Our [c]lucky day, OR Kazar Timothy

I was putting Timothy's clean diaper on after his bath around noon today when Mom came into the bathroom, laughing. She said I'd received a gift. I looked at her blankly, and she leaned over to whisper, "It's a live chicken!"

I carried my baby--with only a diaper on--out into the living room to greet our friend Maman Joshua, Auntie Esther. (See Joshua's birthday, from August 31, 2007) She'd come to meet baby Timothy, of course, or--as they call him--"bon boy," which I gather is pidgin for "baby boy." She held Timothy and smiled wide, speaking Hausa I couldn't understand and repeating, "Yayi kyau" ("It is good," or "It's beautiful").

Then I looked into the little basket at her feet, and--sure enough--a brown chicken looked back at me with beady eyes. My first thought was, Wow. This is a huge gift. My second thought, though, was, Oh my gosh. What am I going to do with it??

Maman Joshua handed the chicken to my mom's helper Sarah, who made a small space for it under my mom's kitchen counter. And there it is right now, probably pooping on the floor. David came home briefly for lunch and said he'd take care of the chicken. I have no idea how to slaughter a chicken, or remove its feathers, or anything! But I'm sure I'll chronicle it all for you to read about!