Bees!

Well people might or might not find this exciting, but we certainly did last night. To begin with, we haven't really given too much space to explaining our housing situation, but let's leave it to my assertion that our host mother is 'special' (I had to go back and delete the primary adjectives). A recent example:

Context: We have a small balcony upon which there was/is an unbelievable bee hive of the sort I have never seen before. It is constantly covered with bees who are doing what they do- that is, whatever it is that bees do. So, these bees weren't really a nuiscance, as they were so buys preoccupied with being bees that they never bothered us when we went outside.

Setting: Jo and I and Sara (our housemate) our quietly doing work in our air conditioned room, the lady of the house walks into the room (without knocking) accompanied by the doorman who is carrying a smoldering container of cow shit. Of course, one's first reaction: great, the room was really missing something before, i couldn't figure out what it was, oh right! the smell of burning cow dung!

The Trials and Tribulations of the Doorman: So the matriarch orders the unfortunate doorman outside where she instructs him to hold the smoldering pot under the bees. Of course, the lad gets stung (to which she feigns complete and utter surprise). Then, despite the copious volumes of acrid smoke emanating from the holy dung the bees decide not to leave. So, our protagonist is undeterred, and sends out the doorman once more to the smoldering inferno (this time with a straw broom) instructing him now to alternatively blow on the smoke (with his head next to the hive) and poke at it, he only suceeds in irritating the bees further. At her wits end, the lady of the house provides him with a trowel to knock the bee hive off once and for all. He does this (getting stung some more) and then comes in side.

The Aftermath: For all their altruistic efforts, we were left with a burning pile of cow shit on our balcony, not to mention a swarm of angry bees outside our door. Thankfully our host mother was looking out for our well being. She was so surprised though when the room filled with smoke. How could these indian windows, which are so airtight, let any of the cow shit-smoke in? Impossible! So with a smoky room we were forced to turn of the ac and evacuate. After an hour or so the scene was essentially the same. Jo then took a bucket of water and poured it on the cow dung, effectively closing the saga- or so we thought.

The Aftermath X 2: We awoke to a scene of utter carnage

Bees lay dead in the drain

Sad honey comb abandoned on the ground

and the kicker!

The Bees have already made rapid progress in building another hive.

Good thing they left the cow dung there!