DAYS 37-39

The rest of the workdays with our second to last team went by in a blur. Between trying to keep up with finances, grocery shopping, coordinating drivers, etc., I was kept plenty busy. The highlight of my week was on Wednesday afternoon when I went to the Children’s Home with the VBS crew. We took the kids from the Children’s Home to the beach to swim, and it was awesome being able to get to know some of the team members more. A bunch of the girls from Buford and I talked in the water for over an hour in what we called “girl talk.” They told me all the drama with their friends, and it was a great break from all the boy talk I’ve been participating in with Josh, Tom, and Jordan. Since I work in the office, I miss the chance to get to know the teams during the day, so it was great to have this opportunity.

Another highlight was the night Brendalee (who cooks for us in Nassau) needed help in the kitchen so she taught me how to clean, season, and fry fish. We started at three and didn’t have dinner until 7:30. It wasn’t an easy meal to prepare, but it was fun working with her and Cien (Pastor Stubb’s daughter) in the kitchen.

DAY 40

Today was excursion day with the teams. Most of the volunteers had signed up for a snorkeling adventure in the morning, so the interns, TJ, and I took a small group around the island in the morning. We took them to a couple different Forts, and we walked down the Queen’s Staircase (carved out by slaves for the Queen of England), and walked around Bay Street a little bit.

After lunch, which was a little hectic with 42 people (luckily I had taken lunch orders and taken up money, but still hectic), we went back down to Bay Street to the Straw Market. The Straw Market is a big building where hundreds of people set up stalls selling all of the same goods. If you ask the stall owner if they made one of their goods, they will either say yes or say some family member did, and then you will see the exact same good in a hundred other stalls. I saw the business major side of me come out when I wondered why in the world none of them try to differentiate themselves because the stalls that I stopped to look at were the few stalls that happened to specialize or looked different. It’s definitely an interesting place.

Then we drove over to Paradise Island to go to the beach. Again, it was good to be able to hang out with volunteers more, and the beach was beautiful (almost like an Eleuthera beach—almost).

It was July 4^th, so that night we took the team over to Atlantis to see fireworks. Unfortunately we ran late so we saw the fireworks from the bridge over to Paradise Island, but we took them to the hotel and saw the yachts lined up along the water and the ridiculousness of the whole place. The aquarium was neat, but the fish were overcrowded and it just made me sad.

And then after we left, we drove back over to St. Michael’s Chuch and passed Pitt Road on the way, where one of the teams has been working and has been declared by staff members to be the most horrific living conditions in the Bahamas. A ten minute drive away from Atlantis and the million dollar yachts and the room in the bridge that costs $25,000 a night. Ten minutes.

DAY 41

One of the teams left at 5, so I was up at 4 setting out breakfast and seeing them off. Then the other team left at 11, so we woke back up at 8, had breakfast number two, cleaned, and saw them off to the airport.

Abe drove us to lunch at Wendy’s (our favorite place), and we talked about the week and our mission here and how it was going. I learned that they plan to expand the Nassau ministry to be here for the whole summer next year, which is a blessing for the island. It always helps to debrief after a long week.

That night the boys and I went back to Atlantis to really soak up the ridiculousness of it (not my idea). We sat by the yachts and ate pizza and people watched in the casino and it’s just such a different Bahamas life than how we’ve been living. And while I have negative feelings toward it, I know the Bahamians don’t, which makes me feel better. Pastor Stubbs said in his sermon the next day (as it was the beginning of Bahamian Independence Week), “If a nation brings this many people to visit us, then the Bahamas is doing something right.” The Bahamians see it as them sharing the beauty of their nation, not that we come in and take it. It’s just an interesting situation to dwell on for sure.

We each bought a rat trap and had a contest to see who could catch it. Josh won.  Rat room no more. 

Nassau 4 lyfe

DAY 42

The church was celebrating “Independence Sunday” which meant the service was longer than expected (typical Bahamian worship) and we sang the Bahamian National Anthem and everyone wore his or her blue and yellow.

The team arrived at 12:30, so by the time the service ended we only had about twenty minutes to set up before we had to leave for the airport. We made it though, and we even had lunch for the team. This week’s team is a choral mission group from Virginia Conference. In other words, youth from all different churches audition and interview to be a part of a group that does one week of mission work and then has a two-week tour of Virginia doing performances at different churches. So needless to say, we have been blessed with the gift of music this week.

