the more i see of men, the more i prefer dogs...

there are four dogs who consider the office their personal quarters, at least during the daytime. boloh and cheetah, a brother-sister pair, are both five years old and sweetly adult: calm, food oriented, loving and loyal. chicu and tanka (see right) are another brother-sister pair, and a recent addition to the brood. five months old, they vacillate between being total terrors and delightfully delicious.

despite the frequent piles of poop the puppies leave around the office, the proclivity of one of them to chew on my computer’s power cord, the tendency of the other to chew on my favorite pair of flip flops, and the penchant of all four to engage in impressive wrestling matches throughout the day, i am more than thrilled with this doggy set-up. in india, the ratio of seeing someone kick a dog to seeing someone walking one on a leash is about 500:1, if that. i find it fortuitous that i am in india again, working on women’s rights issues, at an ngo whose staff not only has a fondness for animals, but actually welcomes a few lucky street dogs into the office. my heart warms simply by being here. i feel tremendously lucky.

the other night, just before i left to walk home, i sat down on a chair in the main room of the office. cheetah, a tan and white mutt, whose odd looks are overpowered by her sweet disposition, was curled up in the chair next to mine. as soon as i plopped exhaustedly down onto the woven chair, she nudged herself over, resituating to expose her furry belly to me, knowing full well that i would happily comply. cooing softly, i rubbed in circles, then up and down, then left to right.

well aware that these dogs get into plenty of mischief and roll around in plenty of shit during their daily jaunts outside the office, i examined the downy hair on her belly as i massaged. spotting the expected enemy, i sighed and pointed it out to my friend and coworker pratima. another tick, i exclaimed, getting up to get some old newspaper to serve as a glove. it was swollen, and attached, and i predicted some bloodshed as i severed its head from its ugly, gross, bulbous body.

gripping the tick firmly between my newspaper-covered fingers, i pulled, gently but firmly. unsuccessful, i repositioned the newspapers, and my angle of approach, and tried again. still no luck. i audibly sighed again as pratima babbled to me incoherently in gujarati. exasperated, i thought to myself that people here really just do NOT know how to take care of dogs.

pratima interrupted my thoughts with a sharp “look!” and a hand pointing to the tick. i did. i looked at the tick and prodded a bit. i looked closer, and realized my error. the tick was not a tick. it was cheetah’s nipple. a little off-center and a little bit larger than the rest, and a little odd looking perhaps, but without a doubt, a nipple. i started laughing at first, joining my coworkers who had already realized my blunder, then quickly felt awful. i worried i had lost cheetah’s trust and affection forever, her warm welcome in the morning, her generous licks throughout the day, and perhaps most importantly, her invitations to rub her belly.

but i needn’t have worried. no sooner had i apologetically dug my face into her belly than she energetically licked my forehead, sniffling and snuffling my hair as she did so. i spent a couple more minutes with her, praising all of her wonderful attributes and letting her know what a goddess i think she is, smelling her wonderfully aromatic paws and kissing the top of her nose. and then i set out for home, comfortable and confident that i was in her good graces once again.

public transport

so far during my time here in india, i have ridden the public, intercity bus five times. i love riding this bus. i have thought about why i love this mode of transportation so much, this clumsy hulk of steel that commands control of the road with its staggering size and thunderous horn. the heat that hits you in full force while waiting for every last passenger to climb onboard is unbearable. and while it's not erased, it's almost forgotten as the bus laggardly pulls away from the station. the slow breeze from the open windows works its magic, soothing your overheated face, quieting your overcrowded mind.

long distant landscape relatives greet one another, sometimes abruptly, sometimes with grace. city congestion mingles with neighboring slums before giving way to outskirts, clumps of buildings and people and homes. and finally, open land. it is here where i breathe deeply. lush, verdant land stretches on for miles. speckled with farmers and animals, sprinkled with brightly colored flowers, this is what i prefer to consume. i take in the air, the fields blurring by, the children tending to water buffalo, the camels relaxing in the shade. i take it all in as i pass and i feel content doing so.

i make a list in my head, as i tend to do with things i love, of animals i see on these bus rides.

my most recent list from my trip back from ahmedabad:

• cows - with impressively massive and uniquely shaped horns
• water buffalo - adults and babies, two of whom were bathing in a murky marsh
• herons - serenely wading in shallow water
  
• donkeys - waiting for their backs to be burdened with goods
• camels - at least 10, some resting under trees, others hard at work
• elephant - (1) lugging a tremendous amount of material
• monkeys - neither langours nor macaques, these guys were somersaulting on pipes and jumping from roof to roof
  

see my ahmedabad animals link on the left for pictures from the trip...

preston's cousins

a couple of nights ago i decide to meander around my neighborhood to try and get my bearings. just dusk, the houses are ever-so-slightly shrouded in a thin haze. as i walk down the block and feel the beginning of raindrops, i notice a movement out of the corner of my eye.

