So after the craziness of that bike trip and fourth of July, things slowed down....way down. Headed back to village to start Ramadan. Ramadan is this lovely little month where everyone fasts, no food, no drink during daylight hours. It is the Muslim holy month. The month that the Qu'ran was revealed to Muhammad. I participated in this last year and did it this year as well. Because of this no eating and drinking, people tend to not do anything during the day except for early in the morning. It is the beginning of rainy season so people have to go out to their fields in the morning but after that it is a lot of laying under a tree and sleeping. There was one particular funny interaction my family had with a pulaar man one afternoon. So first of all I live with the village chief and so visitors to the village for the day whether they are there for the market or pulaars who came in to get water, either way they tend to spend the day at our compound. so we have lots of visitors. but this pulaar was sitting with the women underneath a tree in our compound and asked about lunch. My host mom said we are all fasting. So then he asked about cold water and once again she said we are all fasting but you can go to a boutique. And then he looked at me and said what about the toubab, implying they should have lunch and water because of me. My host mom turned and looked at me then turned back to the pulaar and said she's fasting. He looked at me and was like no she's not. My mom and aunts all were like um....yes she is. The look on his face was priceless. But then at the end of Ramadan I ended up getting really sick for a few days with high fevers but then it miraculously went away.
Now on to the biggest news story of the night....I have a new puppy!!!!
Meet Murphy Djo. We met in the Djoloff bush. This story all started with a national vaccination campaign. For ten days the health post was to vaccinate every child under the age of 14 from rubella and measles. The first three days we vaccinated children in Affe so only stayed at the health post but the following days we drove out into the bush to various villages just vaccinating any kid that we saw. Side note, it is pretty funny to watch groups of children be vaccinated because the differing reactions is pretty great. The first is just outright crying and screaming at the sight of the needle. The second is the brave face, you can tell the shot isn't pleasant but the kid is determined not to show the pain. And the last and my favorite is the surprise face. The kid will walk up and have no clue what is about to happen to him/her and be completely calm until they get poked. They then jump and get this shocked look on their face like what was that, I can't believe you just did that, what did I do to you! and then after about ten seconds there is screaming. It's pretty great. Ok now back to your original program. So I was with my midwife and matron in a village while my doctor went to another village to do vaccinations. We finished way before he came back and they were looking at pictures on my camera, some of which were from home and of Gus. They think the way we treat dogs is absolutely hysterical. Especially when they saw one of gus dressed up. 
The pulaars we were with were then like we have a bunch of puppies that we are just going to throw out into the bush, do you want one? and I thought about it for a second then I said no no I can't have a dog I'm leaving in 5 months but I would love to go see them. So we went to see them. It was a litter of 7. 
The pulaar that showed me the pups was like hurry up before the mom comes back so I picked one up and showed my matron and she ran away and was like yeah it's pretty. But then the pulaar was like no you need a boy and I was like what? am I actually taking a dog? so then I picked up another who was also a girl and the third that I picked up was Murphy Djo!
So then we ran away because everyone was afraid of the mother. We went back and waited for the car while my midwife just laughed at me. They asked how I was going to carry him and I said in my sack and I put him in and wrapped him up because he was cold.
Only one eye was really open the other was kind of open kind of shut. Everyone just kept laughing and laughing. I kept going back and forth as to whether or not I actually wanted to take him because he was so young but then the car showed up and we got in with Murphy. I told my doctor that I had a present for him and pulled murphy out of my sack. He was so surprised and also laughed. The rest of the day and for about a week to two weeks after that I was terrified that I was going to kill this innocent little pup because I took him away from his mom so early. and I didn't have a bottle to feed him...I was so scared especially that first night. but then I figured out to put the milk in a plastic bag and bite a corner out and he could suck on it that way. and it worked!!! after that I was afraid I was feeding him too much or too little. But he's still alive today. I took him home and everyone in my family were like oh my gosh Kine you have a dog. Dogs are bad. I was a little worried they wouldn't let me keep him. I was leaving the next day anyways though and taking murphy with me.
We were gone for over a week and murphy got to ride a camel!
We then went to linguere for his first Thanksgiving. It was a blast. After that we went back to village and made my whole family laugh some more. I sat down and he was in a bucket with some trees so they didn't see him at first but then when they did everyone was like Kine you still have that dog! after that everything's been good. They all love him now especially the kids and my host dad. Some of the kids will even hold him but most are too afraid to touch him. The staff at the health post think it's great when I bring him along with me and ask where he is when I don't. My family thinks he is the most interesting thing ever. They think it's crazy that he walks outside to poop and pee and then when he's done he just walks back in. They can't believe he knows the edges of things so he doesn't fall off and also knows to stay away from fire. The call him a little person.
