On another note--if you want to know how to scare a new mother in a foreign land just have her put the baby to bed, take a shower and when she gets out all refreshed have the house alarm going off and smell something on fire. She will then run through the house trying to find said fire and then rush outside in the pouring rain in her towel to see the guard running up to the house saying "Madame! Madame!" --Her heart will jump through the roof -- Then, "Sorry, Madame, I accidentally hit the panic button."
I still don't know if I psycho-sematically saw/smelled smoke or some asshole next door is burning their trash (both are equally likely.) Anyway, all is well, but I am still shaky because I had one of those fight or flight moments of whether to yank Emme out of her crib before I knew for sure something was wrong. I also thought all was going to end. In Africa. In my towel. What a headline that would be: "Mzungu
The inside house alarm is still beeping by the way--super annoying. I can't decide if I have earned a Diet Caffeine-Free Dr Pepper or a Miller Lite...or maybe both.