my hearing may be waning, but my eyes are eagle-sharp. i take a couple of steps and realize what it is. a frog! a beautiful frog: olive color, mottled with asparagus spots, this frog is healthy. after watching it hop away i proceed on my self-guided tour, my interest piqued, my eyesight honed.

i don't have to wait long. after three steps the street is teeming with activity. frogs, of every size, ranging all the way from my pinky nail (as most of you know, i bite my nails with ferocity. i'm talking teensy tiny frogs here,) to fuji apples. hopping all over the place. i wonder if someone has just forgotten to tell me about the festivities. i can't remember the last time i've seen this many happy frogs in one place.

so, as i am often wont to do in situations like this, i inch along, hobbling over with my eyes peeled, eager for a closer look. so impressive - the sheen of their supple skin. their perfectly adapted legs - ready to conquer land and water alike. their endearingly bulgy eyes (reminding me of both ruby and my dad, two characters whom i love more than just about anyone.) i crouch even further to the street, ready to inspect one frog with all the intensity i can muster.

my examination is interrupted even before it can begin when the nearby-restaurant owner - on whom i have a mild crush - appears out of nowhere beside me and asks what i'm doing "flat on the road."

the frogs, i tell him, i love looking at these frogs. i can't believe how many there are! he sends me a confused look so i point to the one i have just bent down to appreciate.

but. it's not actually a frog. no, what i took to be a frog is simply a rock. grayish green with a slightly dappled appearance, this rock is certainly pretty but it definitely doesn't hop and is definitely not a frog. i stand up straight, brushing off my knees, feeling a blush spread across my face. i point to the other frogs that are actually frogs to prove my point.

and, luckily for me, there are plenty still around.

neighbors

the neighbor across the street from my office, gita, is extraordinarily warm and sweet. come sit, she beckons every time i pass, every time swaying with the patio swing on which she is constantly perched.

she has a dog. adam, a small white terrier, is well cared for and much loved - the kind of dog that requires a double take here in india. where the norm is scarily protruding ribs and doleful eyes.

dogs, especially those who are treated well, bring a certain democracy to the table, deftly disregarding country barriers and cultural differences. i am well aware of this fact. i complimented gita on her dog in hindi - your dog is beautiful, i told her, nodding to the stout, furry shape in the doorway.

oooooo, she crooned, eager to converse. you are beautiful. your eyes, so pretty, your skin.
i protested, returning my attention to adam; he's so good, so pretty (i know maybe five adjectives, my hindi is embarrassingly limited.) gita looked lovingly toward her pup and sent him a handful of air kisses before turning back to me. yes, she said. he is very beautiful, just like you. both are beautiful, you two like brother and sister.

which is somewhat of an odd compliment. this is actually not the first time that i've been called a dog to my face. but this time i walked away giggling and happy. happy to be considered relatives with the white terrier across the street. and happy to have his owner as a friend.

home sweet home...

i am, for all intents and purposes, home. i have arrived in baroda, gujarat, safely although by way of a rather lengthy, circuitous route. five weeks of orientation and hindi study followed by two days of travel. a nauseating taxi ride down the himalayas to a seven-hour train from dehradun. a six-hour layover in delhi - enough time to gobble up a fattoush salad and stock up on some good snacks in preparation for the final leg; a thirteen-hour train ride from delhi to baroda. given that some fellows in the south have upwards of 50 hours on the train to reach their placements, i consider my trip an easy one.

i have set up temporary shop in the group's conference room, a large room with a small cot and a huge air conditioner. i have met the group's staff - all women except one sweet man, veersing, who met me at the train station. i stumbled off the train with my luggage in tow and found myself face-to-face with a man repeating my name aloud. his english is non-existent but his calm demeanor and the sweetness in his eyes (as well as the sweetness with which he fixes the dogs' meals, read below,) convey plenty.

a few other tidbits worth mentioning. for those worried about my physical wellbeing vis-a-vis good food (and by that i dare to imply a world beyond the stale arena of starches,) fear not. sugar & spice, a much beloved deli/grocer that is located in the lovely khan market in delhi, is also here in baroda. it is here, right here, JUST across the street from my work.

for dinner last night, much to my delight, i went to a south indian restaurant with indira and maya, the two wonderful women who founded the organization where i'm working. turns out the restaurant they chose was already at the top of my list of food spots to hit up; it is the guiness book of world records holder for the LONGEST DOSA ever made. over four feet long! needless to say, i ordered a dosa. it was scrumptious.

moving from physical to emotional health, promising news in this department as well. there are many animal lovers among the staff, indira being one of them. because of this, there are two dogs that regularly relax at the office (and receive two meals of bread, dal, and milk a day, lovingly prepared by veersing.) cheetah likes to sit on chairs and makes herself quite comfortable either on the woven chairs downstairs or on the bench on the 2nd floor patio outside. boloh (who has already figured me out and enjoys my treats and affections,) spent most of the afternoon yesterday spread out on the cool marble floor upstairs, a few feet away from my office door. i could see his paws twitching and hear his dreamland growls as i reviewed some work documents. there are few better ways to make me feel at home. it was a good first day.

