Dogs, cats and chuchos

So sad news on the home- front, dear Beausie has been put down. I’m glad I got to see him one last time over Christmas while I was home, but it’s still really sad thinking about him gone. Thank goodness I have Ziki Ziki and Nitz Chum Vicente Wood to cuddle with. Although, thanks to those cuddles I now have fleas again (I blame Ziki as Nitz gets a bath about once every three days, to his displeasure).

I was up making re-hydration fluid with a few groups in some of the Caserios that are further away today, on the way home I stopped at the market in Paloma and therefore spent almost the entire day outside without reapplying the sunscreen… oh dear. My face is red as a tomato, however my scalp is the worst… there’s nothing sexier than applying aloe and moisturizer to your part. Living the dream.

I’ve decided that I’m going to scrounge together some money and finally head up to Tikal in February. Kiki (another PC volunteer who lives in Toto) has a friend coming to visit and Ana (another PC volunteer who lives in Toto!) and I have decided to crash their trip and head up with them. Sorry Nitz, your vaccines are going to have to wait another month (best pet owner award of the year). So, look out for pictures, I’m so excited, even if we are only going to be there one night!

Another trick I’ve been working on (as I’ve been doing a lot of house visits recently) is the “stop and stare” when chuchos try to attack you. My normal human instinct when a snarling, foaming dog runs at me is to run as fast as I can away, and throw rocks at it as hard as I can while running. That strategy however, seems to be failing, and therefore I’m taking lessons from my “unofficial” counterpart Zayra, on how to stand still as a statue and stare the dog down. If that fails, you always have a few spare rocks in your bag you can chuck at it. It’s horrifying and has probably taken about fifteen years off of my life, but so far, no fatalities.