Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Three's Company


            Being newlyweds, I was excited to get settled into our apartment in Luanda. Just Adam and me. Little did I know at the time that we would be getting a roommate. Introducing Lizzy the Lizard. Yes, our roommate is a small lizard, and yes, we gave her a name. Who wants to live with a no-named stranger?
            At first I hated everything about the fact that we had a roommate. One, we are newlyweds with a roommate. Two, she is a lizard. Three, she doesn’t live in a cage and makes herself right at home in our apartment. And four, she isn’t the slightest bit scared of us despite the fact that we are practically giants in her little world. I’ve never been scared of lizards, but I can honestly say that having a lizard pop up out of no where can certainly get the blood flowing.
            Lizzy often joins me for breakfast. I’ll be fixing myself a bowl of cereal, and when I go to grab my spoon, she is sitting there on the counter right next to our silverware just waiting on me. Good morning to you too, Lizzy! And when she isn’t joining me for breakfast, she loves to help out with the laundry. I found her just sitting in our laundry basket one afternoon. Although she is friendly and helpful, she still needs her own space as well. I often find her lounging in her favorite “me” spots, the corners of the ceiling.
            I told Adam that Lizzy needed to find a new home, but he convinced me to let her stay. He explained to me that the lizards eat mosquitos, so if we let her stay in our apartment she will be sure to keep the apartment and us malaria free. The thought of having to go through the traumatic malaria experience again was enough to secure Lizzy a permanent room in our apartment for as long as she wants to stay.
            Even though Lizzy is always welcome in our apartment, she has taken a recent vacation to go explore the rest of the compound. I am sure that she isn’t too far from home, though. I just keep waiting for her to pop back up and surprise me. Until then, it’s just the two of us.

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