Abe dropped Tom and I off at the grocery before taking the team to the beach, and I had worked so hard on the grocery list that I knew exactly what we were going to need on each of our TWO grocery trips of the week and it was very successful. I had told Abe the week before on our ninth trip to the grocery that “I just can’t wait to do it better next week,” and we did.

That night I did orientation and devotion, and it was a long day but a good day. We were excited for our last week.

DAY 43 and 44

This week I continued office work and grocery shopping and everything else that needed to happen to keep camp running and keep the team happy. I also worked more on the donor list and the BMH website and other such projects.

On Tuesday Abe decided to leave us. The previous week, this would have made me freak out, but this second week it was fine because I knew we could do it without him. The main issue with his leaving was that we were further limited with getting a ride somewhere (water, groceries, ect.), but other than that we were fine. It was weird feeling that confident about being in charge, but it was definitely a good feeling.

DAY 45

Bahamians celebrate their Independence the night before the actual holiday, so on Wednesday night we took the team down to Fort Charlotte for Bahamian Independence Day festivities. Everyone wore their blue and yellow, and we heard people speak, the royal police band played, some of our team participated in the world record conch blowing exhibition, and we saw fireworks. We tried to stay out to see junkanoo, but it was delayed so we ended up going on home around 1:30.

Trying and failing to see junkanoo

We were a little burnt out. (a lot)

DAY 46

Today was excursion day with the group. Jeff (the bus driver) took us on a tour of the island in the morning, and then after lunch we went to the straw market and the beach on Paradise Island again. That night we just hung out and rested up for their last day on the job site the next day.

Queen's Staircase

DAY 47

Today was the team’s last day on the jobsite, and I mostly just relaxed during the day because most of my jobs were as complete as I could get them. I worked on the donor list some and finances and made some phone calls, but then the day was over. I helped Brendalee with dinner, and then we had closing that night.

We received our best reviews ever on evaluations, and it was a good way to end our weeks with the teams.

DAY 48

Today the team left by about eleven. We cleaned the church and packed all of our stuff into the BMH van, napped a little, and then drove out to the airport with Abe to “pick up a package Brenda sent for me on the Southern Air flight.” Now, our intern friends weren’t supposed to come in from Eleuthera until Sunday, but when Abe called me from Eleuthera on Thursday to check in and happened to mention that “On Saturday we will probably all ride out to the airport in the afternoon as a break from the church to pick up a package,” it was pretty clear immediately that we would be seeing our friends a little earlier than expected.

So in the afternoon we went out to the airport and picked up Brenda, Madison, Maggie, and Ali. It was fun to be together again. We ordered pizza for dinner and then went to Dairy Queen. All the Nassau treats.

DAY 49

Tom had befriended the sister of the homeowner at the house they were working at on Pitt Road, and as a way to say thank you she bought us tickets to a resort on a private island called “Blue Lagoon.” So this morning we drove over to Paradise Island and hopped on a ferry from the Paradise Island Marina over to Blue Lagoon Island.

The best part of the resort for us was a huge inflatable park in the water. From playing King of the Hill on the slide to flipping over the Saturn shaped inflatable to having races across the obstacle course, we didn’t stop laughing all morning. After lunch, most of the group went to take naps in the hammock garden, but Maggie and I went over to the snorkeling beach (it was quieter), and dragged chair into the water and read. I ended up laying down in the water with my head on the chair and sleeping. It was the most relaxing afternoon.

They also had a dolphin exhibit where you could swim with the dolphins. Most of our group didn’t want to go look at the dolphins because it would just make us sad, but I toughed it out. They truly are the most beautiful creatures, and it was awful to see them locked up that way. We all hope that in the future laws change that restrict humans from keeping animals and fish in captivity. Humans should not be allowed to do such terrible things to God’s precious creation. (We also felt this way about the Atlantis aquarium. The tanks are way overcrowded.)

It really was a cool resort but it was funny because we all would have been so much happier on a deserted beach in Eleuthera.

DAY 50

Today we started out the morning working out. It was my first time working out in three weeks, and it wasn’t easy. We did it in the parking lot outside of the church, and every time someone would walk past they would look at us like we were crazy. It was funny.

