Wildlife

An important part of the experience here is the wildlife. The first thing I noticed in Rakkar were the dogs. Wild dogs wander the streets freely, scavenging for discarded food. The average Indian dog is built like lab, but somewhat smaller. Their tails curl over on top and their ears are half way in between sticking up like a cattle dog and flopping over like a lab. They come in all sorts of colors and coats. Some people do own dogs, however. While you wouldn't want to pet a dog on the street, I have gotten my dog fix from two dogs owned by Anya's neighbors, Ginger and Boey. Because there have been problems with rabid dogs in the not so distant past, most people here are afraid of all dogs. (Don't worry, I'm vaccinated.)

Last week, when I tagging along with Anya to observe her English class at the Shapur Knowledge Center, we found an abandoned puppy in the gutter at our bus transfer in Dharmshala. Its eyes weren't even open yet, and it lay there shivering and whimpering. Anya took some paper, pulled it out of the gutter, and set it on some rags in a corner of the bus stop to dry off. It was a pretty fat little dog, so we assumed it had just lost its mother that morning and hoped that she would come back to find it soon. We stopped back to check on it on the way home that evening and it was gone. Hopefully it's safely back with its mother now. Otherwise, we were planning to take back with us to find a home for it in Rakkar.

The next thing I noticed were the snails. Snails here are nocturnal, but they get everywhere at night, gathering in clumps around whatever they find delicious and slithering slowly up and down the roads. There are no street lights around here and my flashlight can only illuminate so much, so I accidentally step on at least two every night when I come home from visiting Anya or her neighbors. The crunching sound that comes with stepping on a snail really makes you regret what you've just done. It's pretty terrible.

As to monkeys, there aren't any in Rakkar or Sidhbari. While there are plenty further up the mountain in places like Dharmshala and McLeod Ganj, dogs firmly hold the place of scavengers around here. Frankly, I'm glad we have dogs rather than monkeys. They're much less mischievous. I've heard stories of monkeys entering people's houses and helping themselves to the refrigerator or even stealing your shopping bag right out of your hands.

Cats are few and far between. Indians believe that all cats, not just black ones, are unlucky, so few are kept as pets. There is a pretty sandy colored one with a striped tail that hangs out around my house and the neighboring houses though.

Included in the local fauna are also smallish lizards, snakes (though I have yet to see one), and spiders. The spiders here can get leg spans the size of the palm of your hand, but the largest ones I have found in my house are about the size of a fifty cent piece. They don't bother me and I don't bother them.

I finally have a straight answer to the question, “what exactly are you doing over there?” Today, I began to teach my first English class. This is a ten week course that alternates days with a computer class here at the Rakkar Knowledge Center. Since there aren't any text books here or set courses, I had to come up with a full class plan from scratch myself, which is what I have been doing for the last two weeks.

It is also my responsibility to make (and I assume, updated) the Jagori Grameen web site. Anya and another American girl who was here earlier started working on one, but it was far from finished. So far, I have taken the existing layout, and tweaked it to make it easier to navigate and more colorful. I am awaiting orders on what specifically to do next. There is also talk of me making a separate web site for TARA Center, where Jagori hosts workshops. I'm sure that will come when the Jagori Grameen site is up and running.

With my free time, I have been doing my best to adjust to life here. Lately, almost every night I have had an invite to someone's house for dinner, a movie, or both. I have started to take notes as I watch and help others cook. That way, soon, I'll be able to cook respectable India food myself. Most nights I'm not and someone's house, I find myself taking a trip of to Dharmshala or McLeod Ganj for dinner or shopping. My social life here is surprisingly active. During my time to myself, I have been mostly reading and writing. It's enough to keep me content.

Yesterday, at the birthday party of one of Anya's neighbors, Maya, I finally met Sister Celia. She is the principal of a local school and Catholic nun. She invited me to come see the convent some time this week and come to one of the daily Mass services. I'm not sure who has been gossiping to who, but as always, my reputation as a singer proceeds me. It seems that every new person I meet says, “And I hear you are an excellent singer.” This was no exception. Sister Celia commented that her school needs a music teacher and that I could teach her students a singing class. Having missed all of the singing basics by joining choir only in my senior year of high school, I politely declined. Then Didi, Maya's mother, said that I should go to the protestant church up in McLeod Ganj, as they need lots of help with their music. We'll see what I get sucked into. I do love singing and sharing that with others.