6/7/14
My last two days in KTM were stressful, as they so often
are, in KTM. The battery that I had
ordered was not in yet, of course. So
now, I have to figure out another way to get one-necessitating either another
trip to KTM or to Pokhara (another city two days away). On the bright side, the kittens that I rescue
were both adopted. I honestly feel that
rescuing those kittens is the best thing that I’ve done in PC, so far. To celebrate, I went by the KAT centre. It is so sweet to see Nepalis taking care of
animals, as that is rare. The nice young
men working there showed me around.
About half of the dogs there live there permanently and are up for adoption. The other half are dogs that have been
brought in from the streets for treatment-sterilization, vaccination and
medical care. Unfortunately, there is
not space or money to keep all of the dogs, so this second group of dogs is
released back onto the streets, which breaks my heart. It’s very frustrating, because the workers say
that those dogs can’t be put up for adoption because they are “owned” by the
communities that they come from. This is bullshit. If these dogs were really “owned,” they would
be taken care of, as pets. Instead, they are allowed to sleep in doorways, sometimes
given scraps, and used as objects upon which frustration can be taken out. It is preposterous that these dogs are
missing out on the opportunity to be adopted by people that would actually love
and care for them, to be returned to people that do not deserve or value
them.
Is spent a couple of hours playing with the dogs (and a few
cats), giving them love and throwing the ball for them. Nearly all of these dogs were sweet and
gentle and so excited to be getting attention.
It’s so sad, because these dogs have every right to hate people, and
yet, all they want is love and care.
Saying goodbye to them, especially the dogs that were going to be
released, was very sad. I’m genuinely
worried that I’m going to return to America with several dogs… Next time I’m
there, I’ll go back and see my new friends.
After a couple more nice dinners with Elizabeth, I had to
undertake the two-day journey back to site.
I wasn’t particularly excited to return (except to see Danny), but after
17 hours on a bus, anywhere to lay down starts to sound nice. I got to pick up a couple of packages on the
way back, which was a nice treat, and I’m loaded down with new books and
magazines for the coming months, so I felt as prepared as possible.
The next few days I spent with my fellow Dang-ers,
celebrating the 4th and regaling them with stories of the real
world. I was very glad to be surrounded
by friends, again, even if it meant being back in the bowels of PC.
Monsoon season has begun. It’s not as bad as I imagined,
just very muddy. It’s not like I went
outside all that much, anyways, so it’s not changing much. However, the bug
situation is out of control.
The other morning, I was putting on my nightgown only to see
a huge bug on it. I screamed and flung
it off. 25 minutes later, much to my horror, I realized that it was still
inside of my nightgown. Bad morning.
Today marks the real beginning of my return to work. Lots of planning to do, and phone calls to
make. I am really just hoping to find my
unicorn, soon. A unicorn is an organization that wants to work with me, that is
organized enough to actually help with a project, that can give me work to do,
for the next 16 months. Ahhh, if only I
had a unicorn. The next month is
dedicated to planning for upcoming projects, and filling out grant applications
for those projects.
These next few months will be difficult, as there are very
few events to look forward to. The
beginning of September is the next time that I have an out-of-town
meeting. I guess I’ll have to come up
with something to motivate me for July and August.
Missing you all, especially those of you getting to enjoy
that magical Missoula summer.
Xoxox
Zoop
P.S. I planted rice, yesterday. Look at me!