After working out, we changed and headed down to the straw market because the other interns hadn’t been there yet. While we were down there, I had my exit interview with Abe and Brenda where we talked about the summer and what we learned and how we can improve and what we did improve and how to improve the program.

Once we got back to the church, I packed and we all hung out for a while. After they finished exit interviews, we had a group debrief and then we all dressed up and went to a resort for dinner. The restaurant was right on the water as the sun set, and after we finished eating we walked down and sat on the dock and shared memories from the summer and our funniest moments together. We have shared so many good times this summer, and it’s unbelievable how quickly it went and how much I will miss these people.

View from dinner

We really don't like the aquarium because of its overcrowdedness, and yet we still enjoy it. 

The boyz

DAY 51

This morning we finished packing and cleaning and loaded all our stuff in the van and drove to the airport. We said goodbye to Abe and Brenda before we checked in because they were going to domestic departures, and then the seven of us checked in and went through customs and security. We ate lunch and hung out and laughed and looked at pictures and maybe did a little bit of yoga in the middle of the airport.

We had to say goodbye to Jordan first. And then Tom, Madison, Maggie, and I said bye to Josh and Ali and got on the flight to Atlanta.

It was hard to leave the Bahamas, and that is true for several reasons. One, it is the most beautiful, God-filled place I could choose to spend my time. The beauty of God’s creation is everywhere in this world, but Eleuthera is just one of those places where you don’t have to search to find it. And those places are magical. They get in your soul and stay there. Eleuthera has been a part of my soul since my first trip to the Bahamas freshmen year, and even on my third trip to BMH, it hasn’t gotten any easier to leave. In fact, as I’ve made more relationships in Eleuthera, it has only become more difficult to leave.

The second reason I don’t want to leave is because God taught me so much in the Bahamas, and I’m praying I don’t leave those lessons behind when I leave. God taught me to see my strengths, and use them to the benefit of all. God taught me about my weaknesses, and how acknowledging them and understanding them is the best thing you can do. God taught me how to be a leader, how to work with others, how to delegate and plan and make decisions.  In the Bahamas I was forced into situations that made me uncomfortable, and I found the strength to work through them and come out on the other side. And by being forced to use my strength, I was made stronger.

The third reason is the people. I don’t want to say goodbye to my intern friends. I don’t want to say goodbye to Abe and Brenda. I don’t want to say goodbye to Brendalee and Pastor Stubbs and Cien. I don’t want to say goodbye to TJ, Bush, and Smitty. I don’t want to say goodbye to Pauline and Maxine. And I definitely don’t want to say goodbye to my intern friends.

The good news is that it isn’t goodbye, because I will surely be coming back to Eleuthera. Whether it’s only for spring break or next summer too, I can’t wait to see what my next trip entails, because if it’s anywhere close to as good as this summer, I will be happy, blessed, and unbelievably thankful.

They laughed at me but they have no idea how many times I opened and closed this safe everyday and how close we became. 

The friends

Well you can't get to Heaven on a Bahamas Air Jet, cause Bahamas Air Jet ain't been there yet.

I miss them already.

DAY 26

Friday morning was a mad rush of getting plans together and everything in the office settled. On Monday, Brenda and KP will be leaving to join Abe in the states to go to Atlanta for a conference, and then we won’t be seeing the three of them again until we are in Nassau. Therefore we must have as many plans as possible squared away before they leave. Between working on petty cash forms, making schedules, and getting the Nassau notebook together, it was a busy morning. I also called all the new interns that will be coming in to check in with them before they come, found all the air mattresses to check to make sure they work before taking them to Nassau, and made a sign for the dining hall that talks about ways to stay connected with BMH (which all of you should check out—pretty please).

Stay Connected With BMH

Despite the business of this day, I definitely had the easy way out, because four of the interns went with Manex down the street to work on a man named Benson’s roof. In exchange for us repairing his roof, he was going to come to camp the following week to help us burn some of the bush that surrounds camp and work on the garden. Since it is a prep week, Brenda had been preparing a long list of chores for us to take care of around camp while they were gone, and that was part of our list.

Two of the other interns went on excursion day with the two groups, and dropped one off at the airport half way through the day, so our closing was with only one group that night. I always learn something at the Bible Study at Abe’s. Whether I learn it from Brenda’s preaching, the fire, or the moon and the stars, it is probably the most peaceful time of the week.

