8/23/02

The past couple of days have been a nice change from the previous few weeks. We’ve had some assignments to do, and I’ve been working on those. At first the assignments seemed really intimidating. There were a lot of things where we had to get out into the community and talk to people. One group was assigned to plan and hold a meeting by Tuesday. Lauren and I (the two business volunteers) have to do this too, but not till later. It’s a little scary to just go and start talking to people about AIDS or where they get the money for their business. So far, though, I feel like my assignments have been going well. I had to compile a list of resource organizations for small business owners. The list itself I have taken care of, but I have to call them and find a little bit about them, the addresses and contact people. I’m hoping that I can get a lot of that from the yellow pages.

This morning I went with Monique on a few errands. She also took me to the Peace Corps office so I could stock up on bug spray and get my mail. I still have to go and visit a bank, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen today. Deb called earlier. She was in town and is going to stop by in a little while. We’re going to check out the beach access near my house. This weekend, I’m going with my family to Micoud and Vieux Fort. Their family lives there. I’m hoping that over the weekend I’ll be able to organize the stuff I’ve found and finish it off. On Monday I’ll have to do the bank visit, and I also told my Babonneau family I’d stop by. Yesterday I went to the beach with them for a while.

Last week, right before I left their house, there was a little neighborhood skirmish. Dogs bark up there all the time, but they were barking especially much, and we heard a fight. Theresa went to check it out, and it turned out that the neighborhood dogs were attacking Snippy. He was roughed up, but pretty much ok. He had been bitten on his face and back leg. He was a little bloody and dirty, but the actual wounds were small. Krishna and I tended to him with my hand sanitizer and a tissue. This morning Krishna called and said the neighbor dogs got at Snippy again and broke his leg. She was waiting for Theresa to get home so they could take Snippy to the vet. I was a little surprised that she said they’d treat him. It’s more common here for people to just let their animals die. Most animals aren’t considered pets, so there isn’t the same attachment. And in the case of Snippy, as sad as it is, it might be better for him to be put to sleep than given half-assed medical treatment.

But speaking of which, I’m thinking of getting a dog when I get my own house. They’re recommended for protection and I think the companionship would be nice. Luckily, Flavia’s dog up in Babonneau, just had puppies. I think Deb and I are each taking one. I’m planning to raise it like an American pet so that I can bring it HOME! But first I need to look into the costs so that I can budget for it.