All You Need is Dog

Well, I gave it a little time, and things got so much better.

We had an institute wide coffee hour today, and I had to get in front of everyone with a squalky microphone and introduce myself. The only problem was, Phil, my adviser, said everything there was to say about me in my introduction, so all I could say was "Hi, this is my first time in Africa, I'm really excited to be here..."

But after that I went and had lunch in the cafeteria, and people actually came up to me and said hi and sat with me, since I had introduced myself and they knew why I was there. So it payed off.

Other major improvements include:

1. Getting music into my room (thank you Eric Larson)
2. Meeting a crazy Kenyan woman who wants to be best friends and only understands every other word I say
   
3. Doing my laundry
4. Meeting a really nice Polish/Australian couple with the cutest 2 little kids who gave me a sleeping bag for my trip this weekend
5. Actually having plans to go somewhere this weekend
6. Talking to Andy on the phone
   

And best of all...

Meeting someone with a dog who is going away next week and wants me to watch her dog!!! I will have a dog! I can walk the dog! I can sleep with the dog! I don't have to be alone for a few days because I will have a dog! The polishtralian couple also offered to sell me their dalmation and I would have been tempted had I not already had dog plans for next week.

So, I'm off to Kapiti tomorrow. It is a large farm that ILRI owns and we are sure to see lots of giraffs and zebras and hopefully some cats. Phil said he saw a cobra last time he was there.

I'll tell you all about it when I get back!