the bad with the good

Written Wednesday, February 27, 2013

So I have bad news to share with you all. Ceu (my dog) has been missing for the past 3.5 almost 4 weeks now. He was doing so well with being off the leash, we had even sunk into a good routine of him coming back at night and sleeping in the house, I thought it was all going well. Then one night he just didn’t come back. I had the entire neighborhood/community out on the watch for him. All of my organizations, the doctors at the hospital, my neighborhood kids and I even went out and did a big search through town a few times. While I was gone, I had my landlord go to my house every day to see if he had come back to eat food/drink water. No luck at all. 

I have been deeply depressed about this, cried a few times, and have just generally been feeling very lonely around the house.

Then something wonderful happened. On Sunday this past weekend, the woman who helps me with my water, and washes my clothes – Sandra, brought me a puppy! She shows up in my yard with this tiny little creature tucked under her arm, clearly uncomfortable from being in that close of a proximity to a dog for so long (people in Mozambique generally don’t like dogs, even puppies). When I asked what she was doing with a puppy her response was “its for you Tia Taylor, so you aren’t sad and alone here at home anymore”. This had to be one of the kindest most genuine gestures anyone has done for me in this country.

At first I was uneasy about the idea of having a brand new puppy. I really loved adopting Ceu, because he was already trained, he was easy to take care of, and the neighborhood/my friends already knew him. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the responsibility of being a “single mom” in Africa. So I sat for a bit and looked at this tiny little creature Sandra brought to me. She was literally skin and bones, not playful at all –she kind of just curled up into a ball and looked at me - probably not a puppy I would have chosen for myself had I had the choice.

So I sat there and went back and forth in my mind “do I want this dog?” at first I said no, she was too small, probably sick and was COVERED head to toe in fleas and ticks (literally they were in every nook and cranny on her body). I thanked Sandra for the gesture, but explained that I wasn’t ready for a puppy, I was busy with work, etc. She said “that’s fine, but why don’t you play with her while I do the laundry” (with a knowing smile).

I elected to give her a vinegar bath to kill some of the fleas – it was the least I could do right? At least send her back a bit cleaner than she was.

A vinegar bath turned into 2 hours of picking fleas and ticks off her little body with tweezers, which lead to me giving her a bowl of milk and some rice. When I started thinking about names, I knew it was all over, and that I had a new puppy.

So yes. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a new puppy. Her name is “Lua” which means moon in Portuguese. I decided to stay with the celestial theme of dog names –Ceu meant sky.

I’m happy to report that she is flea/tick free, sleeping through the night, eating well (she already has a little belly) and this morning she barked for the first time! It was the most pathetic and possibly cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Welp – there ya have it. I’m a dog owner again. I waited a while to post news about Ceu, because I was holding out hope for his return. I still hope that one day he comes strolling back into my yard. I miss the guy. Also out of respect to Angela, I will be skype-ing with her later this evening to break the news. That’s not something I want to share over a text message, and will be posting this blog after our conversation.

So to recap my past few days – I have a new dog, my Moringa nursery project is finally taking off, I will be giving a few workshops with my community organizations about the seminar I attended last week, things at the hospital are going well – and my English Group continues to grow week by week.

All in all, things are very good here in Quissico.

This weekend I will be hosting probably close to 35 people here for a birthday celebration of some fellow Moz 18er’s. The theme is “create your own superhero”, so I’m excited to see what some costumes will be. We have a general itinerary, a menu, and will be spending some time down at the lagoon! Looking forward to having my friends see my site – although I will confess that having this many people here is going to be a somewhat stressful time. It will be wonderful though!

X’s and O’s

tay