10. Donkey in the kitchen!

Today is Sunday, and you know what that means: a day off! At least from all the normal duties. Also, the clinic is finished, and it is very quiet around here. Today I washed clothes, which came out about as stained as they went in, except that they seemed clean (from the smell and the fact that they had been through a wash cycle).

Later, I went to the kitchen to make lunch, because I had signed up for that meal. We are required to lay the tables and clear up after at least one meal a week, and I had to sign up on Sunday, according to the list. Sunday is the day the students also cook the food, not only clear up afterwards. Here, lunch is a hot meal, somewhat like dinner in Norway. It was quite tiring to cook, as I spent two hours in the kitchen before lunch and 45 minutes after lunch. We were lucky though: there were a lot of leftovers, so we didn't have to cook so much from the bottom up.

After most of the food was made, I was washing up some of the things we had used. Then suddenly the girl I was working with exclaimed: Donkey! I turned around and saw one of the donkeys just walking through the kitchen! She wanted to eat the food we were making, and I suppose she felt that it was all right to just come in the house when she had broken out of her enclosure and wanted to have a poke around. Seeing the donkey in the kitchen just made me crack up. It was so absurd! And so very far from what I could have experienced at home, especially with all the hygienic regulations and germ hysteria in big kitchens. It still makes me smile, thinking of those big ears swivelling around right by the oven. We managed to get the donkey out of the kitchen by luring it with some fruit, and continued making lunch. Lunch was a success, and I was happy but tired when I finally headed back to my room.

So now I am just going to relax and read my book while lying in the hammock in the horses' pasture. And after dinner I hope I will be able to get myself to bed at a reasonable time. I am so tired, and tomorrow I start doing all my chores. That is going to be hard work, so I really want to gather some strength today.

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