May 16, 2011

• Anti-Monkey Butt

  For your entertainment purposes... we were given a bottle of this awesome anti-friction powder: http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/ Seriously, my topic of writing this time is focused on monkey. So I thought it would be funny to throw a shout out to some special (short bus riding) friends of ours. They know who they are! I better get commission from that company for advertising on my blog! So Liz and I finally made it out to two building sites on Saturday. They are both in the town of Mukono, east of Kampala. These schools are the primary focus for our coming to Uganda. They are the sponsored schools that will receive teams for construction from United States. The schools have been blessed to receive property that is in excess of what they need. So the options for construction are endless... As we were meeting at the sites, after two hours of driving on the bumpiest roads ever driven, in a car that is comparable to the Ford Festiva, old school version. I am pretty sure we concluded the day with shaken baby syndrome! Anyway, we got some information about the property. We discussed the vision that they have for the schools. We also discussed the priorities for construction. It was a very productive day. After hours of driving for hours, meeting on the sites for hours, we concluded talking about the group of monkeys that were jumping between trees in the bush very near to us. The whole time, while meeting, they school folk wanted to learn more about us. So we talked about who we are, about the children, their dog/goat, etc. So as we were looking at the monkeys, impressed with the fact that we were out of range for poo flinging, we were talking about what they do about the monkeys. Are they a nuisance? Of course, are they edible? And the land keeper mentioned that some people keep them as pets. Shut the front door! You can keep those primates for pets!!! Obviously that perked my interest... In further talking to them, they said that they could catch a monkey in less than a week. They could call us and tell us if we wanted to have one. Immediately, we were thinking about Gracie's birthday that is coming up. What would be better to break the middle-child syndrome than giving her a monkey for her birthday. Could you imagine? I can't even imagine the look on her face as that came walking through the gate. They were telling us that if we wanted one, it would have to remain caged for sometime as it got used to us (instantly, Dutch Lizzy rears her head and said "we cannot afford that!"). I figured, we are just using the latrine for the goat house anyway. Then they were talking about the monkey's diet... veggies and fruit. Dutch Lizzy exclaimed, "we CANNOT afford that!" But my interest was still perked. So we left the property with no answer to the land keeper on catching a monkey. The subject changed quickly as we started walking down from the building site. So when we got home, I started looking on the internet about domesticating monkeys. Of course the first few websites are about the inhumane conditions that most monkeys are kept in. After filtering the negative emails, I found an informative website about monkeys. Specifically, the commitment, the species that do best as pets, etc. It just so happens that the monkey available for capture is the Vervet Monkey. It is one of the species that is suggested for having as a pet. As I finished reading the website, yes I subdued my attention deficit disorder long enough to finish, there was a disclaimer about the "germs" that are possibly carried by monkeys. The first two started with H's... Herpes and Hepatitis B! Enough said, Grace is not getting a monkey for her birthday. I will take her monkey watching. It just so happens I know of a good place you can see them, in Mukono!

  • 10:29 am
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