Of Mice and Men - Episode 2: Meeting Minnie

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a woman." ~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

And so Mickey, being in possession of such a great fortune as the art centre and all of the contents therein (see previous episode for details), apparently was in want of a girlfriend. Enter Minnie. I suspect that the lovely lady took part in the destruction of the centre, but being a lady, resisted scarfing down the arsenic-laced peanut butter, therefore effectively avoiding the tragic fate of her lover. Of course, Minnie knew a good thing when she saw it, and though probably heartbroken at the death of Mickey, decided that a return visit would be ok.

I had seen evidences of Minnie's presence over the past couple of weeks, but nothing that couldn't be swept up quite easily. No destruction. Until last Tuesday. Last Tuesday afternoon, Nathan and I headed out to the art centre, blissfully unaware of what awaited us there. Thinking that a pot of coffee would be lovely, I slipped into the kitchen to wash some mugs and grab the Hazelnut creamer. That's when I saw it...packages of Splenda scattered 'round the countertop, with tiny crumbs of something everywhere. I was quite sure I hadn't left the kitchen in such a state. With a sneaking suspicion that we'd had a visitor, I inspected the situation a little more closely. Sure enough, a package of cookies had a tell-tale claw marks with a trail of crumbs, and there were rat droppings on the floor. "Oh nooo! NATHAN! We have a visitor..." About the time the words left my mouth, I hear a yell from the other room. I looked out to see Minnie, running furiously around the room, and Nathan, doing some fancy footwork to accompany the yelling. I shrieked and did some jumping of my own, and poor Minnie ran for her life and hid in the storage room. What ensued over the next 10 minutes should perhaps be left to your imagination, but it included a mop, a broom, yelling, more fancy footwork, and a very scared rat running over bare toes before it fled the centre. After a celebratory high-five, we got back to work, only to have the peace and quiet interrupted by 10 minutes of screaming. Apparently the kids outside had seen the rat. Eventually the screaming stopped, and the doorbell rang. Standing outside the door were 15 kids with long sticks, enthusiastically reporting the death of Minnie. She should've just eaten the poison. It would have been a far less violent way to go.

On "firsts" and the value of persistence...

The past five months have been full of "firsts," and yesterday was no different. I went to my first Arabic class at the new school I'm attending, and I met my friend Marie at Subway for lunch. Subway was a favorite in the States (fresh veggies on wheat bread instead of a greasy hamburger? Count me in!), but until yesterday, I'd never tried the Cairo version. It was lovely - Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki on Honey Oat bread, with any fresh veggies you want. It was a delightful "first." The bathroom experience was entirely another matter altogether...also a first, but only delightful because it was so odd...here is how that went...

"Hello, may I take order please?"

"No, I don't want to order yet, I am waiting for a friend. Is there a bathroom I can use?"

"No. No bathroom"

"Really?? There is no bathroom here? At all?"

"No, sorry."

"Oh. Really? Why is there no bathroom?"

"Well, there is a bathroom, but can't use, because of some construction."

"Oh really?"

"Well, if you want to go down there you can." At this point, the Subway employee is pointing to a square hole in the floor next to the counter, below which one can see stairs descending into a black abyss...

"The bathroom is down there?"

"Yes, you can go, it's ok. You can leave your bag, is ok."

"Umm, how do you get to the bathroom??"

"You go down. Is ok. You can go. Leave bag here is ok."

"I just go down into that hole, and then climb back up?"

"If you want, you can go down and come up. Is ok. Leave bag here is ok. No problem. Is ok."

"Ooook..." At this point, I dropped my bag into the chair, and lowered myself down into the hole, ducked down the stairs, and found quite a lovely bathroom available to anyone who was willing to brave climbing in and out of a hole in the floor. I'm sure I was a sight, coming in and out of there, and I really wished I had a camera with me to document the unusual experience. It was a first, and hopefully a last. But interesting nonetheless. Thank you, Subway.