Bats Are Scary

This got into my apartment the other night. It only illustrates why I need to get a screen put over the ventilation window at the top.

Hedgistan

Well, it's about time you all knew it: I got another hedgehog baby.

Actually, I got him about two weeks ago, and I kept it quiet because I didn't want him to die again.

He came from another pet-store--the first one had sold out of the little guys. I assumed I would never see anymore li'l hedgies in Phnom Penh, and walked through around in a cloud of sorrow for the next week or so. Then, on my way home one glorious Friday afternoon, I saw an aquarium filled with four terrified balls of spikes. MORE HEDGEHOGS! They came from a hedgehog farm in Thailand, and I bought the first one that didn't suck.

He was a little orange thing, smaller than the others, sleeping stretched out in the heat. Trying to decide which one I would take home, I put him in the cage I had brought. He rolled over and began chewing on the T-shirt I had left him to snuggle in, so I took that as a sign that, unlike the others, he did not roll into a ball of spikes because he was not anti-social towards humans.

The little guy was covered in mud (why, though?) so I gave him a bath. And after he'd been washed and dried, I discovered that, like the first one, he's actually white and possum-like. Red-eyed. Ugly. He's an adult as well, and one who was not hand-raised. So he's not cuddly and sweet-natured like the first. Actually, he's shy and inclined to say, "Hmph!" while trying to stab me with his quills as I pick him up. Not a great start.

Nonetheless, he is a smart little guy, and based on what I've read about ill-socialized hedgehogs, is about as sweet as they come. I don't believe I've ever met an animal who is so reponsive to music. Here is his picture.

How can you not love the little guy?

My Stupid Life

I haven't been into updating much, because of stupid school. It's like all I do is work. I only work 6 hours a day, but I have doubled my walking time by moving to my new apartment, so that eats a significant proportion of my day. I have a 3-hour lunch break, and generally spend that time sleeping because I keep waking up at 5 am and not being able to go back to sleep. If I don't take the time to rest during lunch break, I'll have a crash during my evening classes.

Then that leaves me 8-11 pm to do everything else. My first act is to make food, which generally takes me till 9 pm, because I'm exhausted all the time in the evenings and go slowly. Internet cafes close at 9 pm or so, so I'm stuck grading papers, which I generally forget to do. Then I have to find time the next day, making it even harder for me to find the time to blog.

If only my body weren't so high maintenance these days. Anyway, I haven't been up to writing all that much. And there hasn't been too much to write, but there are a few things I want to get off my chest. Hopefully.

Ostriches

Every so often, I have an incident in class that is so outlandish, I feel the need to report it in my blog.

First, I have a very strict "no cell phones" policy. I hate when a student takes out a phone and blithely answers it when I'm trying to teach. I HATE it.

I also hate it almost as much when my students leave the room to answer the phone. They go in and out all day, and that's very distracting.

So I tell them they're in an American classroom, and we don't behave that way in America. I tell them they're gonna get the best American education ever, and if they ever apply to study abroad, they can tell the admissions officers that they've already studied in a western-style classroom.

And today, I had a student deliberately ignore everything I have lectured the class about over the last 6 weeks.

First, his phone rang loudly. "Turn it off," I said, continuing to write the assignment on the board. Rather than obey, he raised his bootleg copy of Academic Writing over his head and proceeded to answer.

I could hear the metallic voice on the other end before I could see who exactly was talking on the phone. Turning around, I saw the kid with the book held over his face, answering the little mechanical voice he was trying to hide. As if I wouldn't notice someone clearly hiding his cell phone usage behind a book.

Me: What's wrong with you? Do you think I don't notice you holding the book in front of your face? Come on! I can hear the person on the other end of the line. How retarded do you think I am? TURN IT OFF!

But I ask you: what would even possess someone to do that? We all made fun of him for the next 5 minutes or so.

*Another time, a student of mine suddenly bent forward and buried the top half of his body in his bookbag to avoid my wrathful gaze as he answered the phone. Like I wouldn't notice that, either.

The Happiest Hedgehog in Cambodia!

I originally typed this up a few days ago...and when I went to publish it the next morning, the little guy was gasping his last. That's why you don't type anything up, I guess.

I was and still am incredibly sad about this turn of events. I thought I would skip the entry entirely, but then I thought I'd like to show you a little bit about pet ownership in Cambodia. I'd also like to do something to honor his memory. He brought me such intense happiness, for such a short time.

The original text is below.

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I have a confession to make: I am a small animal addict. As you may have gathered from my obsessive love for abandoned baby sparrows and wingless butterflies, I'm the sort of person who needs a pet or two around the house to feel complete. Every day, I walk home from school past the little curbside petstores. I have to touch every animal in every cage, talk to each, tell it how wonderful, special, and loveable it is, and then walk away dreaming about which one EXACTLY I will buy when I remember to bring enough money.

I'm like one of those mentally-ill pigeon ladies in New York City who just sort of lives under a cloud of cooing birds, carrying all her possessions in a large bag: I just like having animals around me, to a creepy and excessive degree.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, one of the petstores had a new cage, filled with four tiny spikey things: BABY HEDGEHOGS. Each day, I planned my strike: one of those insanely cute little balls of quills would be MINE. I just had to amass enough pocket change and read up on how to keep them.

In a couple of days, one disappeared, then the other a couple of days later. Starting to panic, I returned to the store to choose among the remaining two.

By this time, I'd read that male hedgehogs make more laid-back pets than females, who tend to get nestie. (I've kept pet rats before and know how this can be with them). Luckily, one was male.

Unluckily, though, he was albino (read: ugly and possum-like). He was also in bad need of medical attention, having his right arm badly injured. It had been cut to the muscle all the way around. Seeds were matted into his bloody fur. His arm was swollen and immobile.

You know what that means--the little alarm bells went off in my brain: it needs you, holyrockthrower...IT NEEDS YOU. So I bought it.

You know what? Hedgehogs are expensive, in the US and in Cambodia, too. I basically had no spending money all week since I spent it all on the animal (I know, I could just go to the bank, but I'm trying to save up for a motorbike), and I had to eat slices of bread all week...but he is MINE. ALL MIIIINE!

Anyway, I've got some pictures. His injury is healing, and he's pretty much the cutest little baby I've ever seen.

Sleeping baby.

His little piggy nose.

Ugly and possum-like. (Damn right he's between my breasts.)

Aww...

Here's a video I made of him:

What Animal Is This?

I was at the Japanese Thrift Store (Toto) recently, and I saw this thing. What kind of animal is it supposed to be? A tapir? Anyone know?

It was too cute. So I bought it.

Something Strange

For some reason, as I was walking to various places today, two separate people cut me off, and both of them said "Sorry" to me for it. In English!

The first one was a shriveled, but statuesque, old lady riding a bicycle. The second time was a girl on a motorcycle.

Given that I've lived here almost a year and a half, I've yet to witness anyone ever apologize for cutting anyone else off in the streets. Especially a pedestrian. Especially in English.

ESPECIALLY TWICE IN ONE DAY.