The next adventure for Murphy was Christmas. We went to a beach village called Somone and rented a house were he could run and play all around. He loved it. He also loves the beach and has now learned how to dig and decided to dig a hole on the beach and go to sleep when we were leaving. He is now about two months old (I think) and is a little terror. He just zooms through the room as fast as he can running into things and nipping at everything. But thirty minutes later you will find him curled up on my clothes taking a nap recharging the batteries for another tornado. On Christmas eve Murphy got a present from the pork dinner. A friend gave him a big bone with meet still on it and he snatched that and ran away behind a cupboard in the corner. He didn't come out until it was picked clean and then he got another one. Big Christmas for Murphy. We then made the trip back to linguere where Murphy tries to play with the other two dogs who want nothing to do with him. Murphy is two months old and still going strong. He's a puppy with lots of energy and can't wait to meet everyone in the US.
Now on to the biggest news story of the night....I have a new puppy!!!!
Meet Murphy Djo. We met in the Djoloff bush. This story all started with a national vaccination campaign. For ten days the health post was to vaccinate every child under the age of 14 from rubella and measles. The first three days we vaccinated children in Affe so only stayed at the health post but the following days we drove out into the bush to various villages just vaccinating any kid that we saw. Side note, it is pretty funny to watch groups of children be vaccinated because the differing reactions is pretty great. The first is just outright crying and screaming at the sight of the needle. The second is the brave face, you can tell the shot isn't pleasant but the kid is determined not to show the pain. And the last and my favorite is the surprise face. The kid will walk up and have no clue what is about to happen to him/her and be completely calm until they get poked. They then jump and get this shocked look on their face like what was that, I can't believe you just did that, what did I do to you! and then after about ten seconds there is screaming. It's pretty great. Ok now back to your original program. So I was with my midwife and matron in a village while my doctor went to another village to do vaccinations. We finished way before he came back and they were looking at pictures on my camera, some of which were from home and of Gus. They think the way we treat dogs is absolutely hysterical. Especially when they saw one of gus dressed up. The pulaars we were with were then like we have a bunch of puppies that we are just going to throw out into the bush, do you want one? and I thought about it for a second then I said no no I can't have a dog I'm leaving in 5 months but I would love to go see them. So we went to see them. It was a litter of 7. The pulaar that showed me the pups was like hurry up before the mom comes back so I picked one up and showed my matron and she ran away and was like yeah it's pretty. But then the pulaar was like no you need a boy and I was like what? am I actually taking a dog? so then I picked up another who was also a girl and the third that I picked up was Murphy Djo!So then we ran away because everyone was afraid of the mother. We went back and waited for the car while my midwife just laughed at me. They asked how I was going to carry him and I said in my sack and I put him in and wrapped him up because he was cold.Only one eye was really open the other was kind of open kind of shut. Everyone just kept laughing and laughing. I kept going back and forth as to whether or not I actually wanted to take him because he was so young but then the car showed up and we got in with Murphy. I told my doctor that I had a present for him and pulled murphy out of my sack. He was so surprised and also laughed. The rest of the day and for about a week to two weeks after that I was terrified that I was going to kill this innocent little pup because I took him away from his mom so early. and I didn't have a bottle to feed him...I was so scared especially that first night. but then I figured out to put the milk in a plastic bag and bite a corner out and he could suck on it that way. and it worked!!! after that I was afraid I was feeding him too much or too little. But he's still alive today. I took him home and everyone in my family were like oh my gosh Kine you have a dog. Dogs are bad. I was a little worried they wouldn't let me keep him. I was leaving the next day anyways though and taking murphy with me. We were gone for over a week and murphy got to ride a camel!
We then went to linguere for his first Thanksgiving. It was a blast. After that we went back to village and made my whole family laugh some more. I sat down and he was in a bucket with some trees so they didn't see him at first but then when they did everyone was like Kine you still have that dog! after that everything's been good. They all love him now especially the kids and my host dad. Some of the kids will even hold him but most are too afraid to touch him. The staff at the health post think it's great when I bring him along with me and ask where he is when I don't. My family thinks he is the most interesting thing ever. They think it's crazy that he walks outside to poop and pee and then when he's done he just walks back in. They can't believe he knows the edges of things so he doesn't fall off and also knows to stay away from fire. The call him a little person. The next adventure for Murphy was Christmas. We went to a beach village called Somone and rented a house were he could run and play all around. He loved it. He also loves the beach and has now learned how to dig and decided to dig a hole on the beach and go to sleep when we were leaving. He is now about two months old (I think) and is a little terror. He just zooms through the room as fast as he can running into things and nipping at everything. But thirty minutes later you will find him curled up on my clothes taking a nap recharging the batteries for another tornado. On Christmas eve Murphy got a present from the pork dinner. A friend gave him a big bone with meet still on it and he snatched that and ran away behind a cupboard in the corner. He didn't come out until it was picked clean and then he got another one. Big Christmas for Murphy. We then made the trip back to linguere where Murphy tries to play with the other two dogs who want nothing to do with him. Murphy is two months old and still going strong. He's a puppy with lots of energy and can't wait to meet everyone in the US.
