malaysian agreed on Ladoo—a round, yellowish Indian sweet. Our tiny round ball of fur resembled it, and we all had good associations receiving the treat as a blessing after various ceremonies. The boys (musicians) did end up picking a name –Lagatto so Ladoo is officially his nickname ( the hamsters are Major and Minor). Speaking of the hamsters – the first night all went well. When I woke up Yamini casually asked me if I’d seen a fat brown hamsters running around the room. What! “They both got out, we found the white one, but can’t find the other.” Ahh, I tried to stay calm, we dug through our room, and it was getting late (that is nearing 5:30, time to leave for prayers). Finding him, was of course much more important than prayers, but maybe we needed to pray to find him. I stayed back to keep looking, I couldn’t bare the thought of him lose in our room, that I could sit on him any moment or that he’d die first. After a futile ½ of searching every crany, up curtains, behind dressers, I had the sudden urge to first clean our room. It was so dusty that I hadn’t really got on my hands and knees and crawled around on the floor (memories of the hairy spider half the size of my hand that I’d seen the first day didn’t help). So, I got out a broom and swept, and sure enough out hopped little brown Major, scrambling from under my bed to the spot behind my bureau, I got him safely back in his cage and found a new lock. Ladoo, super cute and calm in the eyes of everyone else, seemed sick to me and the woman from Colombia. He hadn’t eaten anything but veggies and looked too small to be weaned. I didn’t want to appear overworrying, and I really didn’t know what he’s supposed to eat, so some calls home asking my dad to ask my aunt, and reading online confirmed that he should have milk. Also Bank, who got him, finally added, 3 days later, “the man at store said milk, no water” gee, do you think you could have told us earlier? So, finally I convinced Lorraine of the urgency and when we dropper-fed him milk he practically ate the dropper.
PS, have these posts been getting boring? I wrote a really funny one the other day but it wasn’t totally PC and since a few people (JC namely) were discussing them I took it down, I’ll try to both keep in PC and positive without such boring long thought processes, we’ll see if i can.
Tags: Thailand, Travel
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