Last night I was boiling some chicken to feed to my cats, but went to sleep and forgot about it. I woke up about 11:30 to find my entire house filled with smoke. It was so bad in the kitchen that I had to soak a towel with water and crawl in on my hands and knees. I blasted the exhaust fan and my ceiling fans, opened every door and window, and started waving the towel around like a crazy woman. Finally at 12:30 I figured I'd just let it air out naturally. I had to sleep on the floor of my bedroom next to the sliding glass door in order to avoid the terrible stench and to get fresh air. Luckily, my cats (who were locked in the kitchen) escaped to the garden, and seem to be doing OK. At first I couldn't find them, and I was pretty sure they'd died from the smoke.
This morning all the smoke had cleared, but my house smells like a tire factory. My clothes are tinged with that smell and I can't get the smell or taste to go away. I am lucky, however, that I did wake up. I could have easily died of smoke inhalation. Today I am asking the school to buy a smoke alarm (not a common thing in Syrian households), and I have a new appreciation for firefighters!!