DAY 27

Today was another early morning to see the groups off. After breakfast at 5:15, we started our cleaning and joyfully finished by 7:30. We then set up the projector in our room and watched a movie with the AC on while napping. It was glorious and well deserved (because cleaning camp is no fun—trust me).

After lunch, we packed up our stuff and hitch hiked to Abe’s where we swam and napped and read. Madison, Maggie, and I swam left from Abe’s dock and found the most beautiful reef I think I’ve ever seen. It’s basically a sea fan garden, with hundreds of bright purple sea fans blowing back and forth in the waves. The fish were everywhere, and the coral was also beautiful. It also started raining while we were out there, and there’s just something about swimming in the rain.

Pretty Starfish

Nassau crew for life

Maggie, Madison, and me

Our favorite reef. A sea fan garden

My twinny

Around dinnertime, Brenda came and picked us up in the bus and took us to her house, where she had planned Mexican Night and a cantaloupe tournament to thank us for all we’ve done so far this summer. After showering in the outdoor shower, Brenda had guac, queso, and salsa for us to eat, which was Heaven on earth. After a wonderful dinner, we listened to music and played cards before heading back to camp.

Heaven is a place on earth

DAY 28

This morning we slept in and then went to church. This morning, KP’s son Kenron was getting baptized at church, so the entire BMH community was at church. Mrs. Pauline, Mrs. Maxine, and Vonnia (KP’s wife) led the singing, and Brenda and TJ were both made godparents. After the service, we went to KP’s new house and had a luncheon to celebrate. It was another delicious Bahamian meal, and we saw some of the kids from After School and other people we know from the community.

Vonnia, Pauline, Maxine

The team

Since this week is a prep week for camp, we didn’t have any teams coming in on Sunday, so we were able to enjoy another day off. After walking back to camp, Brenda came and picked us up and took us to Surfer’s Beach on the Atlantic side. We swam in the big waves for a couple hours, did some snorkeling, and walked down the beach to some cliffs. It was a beautiful beach.

Surfer's Beach

We came back to camp and watched a movie, which became a nightly tradition since we don’t have campers to entertain at night this week.

DAY 29

Brenda left for the States at around lunchtime, so we had a staff meeting that morning to discuss our chores for the week and future plans. We spent most of the day deep cleaning camp since it was raining, and I spent about three hours cleaning the girl’s showers. We cleaned the kitchen, office, bathrooms, and grounds. After work, TJ and Smitty took us to Abe’s to go spear fishing and swimming and cool off after work. The water was completely flat today, which we had never seen before at Abe’s, so it was very different. Madison and I swam out to the sea fan reef again, and it took us a while to find it since the waves weren’t breaking on the reef this time (since there weren’t any waves). We saw a stingray, a starfish, and Madison saw a baby sea turtle for a few seconds before it swam away.

We stopped at the store on the way back from camp and bought hamburgers and fries and made the most American meal possible, and it was wonderful. Then we watched a movie before bed.

DAY 30

Today, Benson came to work with us in the garden. I had to catch up on some office work in the morning (since Brenda is gone), but by eleven I joined up with them. We pick axed and hoed away all the weeds around the banana trees, and picked up rocks and got rid of weeds by the compost bins. It was a lot of really hard work. Also, Benson was working to burn the brush that surrounds the camp (to help keep critters away from camp), so the camp was extremely smoky the whole time we were working in the garden.

It was a long day

After a looooong day of work in the garden, Patti and Denny offered to take us to Club Med Beach to cool off, which is about thirty minutes away in Governor’s Harbour. I was riding in the truck with Denny, Tom, and Jordan when about midway between James Cistern and Governour’s the clutch gave out on the truck and we were stuck. We pulled over to the side and called TJ to come pick us up, which luckily he was free. So TJ dropped us off at the most beautiful, pristine, pink sand beach on the Atlantic side went to spear fish while we swam. We all just sat in the water and talked and it was so relaxing. It was a good way to end a long, difficult day.

DAY 31

Today Benson came to work with us again, and we cleaned out the area behind the chicken coop. We spent all morning weeding and cleaning, and then continued to work on our chores list throughout the day. I weeded the garden bed below the “Holy Ground” cross, weeded the beds by the front BMH sign, and Tom taught me how to drive stick shift!

