WILDLIFE

Everybody loves an elephant. Yes it's true that little is surprising here once you're accustomed to the madness. Along the crazy main road (really only wide enough comfortably for one lane of traffic, yet somehow accomodating much much more) one regularly sees dogs and cows and the occasional goat or ram (???). But an elephant us always a source of joy. Even the Goans (a tough crowd to impress) stop to touch the elephant. So when I saw this beauty, I had to stop and take a snap. Of course, as soon as I had, the old Sadhu following the elephant ran across the busy road to demand money, which I was happy to hand over. 

Still no phone or Internet access. It has been a week now with no means of communicating, save the unreliable Internet cafes and the pay phone shops, which are even less reliable. For the first several days, the phone company assured me that my phone would be activated in another six hours, so I kept assuming that soon I would have a phone that worked. My friend, Jivi, is very cross with me, having sent me an email saying how disappointed that I've decided not to be in touch with him. But every time I go to the store to phone him, they either have no electricity (a common problem) or their satellite is not functioning. When I finally got through, I could not hear the person on the other end. It sounded as though his servant was holding the telephone receiver to his face the wrong way round. Quite possible. The next time I got through, the servant said that Sahib was sleeping. I've tried twice since then, but with no success. 

In my kitchen a gas hot plate with two burners sits atop the kitchen counter. The gas tank sits on the floor floor below. There is a rubber tube that runs from the tank into a hole in the wall and then back out another hole above the counter into the hot plate. Yesterday as I was cooking my eggs and coffee, I saw a lizard crawl out of the hole behind the hot plate onto the counter. I tried to shoo him away, not anxious to share my breakfast. I then noticed that the tip of his tail was stuck inside the hole and the poor fellow was struggling frantically to get free. I was going to help him out by using the handle of my fork to giggle free his tail. But then I decided that I couldn't handle the drama of all this before having my coffee. As I went back to my eggs, I noticed that the lizard's tail was not caught in a crevice, as I had thought, but was being held in the mouth of a larger lizard, presumably the mother, to keep the little tyke from getting in trouble. More family drama. I now have a white cat that comes to visit every day. She meows loudly as she wanders through my abode looking for loose lizards, no doubt. All the animals here seem to have a lot to say. The crows caw all day long. The dogs next door bark wildly all day and all night. I assume they take turns. And the people next door are constantly yelling at the dogs to be quiet. It's sweet. 

But not quiet. 

I've been getting up and running along the beach at sunrise every morning. There are lots if people walking on the beach at that time and a few others running, as it is nice and cool. Many people walk or run with sticks in their hands, to ward off attacks by rabid dogs. It's a real problem. I remember that last time I didn't carry a stick until my last week here because something happened, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was that happened. Well this time, my theory is that the wild dogs will only attack people with sticks. So I am not yet carrying one. On my third morning, mud run, two dogs came after me. I sensed that they were domesticated so I put out my hands in a friendly way and they both jumped up on me to play. Very friendly dogs, but not eager to let me get on with my run. 

This morning, the same two dogs came after me, again jumping on me and being very playful. This time, though, there wa lots of playful biting. I didn't love that. (yes, doctor, I have rabies, but it's playful rabies) One of the dogs grabbed my running shorts and wouldn't let go, pulling them down a bit more and a bit more. Grrr. I only brought one pair!!!

What can I say? Friendly locals. 



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