April Fools (K-town Style)

You might think that you get to get away from some of the crazy holiday traditions when you travel overseas, but believe me, you don't. Yesterday Caleb really wanted to play a good April Fool's joke on our director, Byron, but he couldn't think of anything that would really work until he saw the head of the security company (Tony) that works for the school walk up the stairs. He pulled Tony over to the side and told him his plan. . . Try to convince Byron that the lion had escaped from the K-town Zoo that is only a mile or so away from the school.

So Tony went into Byron's office to give him the security update for the week and included this immediate security threat, the escaped lion that was roaming the streets of our neighborhood. He convinced our Ghurka (head guard) that he needed to tell all the guards to beware and alert, ready to kill the lion if it showed up on our street. Everyone asked if it was a joke, but since it was coming from Tony, they didn't really argue.

By lunch, Byron had researched enough to know the size of an average lion, its weight, the size of its teeth, etc. (Did I mention that he was a Biology major in college?) Anyway, Caleb met me at lunch with the news of the lion on the loose, and I must admit that for a few minutes I totally believed him. It wouldn't be totally unlikely for the poor pathetic lion to manage to escape from the zoo. It's not exactly a "natural habit" environment. Plus people throw trash at them all day long. It's all very sad... So part of me was excited for the lion!

By the end of lunch, however, Caleb had laughed so much about the whole thing, that I was pretty sure it was a joke. However, our director never caught on. Tony called a couple of more times during the day to give security updates with the final one being that they had called in a professional from Dubai who could tranquilize the beast. Our chokidor (man who watches our gate and helps around the house) heard about the lion from the guards and warned all the neighbor children to stay off the streets for their own safety.

Eventually everyone was told that it was a joke, but it went extremely well. I guess it pays to live in a place that is as unpredictable as K-town and have the right people bringing in the news... Happy April Fool's Day!