What's Behind Door #4?

We were on another site visit to schools the day I finally met
my match. I knew it would only be a matter of time, but I
hoped to prolong it as long as possible, maybe forever. We had visited about 25 schools, and had gotten into a bit of a routine when surveying the grounds. When it came to inspecting the pit latrines, my standard procedure was to hold my nose, creak open the door (if it had one), look around as if I expected to see something, nod approvingly, jot down some notes, take some photos, and move on. By this time I've seen a number of pit latrines in various conditions, but none quite like the one I saw this time. We were at a school that had 4 stalls in a row, all without doors except one, which was closed. I began my inspection protocol, and eventually ended up at the last door. In order to be thorough and to satiate my curiosity, I creaked open the metal door and peeked in. Instinctively, my eyes looked down to assess the condition of the floor of the latrine first, and came across a snake stretched out near the entrance. I let go of the door and backed away, motioning to our Kenyan tour guides that there was something inside that needed their attention. I'm not sure how to explain that motion in words, but they seemed to understand.

Seemingly embarrassed and caught in a compromising position, the snake tried to slither out of the latrine unnoticed, but all eyes were on it as the three guys circled around, throwing large branches at it until it stopped moving. As I watched from a distance, one of the bravest guys finished it off, picked up the limp body with a stick and threw it down the very same pit latrine to it's final resting place. I thanked all of them profusely, shaking their hands, but they shrugged it off as though it was commonplace. They did walk around the rest of the school compound with us wielding large sticks, though.

Upon returning to Mutomo I mustered up the courage to flip through one of the engineers' books on various types of snakes (complete with photos and detailed descriptions-this does not help my fear) but I could not locate it. Now I don't know if that should alleviate my fear or heighten it.

I'm going to start kicking in the pit latrine door Rambo-style, from now on, just to be safe.

I'm in Nairobi this weekend for work-related duties.
Happy Labor Day. Don't work too hard.

disclaimer: no animals were harmed in the writing of this entry, although I can't say the same for the unfortunate ones that cross my path here in Kenya.