Massacre in the Patio and the Night I Got Sick

Last Thursday, Jon and I headed out for, what ended up being, a lengthy session at our local internet establishment. We have come to love "Flavio´s" for its cheap price (.70 cents per hour) and for how close it is to our house (about two and a half blocks away). We ended up spending close to two hours checking and sending emails and and getting more or less caught up.
Upon returning to the house, Gaston informed us that we had "missed the whole thing" and that "blood had been shed". We were puzzled and inquired further: You can imagine our surprise in finding out that a massacre had taken place and that so much action had occured while we were gone and our disappointment that we had missed the excitment. However, thanks to today´s technology, video had captured the event.The victims were three rats who lost their lives late that afternoon.
An important piece of information that I must not leave out, is the location of the scene of the massacre. The bloodshed took place in the little stone patio directly behind our room. One of the sets of doors in our room (we have five) leads out onto this patio, through which we access our bathroom, a little stone lavadaria, (wash basin and sink to wash clothes), the clothes line, and a back door into the kitchen. Next to the lavandaria was a huge pile of large stones stacked against the basin. This mound made the perfect hiding place for varmits, and we were sure this was where they hid during the day. The boys were planning to remove the pile of rocks within the next couple days.
For the past few nights, we had all been hearing scratching at the kitchen door and sqeaking noises coming from the patio and would find holes in the garbage bags in the morning. We knew we had a rat problem and the current discussion was centered around buying traps in an attempt to try and catch these creatures. So, Thursday afternoon, Gaston, who is seriously not okay with mice and rats, was in the kitchen drinking some tea. Something caught his eye, scurrying through the patio. He ran through the house to get Bill and the rest of the guys. And boy did THEY come running. A day-light-rat-sighting like this was to be taken seriously and acted upon FAST! This was all out war.
In watching the video clips afterwards, compliments of Bill´s digital camera, it was very interesting to see who took what roles in the rat war. Gaston, who you remember, HATES rats with all his heart, soul and mind, took refuge on a white plastic chair in the corner of the patio, but bravely recorded the slaughter from his post, all the while verbally encouraging the soldiers who were in the thick of the fight. Andres, quite not afraid of rats, was crawling all over the rock pile, trying to get a better look, and providing intel from the lair . He was unarmed, and held no broom, stick, or dust pan. He was in his element. Bill sported a broom stick, was very animated and was teamed up with Andres in trying to poke and prod the rock pile in hopes of scooping out a rat into the open area of the patio. Ricardo was armed with a broom but definately hung back against the doors to our room. He was content to give a few whaps of the broom stick here and there, and it must be noted that he gave the rats the business, however, after they were dead. David watched a bit from the window and played an important role in flushing a frantic rat, back down the rainspout with a huge bucket of water. He(the rat)had tried to escape, but to no avail. It crawled up as far as it could, but was met with David´s bucket. And last, but not least, was dear Esteban, who came to life during this episode, armed with a broom stick and a firey spirit. It was Esteban who killed all three rats(!) with the end of a broom stick. What a brave soul.... Horrifying, yet sort of impressive somehow.
Watching this craziness via video clips was exciting enough, so I can not imagine actually being there. After hearing more details, I had mixed feeling about having missed the war. On one hand, it certainly was high adventure, but on the other hand, that patio is small, and I don´t know how many more people really could have fit comfortably to watch the insanity. I was slightly disturbed to find out the last victim was actually killed in our bathroom. Yes, I know it sounds horrific. And, it is. The video revealed blood on the floor and part of the wall. But brave Bill cleaned the whole thing and then went back over with bleach for one last disinfecting session. I inquired whether or not we should buy new toothbrushes, and was reassured that nothing of the kind would be necessary. Thank goodness for the small blessings.
So. There you have it. Three rats were brought to their end in our patio, and there is video to prove it. The last part of the story is also unpleasant, but it is our reality and must be shared. The massacre took place at around 5 pm Thursday afternoon. At 2 am. Friday morning, I woke up with a grumbly, upset stomach, and knew immediately that something was wrong. Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, an on-the-hour-vomiting-following-followed-by-diarrhea pattern began and did not end for 12 hours. It was awful. Awful. I believe that it may have been food poisoning. When we did the visitation of students houses for the school I am teaching at, a few of the houses offered, so hospitably, food and drink. But, as was revealed in the interviews, many of the homes do not have regular clean water to cook with and drink. Who knows for sure, but I think this was the reason for my sickness. Soup and juice made with water one is not used to, is sure to wreak havoc on the digestive system. So each time I dragged my exhausted body to the patio bathroom, with a tin roof over my head, and knelt on the cold yellow tile in front of the mint green toilet, I could not help but visualize the blood that had been shed just hours earlier on the very floor that I was crumpled upon. However, I did take comfort in knowing that, as unbelievably sick as I felt during those dark morning hours, my life would not end with the end of a broom stick.