The other interns weeded the garden, painted the roof, and worked to maintain the trail out back to the Atlantic among other tasks.

We were so beat after this day of work that we just chilled at camp after working. We rode bikes down to the store to get stuff for dinner, and I rode down to the beach to collect seashells, since the beach right across from the church is the best place in the Bahamas to collect seashells. It was Josh’s birthday, so Mrs. Pauline cooked the most delicious pineapple cake for us. We watched a movie up in the office before sleeping.

Yummmm

Sally sells seashells by the seashore

DAY 32

Today was our day off, and we didn’t really have a plan of what to do because we didn’t have a ride anywhere. We wanted to go to the Blue Hole up north, but TJ wasn’t available to drive us and we couldn’t hitch hike there because it was too far off the main road. We still hadn’t come up with a plan by around 11, so I texted Derek for advice and he said “Rent a car and drive to Lighthouse Beach.” So what did we do? Rent a car and drive to Lighthouse Beach.

Lighthouse Beach is a beach on the southern tip of the island that is the most beautiful stretch of land I think I will ever see. After renting a car in JC, packing food and water, and driving two hours south, we finally got to the beach. The last four miles was super rough road and took over thirty minutes.

We parked the car and walked down the road a ways. We walked over a hill to get to the pristine beach bordered by cliffs. We could climb up on the cliffs and look out at the water. We saw was a three foot diameter sting ray swimming right below the cliffs. After we left the cliffs, Madison and I swam out to the reefs to snorkel where we saw barracuda, parrot fish, huge sea urchins, and other such animals. The other interns swam around the point of the island through a little cut to a cove, so after Madison and I finished snorkeling we started to swim through to join them. There was quite a current pulling us through the cut, and about halfway through we both saw a five foot shark swimming directly in front of us. We weren’t sure what kind, but we knew for sure it wasn’t a nurse shark. We couldn’t swim backwards because of the current. So we kind of froze and kept floating toward it when it saw us and quickly swam toward us and past us to the side. Once it passed us, we climbed out of the water onto the coral and walked back to meet out friends.

We spent another couple of hours exploring the beach before driving back. We had been driving for about thirty minutes when we came around a turn and saw the sun setting over the ocean. Definitely a spectacular view.

We hadn’t had dinner yet, so we drove to Hatchet Bay for dinner. After going all summer without transportation, we were thriving under the freedom. We had dinner and then came back and watched Harry Potter in our room. It was my last full day and last night in Eleuthera, and it was a wonderful one.

Life is better on the edge

Huge sea urchins

Big fish

Parrot Fish

We saw a shark!!

If you look up "freedom" in the dictionary you will see this picture

Huuuuge sting ray

I could stay a while

Those clouds though

Unforgettable day

DAY 33

Today was the day we had to pack for Nassau. I thought it was going to be an all day adventure, but somehow we finished by 11:30. We had to pack air mattresses, sheets, pillows, utensils, plates, bowls, office supplies, coolers, tools, camp store stuff, and all of our own stuff. But somehow we did it!

At 11:30 we were done, so we asked Manex to drive us to Gregory Town so we could go to the Island Made gift shop before we left, then he took us to lunch at Twin Brothers in Hatchet Bay again.

Saying goodbye to the office

We got back to camp and finished packing, said our goodbyes, and Tom, Josh, Jordan and I left with TJ and Bush (basically me and all boys) to drive to Hatchet Bay with the van full of supplies and the truck to catch the ferry to Nassau. The ferry was on Island Time (about an hour late), and since it was a five hour boat ride we didn’t arrive in Nassau until midnight. Luckily we were able to see the most beautiful sunset over the water as we left Eleuthera and watched our island shrink in the distance. Then we read and slept in the van and truck for the next five hours. I woke up right as we docked in Nassau, and we hopped in the truck with TJ and drove to the church.

It was a sad goodbye

I have a thing for ferry boats

Bye Eleutra

The boys and em

If I have ever experienced culture shock, this would be the time. Eleuthera is quiet, peaceful, has one main long road that has never experienced traffic before in its life, and would be mostly quiet on a Friday night. The traffic in Nassau is chaotic to say the least, and exists at all hours of the day. Nassau is located on one of the smaller islands of the Bahamas and is extremely overcrowded because everyone moves there looking for jobs and opportunity. TJ grew up in Nassau, so he knew how to drive and deal with it all, but it was hard for me to process in the middle of the night when he was weaving in between cars through all the city lights. We arrived at the church were shown to our room upstairs that had wifi that connected on the first try, air conditioning, and a tv. It was heaven and we were spoiled. We fell asleep quickly that night after a long day.

