sucker for an orphan...

We now have a dog.  how could i say no. lame story actually. some of our US colleagues come and go in this country every 3 months. a gal with this group thought it was a good idea to get a puppy. 6 months later and many, many random people later, some of them down right abusive - very unhappy (aggressive) dog. on a whim i agreed to take him on (if i knew what i know now, i would have said no, but i am glad i just jumped at the chance). Well, the dog is just great (after a day of serious mean, aggressive, dangerous dog energy). he is happy, playful, loving, very smart - still not sure what to make of the leash; not a common practice here in Burkina. But, he is a beauty.  I also think it will be good for Otto (because really it is his dog - that is the deal). He will help relieve the boredom, we have time to train him, responsibility of loving/taking care of another being can only be a good thing, man's best friend and all.

Meet Tusker...

Have i gone completely mad?!?!?

as for the rest of my life. work is busy. i have a regional medical doctor visiting next week. i always appreciate the help and guidance, because so often i feel like i am floating...making shit up. our patient stats for Jan are about 3 times more visits than any previous months in the past year. that is a nice feeling.  i feel like i am getting things organized enough within the clinic to extend myself a bit on broader health projects. we are starting to focus on classes for the local staff - which is highly valued.

We are heading out on Safari again this coming weekend. to a different park - Pama, near the border with Benin. our fantastic neighbors who have done so much for us, offered to let us tag along with them. i am so happy to have the chance to get out of town. hope to see more elephants. the accommodations are supposed to be more swanky. it will be a quick trip, but now that we have a dog, we need to be hanging at home, being good 'parents'.

my car is supposedly in Ivory Coast - not such great news with all the political instability there (so close yet so far). i try not to think about it because it is depressing to think that it may still be months before i get it.