Cat, Dog

A family photo


The new puppy, so adorable. Wearing a team east pagne colar and a pink leash, i love it


I mentioned before that I was going to get a kitten, and I was so excited. Kittens are so cute right? Everyone loves kittens right? Wrong. I've had this damn thing for about 4 weeks now, and she's neither. The kitten was born on the 4th of july so it's 3 months old, and growing. When I first got it, she was tiny and then she started eating through a box of cat food a week. Cat food isn't common here, I bet cats as food are more common than finding a box of meowmix. Kitty litter doesn't exist, so a box full of dirt is a cheap substitution.

The cat's name is Benny. She's named after Benson, a dog my family used to have that, like my kitten is completely black except for white paws and a white haired belly. Benson used to pass horrible smelling gas all the time and so does Benny. Our dog was so much better than this thing. Even then I keep thinking how many animals my sister and I had that my parents had to put up with. I had no idea what a pain in the ass it would be.

Benny meows all the time. She's attention deficit, meaning she runs around the house uncontrollably, without direction and she is always wanting attention. ALWAYS. It's so annoying. Meow, meow, meow, meow.. annoying. The other day my neighbor anne marie called me to say that she went over to get Benny because it had been meowing for hours. It also pees. It peed on my bed, on some of my clothes, in my bike helmet... I was pissed the last time it peed and dunked the cat in a bucket of water. It's not like I'm just going to throw those things in the washer, ca va, that's taken care of. No. Don't even get me started about laundry here. I keep telling myself that I hate mice, and cats are so much better than mice. But the other day there was a huge centipede in the living room, so I picked up that cat and put it in front of the bug where it just proceeded to sit there and watch it.

Benny has also inspired my 6 year old neighbor. We'll call him Christian, a little 6 year old boy who is always half dressed, mostly not wearing pants. As far as I've seen, Christians favorite past times include kicking around a water bottle or a plastic bag, rolling around on the porch of his house, and apparently playing with my cat. I came to realize this when the cat saw christian, hissed like crazy and ran off. Hmmm. So we asked Christian if he likes the cat and plays nicely with it, and his answers are mostly a few "oui's" and blank stares. Clearly guilty. I'm surprised the cat hasn't been put down the well yet.

Again, another day, Anne Marie thought something was wrong with my cat, meowing more than usual and scratching or something like that. Turns out it was christian. I walked in through the compound door, and Christian was hiding right behind it, squatting down, half naked, meowing. Kids are weird.

I think I should have got a dog instead. Luckily for me, my other postmate kate just got a puppy today and she's adorable. She doesn't have a name yet, but I want to call it Biya. Also happens to be name of the president of cameroon who has been in office for a few decades. I promised to help take care of it, which I don't think should be a problem since I love dogs and since I'm going to train it to be a good guard dog I now have someone to go running with. I'm pretty happy about it.

Next blog I'll write a little more about what I've been actually doing as a volunteer. I've not been so great about emails and updating this blog. I got my first miserably sick experience here last week. That sucked. I was kind of waiting for it anyway, it's just a matter of time for that to happen here. We've also been without power for several days at a time. Not a fan of living without electricity, because when it gets dark at 6:30 what do you do to pass the time with your canteen lantern and meowing cat?

Trevor was also visiting for a weekend, always a good time when other volunteers come through the capital. I think it's hard to escape the life here because very few things are familiar. But it's possible to find comfort in something familiar like people, movies, a good dream, a box of macaroni and cheese. Times like that its amazing how easy it is to forget where you are, it's disorientating. Like watching a great movie set in the states, it's great at that moment, but when the movie ends or volunteers travel back to their posts, reality hits. Not as fun. And not the reason I'm here, I know.

Besides that, I've been busy working, helping someone open their own business and launching a new health project. Nope not a health volunteer but that's how peace corps works. Just got to go with it... "I'm not an expert in french but I am an expert in _______" Fill in the blank, and sometimes that'll change with the day.

P.S. I totally mastered riding side saddle on a moto! The other day I was about to hop on a moto in a fited skirt that had double side slits a little to long. Too late to run back and change, I braved the side saddle ride all the way from tigaza to my house. Which doesn't mean anything to most of you, but it was a pretty long ride on some back dirt roads.