wag more bark less

After one of the World Cup games, I was enjoying the first tomatoes off the vine and a boy from my parent's village told me to come look inside Mr. Allen's (my teacher-neighbor who refuses to live on campus and walks an hour to school everyday)'s kitchen. Inside was an absolutely terrified tiny black and white puppy. I was then told that they killed the mama dog because she had "rubbish fashion" and now this dog was mine. Just your everyday acquisition!

During training when I was binging on fruit, mainly because I hadn't adapted to the lovely variety of island food, I decided to honor this period of chalkdust torture and shocking meat from a tin by naming a dog pamplemus after the grapefruit/lemon ish fruit I devoured daily. Thanks, by the way, Elizabeth Owen for letting me know that pamplemousse is the French world for grapefruit. The juicy origins of pidgin language! 

So little Mus it is. 

He's a cute little man! He's very puppy like- hardcore playtime and then a spontaneous pass out for a nap. My family dog Lucky just had two boy pups and the three of them have been having play dates. Lucky's pups are super fat and althought a few weeks younger than Mus, tackle him with their bowling ball bodies. Very entertaining! The black one is Livu (leevu) which is a hunting term in local language. He's my family's 4th Livu (2 other ones are still alive) but apparently reminds my family of the original badass Livu, so he had to take on the name as well. I named the other one Kilo because he's such a fattie. At first they were rightfully selfish with their mama's milk, but now I've seen Mus sliding into the feeding sessions unbothered!

those crazy eyes

Lava and Kwen are warming up to him, but aren't really digging his constant playful energy. Unless he's sleeping, which is a Mus mode I think we all really like! 

sniffin out the new guy

cuddle buddies

Dogs have a hard time surviving here, whether it's due to neglect or disease. I'm putting some faith in Mus, but trying not to get too attached just yet. I knew I wanted a dog here, but was hesitant after seeing how animals are treated. I don't know how fair it would be to bring a dog back with me to America where freedom via island life can't be achieved (especially for 4 legged animals!) but the thought of leaving one here to be hit and kicked sickens me. I'm trying to use my time here to actively model how important it is to treat animals with kindness. I don't know how many times I've given a friendly rant on how dogs are "man's best friend" and forever loyal, concepts not always well-accepted here. I make a point to pet dogs (who always immediately back away from fear of me hitting them and then finally accept me) and to give them a belly rub here and there! Everyone makes scrunched up faces, laughs, points, and says sori because the dogs are dirty, but I just say they need love, too. In this world of domestic, child, and animal abuse, I'm just hoping to show them that giving love is easy and really feels good! We'll see what situations and conversations arise with this challenge I'm taking on. 

A bumper sticker I never minded being behind and a creed we should all consider considering - wag more, bark less!

My dear friend and laughing partner in daily text banter Dave is a volunteer on Tanna. He told me tonight that he ate cat after kava as a wasemaot (wash 'em out.. snacks that help you forget the taste of the shell you just downed) and was informed of his doings after swallowing several pieces. Yikes! He's being a good sport about it, but definitely a bit freaked out. For the record, Dave said it tasted "a lot like chicken, but the guilt that accompanied it gave it an astringent aftertaste that was decidedly unpleasant." What a catastrophe!

That reminded me of Jen who is on Aneityum. She went to a village to get a puskat and asked the woman behind the counter at the store if she had any.  Aneityum inhabitants are notorious for eating dogs and cats on the reg, so once she said 100 vatu and went to the back shelves, Jen was afraid the woman thought she meant cat for eating. Instead, the woman brought back biscuits and they realized how much  local accent "puskat" sounds like "biscuit!" Classic mixup. The shopkeeper had kittens to give away, too, so Jen left the village with her new little kitten who she of course named Biscuit.  

I slept at Jessie Rae and Nathan's last night to get ready for my voyage. They live much closer to port, and I know I've mentioned it before, but they are such good company! I'm so glad to have them close by and can't imagine how many less laughs my life would have if I didn't know them. 

my second home

As we were sitting around storying, we heard their puskat Pistol make a wild noise. We ran outside and discovered that she had gotten spooked (our theory is the sketchy neighborhood cat tried to woo her) and fell into the well in their front yard! This well is bout 10 feet across and 20 feet deep - envision an absurdly deep kiddie pool. 

the witch's cauldron/kitty pool

So the well used to be used for drinking water, but after a while (like many wells here) it got contaminated and filled with everything under the sun. And then the Rayles arrived! So everyone uses it for their water seal toilets here and it's close to drying up completely. Once that happens, they're going to clean it out and build a cover to keep it usable. Really gotta thank the lack of rain dances because the water in there was just enough for Pistol to tread along without drowning. 

A dramatic scene onfolded- Nathan has the bucket trying to scoop the screaming cat, but has little luck. At one point he got halfway up the wall with cat in tow until she plopped out and continued her ear-splitting wailing. The neighbor comes over with a wire and attempts hooking the puskat up by the belly. Meanwhile, Jessie Rae and I are peering over the edge of the well dodging cockroaches, shining flashlights, and hysterically cracking up at what we're witnessing. It was too alarming and strange and unlike life as we know it to not lose it completely. All the while, Pistol is swimming laps, attempting to scale the wall and failing, and making the most cringeworthy sounds of dispair. And all of this, with the realization that we shouldn't be laughing but helping Nathan save the puskat, made us laugh even harder! 

Somehow the neighbor with the wire, which we all thought was a lost cause, got the cat and raised it to safety! No animals were harmed during this rescue. Except most likely Pistol having difficulty coughing up a fattie furball after licking herself clean for endless hours afterwards. 

That's all the big updates in animal world! Lava and Kwen are still being badass puskats, constantly on the prowl for snacks. They're good company and haven't developed the annoying meow sequence that Jessie Rae and Nathan's cats are pros at. Amen!

rat, it's what's for breakfast

foot over the head and a pig's tooth.. very casual