My Goat Story

Entered this contest.  Please, please let me win.  What would I do with 330 goats?  Well I could learn to be a goat herder, and lay down in an open field relaxing while watching my goat munch down pretty much everything.  And I could help folk passing by by telling them the current time by lifting a goat's nuts.  Oh for those of you who scratched your heads with "what the heck did I mean by lifting a goat's nuts to tell time?"  Well, for those of you who knew the goat story would have a chuckle on this, but for those of you who didn't, well, thats another story.

Anyway, in America, our sweepstakes and contents tend to involve large cash prizes, cars, or electronics.  Its amusing to see what excites the folk here -- winning 330 goats may be a dream come true for the village folk around here.

Okay, Ill tell you my goat story…

I was walking on a road toward town to the hotel for my Peace Corps Training.  I passed by an open field full of goats and noticed a goat herder laying on the ground relaxing while watching his herd munch on everything including trash.  

I decided to ask the herder if he knew the current time.  The herder said sure, leaned to his right side where a goat was munching on a pile of weeds.  He then lifted the goat's nuts and told me its now 10:00 am.

I was dumbfounded -- thinking how the hell can the herder determine current time by lifting a goat's nuts?  Did the Kenyans know something that we don't?

But I walked away to the hotel.

Later in the afternoon, after training, I walked back on the same road toward home, and noticed the same herder laying on the same spot on the ground watching his herd.  So, I decided to try again and asked the herder what the current time is. 

The herder said, oh you needed the time again, sure, let me find out for you.  Again, he leaned to his right where the same goat was close by and lifted his nuts again. Its now 4:00 pm, said the herder.

My mouth was wide open and I just cannot leave without learning how the heck the herder could do that.  So I asked again -- sir, could you please explain how in the world could you tell the current time by lifting a goat's nuts?

The herder chuckled, and asked me to come down and lay on the ground besides him.  Then he explained there is a clock on a tower on top of a church down the road, but this goat is blocking his view, so he has to lift his nuts so he can look under it and see the clock.

Ohhhhhh!