Nyika

My little puppy died.  Last month all the PCV’s had to go to Dodoma to get a swine flu vaccination.  I left little Tanga at Joseph’s house.  He died while I was away.  I am not sure what happened.  I did not ask questions.  It was hard for awhile, especially because I couldn’t be publicly sad.  Children die each day here so of course, I couldn’t expect people to understand why I was upset over a dog.  But I was.  Even though he was only a few weeks old, I had grown used to him around the house and seeing him wag his tail when I returned from a meeting or teaching. 

      I had no plans to get a new puppy but of Tanga’s litter of five, one was stolen and three died which left only one, Nyika.  As a friend put it,

      “Tanga was Nyika’s family and you were Tanga’s family and now you have to be Nyika’s family.”  Sold.  Little Nyika moved in with me a few weeks ago and of course, has already stolen my heart.  He was the first born and much bigger than his four brothers.  Personality wise, he couldn’t be more different than Tanga.  All Tanga wanted to do was curl up in your lap and fall asleep.  Nyika, well, he would rather eat you.  He’s a handful, that one.  I lost him the first 15 minutes I had him.  We were walking to my house and I stopped to greet a friend.  I looked down and he was gone!  Seven weeks old, not afraid of a thing, he just up and decided to be-bop around a little on his own.  After a panicky afternoon of searching (about half my village was looking for him), we found him behind a hut rolling around in the grass. 

      He’s got a couple of bad habits too, that are going to need to come to a swift end.  One, he likes to chase chickens.  Chickens are abundant here and valuable property.  They are a source of food and income.  So, as you can imagine, that’s going to need to stop.  Also, he likes to nip at kangas as women walk by.  He did it to an old bibi the other day and I thought she would have a heart attack.  Most Tanzanians are afraid of dogs, even puppies.   We’re working on that one, too.

      But he is not always misbehaving.  He’s a smart little thing and already knows how to sit, lay down, come and give high-fives.  He’ll be a good guard dog, too.  Each night when I take my bucket bath, he sits at the bathroom door on watch and waits until I’m finished to go back inside the house. 

      Stay tuned for accounts of all our adventures to come!