DAY 34

We slept in the next morning, and once TJ and Bush showed up the boys started unloading tools while TJ took me to Wendy’s to get food for everyone. There is nothing even close to fast food on Eleuthera, so it was a big change to have fast food accessible. Pretty soon after we got back, KP, Brenda, and Abe arrived from the States and we got to work setting up.

Brenda and I went grocery shopping for most of the day, while everyone else unloaded and set up camp at the church. We weren’t used to having grocery stores with options for food, so again we were in culture shock. Nassau is simply a very different Bahamas than Eleuthera.

We finished unpacking and all took a good long nap, which was much needed. Then Josh, Jordan, Tom, Abe, Brenda and I went out to dinner (we chose chinese) and then we went to Dairy Queen after for Blizzards. We were in bliss.

DAY 35

We woke up and went to church (at the church in which we are staying), and Brenda was preaching. I also read the gospel lesson and Josh prayed, so it was neat to be able to be involved. Brenda preached on the freedom we find when we turn all of our worries over to God, which was helpful because I had been very worried about all the responsibilities of this week, so I felt peace knowing that it would all work out.

After church, the church served breakfast to the congregation, which was grits, tuna, and sausage (a Bahamian classic), and then we had some rest time until the group came. I worked on finances for a while (dealing with the past week and preparing for the next week), then took a little nap. We decided to order pizza for lunch, but the delivery would take too long so we decided to pick it up. Nassau is very difficult to navigate, and we went to four different Dominos without finding the one we ordered from before we finally just ordered a new one. Once we got back and ate, we had a staff meeting and finished setting up the church for teams coming in. We had two teams come in this week (Buford FUMC and Blountsville UMC) with a total of 35 people.

They arrived, got set up, had dinner, did orientation, I gave devotion, and it was bedtime. Everything was the same as it is at Camp Symonette, just in a different location.

Well. Almost the same. It’s a little more crowded here. We had planned on me sleeping in a little room upstairs and the guys sleeping in a room off the kitchen downstairs, but the girls were too crowded in their room, so we put four of them in my room and I moved downstairs and the guys moved to the other building with the volunteers, which all sounds fine, except that the little room had been deemed “rat room” because TJ saw what he called a “HUGE RAT” the first night we were there. So now Brenda and I were staying in the rat room for the night. It first showed itself around 11 when I was sitting still in the room on my computer. And it was definitely big. Later when Brenda and I were trying to sleep we would hear it start thumping. I tried to set up a barricade to keep it in the closet area (and I just pretended that it couldn’t jump or climb) but it definitely didn’t work. So the first night in the rat room was definitely an adventure that didn’t lead to much sleeping.

DAY 36

The first full day with the teams here was a mad rush. At camp I could answer questions easily and I knew where everything was and what we had, but in Nassau I have no idea. So in the morning everyone was asking questions and I didn’t know how to answer them and it was hard (especially on little sleep). We got pretty behind, but we caught back up! And luckily I knew that the first day is the hardest and we will get in the swing of things more.

A team of volunteers is working at the church in the mornings helping out with VBS and then in the afternoon are either going to visit a children’s home or a nursing home, so in the afternoon I rode along with Abe to take them to the children’s home for disabled kids. We were planning on taking the kids to the beach, so we had to wait for a taxi to arrive for a while, so we played duck duck goose in the backyard of the house.

After dropping them off at the beach, Abe and I went grocery shopping and then picked them up from the beach and took them to a different beach to meet up with the other teams for beach time.

When we got back to camp, I did finances with KP and then realized quickly how difficult it is to buy groceries for 45 people (because I had forgotten a lot of stuff), so I convinced TJ to take me back to the grocery and Tom came along. We miiiight have stopped at Wendy’s on the way because we were starving, and then we went and picked the team up from the beach again and brought them back to the church.

I worked on finances even moooore after that, tallying up all the receipts from the day and making sure we were on budget. Then dinner, Abe talked about BMH, we had devotion, and again bedtime! Luckily tonight I moved to the office upstairs, so I slept wonderfully (with no rat).