today i've been trying, without much luck, to figure out how to wirelessly connect my macbook to the internet. if anyone has any ideas, please holler. otherwise i'll be back with more updates - and pictures - as soon as i sort this out.

phillies: 11 marlins: 1

my dad and a few other docs went in on some phillies season tickets this year. which is amusing to me, since my dad's affinity for sports begins and ends with his rifle collection (with which he shoots paper targets in the basement and cans in the backyard, both to the dismay of my mother.)

but he and my mom have been going pretty regularly to watch the games, so last night i went with him to see what all the fuss was about.

1.) the seats are fantastic, seven rows from the field, right behind the dugout. the best part is, you can watch as the players come back - from having been struck out, from a home run, at the end of the inning. and you can actually make out their facial expressions. these expressions, as those of you who go to baseball games often or are familiar with the players already know, are priceless.

2.) quite possibly my favorite part of the game was looking at the humongous electronic scoreboard. not for the score of course, that wouldn't be that exciting - especially for phillies fans, but for the camera. the camera that catches everyone when they aren't ready to be caught on film. and when they finally do realize they're on the big screen, they can't quite figure out which way to look so you can see their full face. my personal favorite last night was the "flex cam." a giant illustration of a muscle was posted on half of the scoreboard and the camera proceeded to pan around the stadium, looking for people to flex their guns. fantastic. the camera showed us 5 or 6 hefty guys showing off their masculinity, and then zoomed in on a couple of 16 year old boys, eager to prove they were men too, and finally caught a brother and a sister, blissfully unaware of the camera, digging into their ice creams. now they had the right idea. equal parts candid camera and 15 seconds of fame, this was entertainment.

3.) another moment in contention for my personal favorite: just after the 4th inning, the camera focused on a couple and, across the gigantic scoreboard, equally gigantic words: JASON IS PROPOSING TO ERIN!!! but erin was a bit oblivious, and as jason kneeled down, his girlfriend questioningly looked around to figure out what was going on. she said yes though, and the camera stayed with them as they hugged for a good 2 minutes, after which Jason triumphantly shot his hands up in the air, puffed up his chest, and - what do you know - flexed his muscles for all to see (via the scoreboard of course.)

the devil came on horseback

last night, on the recommendation of a fellow india adventurer, i went to see the documentary "the devil came on horseback." a well made film, the documentary provides an inside look at the crisis in darfur through the eyes of former marine brian steidle. the filmmakers (both women are dartmouth grads) guide us through steidle's background to help us understand why he volunteered for the african union in sudan, his work to document the cease-fire that was declared in April of 2003, and his return home after his disgust with the lack of assistance to the communities in and surrounding darfur.

steidle skillfully explains the situation in sudan and darfur in simple terms; the politics and dynamics that exist there. the arab population in the north and the christians in the south. the sudanese government and its relationship to the janjaweed militia. why china is a key player. how rape is used as a tool of war. his tragic photos and heartbreaking stories help document what has been going on in this region for the past three years.

only after many months have g.w and his people decided to label what is going on in darfur genocide.

what matters now is that both the united states and the united nations are fully aware of these atrocities. what matters is that after armenia, after the holocaust and after rwanda, after cambodia and after the balkans, we have another genocide occurring, right now. americans across the nation, both in d.c. and beyond, are turning a blind eye.

this makes me ashamed to be an american.

please. go to www.savedarfur.org - learn about the film and learn about what is happening.

setting off...to nj

i just returned home to new jersey and am in a state of minor shock. how quickly two years have passed! how much has happened! tumultuous jobs, wonderful relationships, and the death of my closest friend. i feel a bit older, a bit wiser, and yet very much like i am still a fraud in the grown-up world. which i guess is fine by me.

i am happy to be back in moorestown, running errands and enjoying the company of the two best dogs alive. tobias, our golden retriever, is simply a wonder. his diet today -in addition to the boring bland dog chow - included the following: an unripe apple from a tree in our garden, fresh basil from the same location, his own shit along with the shit of a fellow pooch, and a tasty bit of runover squirrel from the street (aka squirrel jerky.) really now, he is one classy gourmand. he is currently passed out on our red velvet sofa in what i can only imagine to be a blissful state of pure gluttony.

the here and now in san francisco

things i'll miss about san francisco, in no particular order:

-vegetarian food: www.anandafuara.com,
-beautiful houses & fun californian design: sfgirlbybay.blogspot.com
-sea lions at fisherman's wharf: http://www.sftravel.com/sealionsfishermanswharf.html
-dog parks & all the dogs: http://www.fetchthepaper.com/
-the balmy weather
-my fantastic baby apartment

things i won't miss about san francisco:
-hills
-all the hipsters
-ridiculously high rent