Good Morning! I hope that you had a good night. Mine has been very short. I was kept up most of the night by a bunch of mating cats.

There are very many domestic animals in Addis. Unlike Nairobi, there are no rules against keeping animals in the city. We freely interact with all sorts on a regular basis. Cows, donkeys, chicken, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, ducks, and this list can continue. Needless to say, their favorite hangout is the main road, especially during rush hour.

There are no pigs though. Most Ethiopians practice the Christian Orthodox religion, which harbors negative sentiments towards the pig. Thank God!

My neighbor has over 10 cats. When I moved into my house about 2 years ago, he had 6. As I write, there is a new set of baby cats. How do I know? Because, they act as an alarm to wake him up every morning. They start mewing in chorus at about 5.30 am. Their objective is to get someone to feed them. My neighbor does not wake up until 6 am. So I am usually treated to a daily half hour of uncensored pussy chaos! Please, it’s not an enviable treat. They are very close to my bedroom window.

As I write this bull, it’s 6.45 am. Actually, there should be more than 20 cats by now. I guess some of them got married and moved away from home. Or, went into the city to look for jobs. Rural-urban migration, you know?

It’s worst during the mating season. Now, apart from the alarm in the morning, there is the all night activity that can drive you right out of this town. They do it everywhere; in the bedroom, on the kitchen floor, even in the shower! Not forgetting their favorite spot, the roof.

If I had one question for cats, I guess it would be; “do you have to make sex sound as if it’s such a bad experience?