The Animals, Part I
The animals were a huge part of life in Manu'a. I want to focus on the dogs. About half of the dogs on the island were aggressive, dangerous, ready to attack at any given moment, protective of their family's property. We learned how to try to fend them off: by yelling "Alu!" (translation: "go!") and pretending to pick up a rock and throw it at them. This usually worked. It's what they respond to. And then sometimes it didn't work, and we had to pick up an actual rock and throw it at them. This worked, until it didn't. We started carrying handfuls of rocks, and sticks, to be ready. The dogs that broke through the artillery usually lunged at you, then cut to the side, as if just to give you a warning. That was the worst that happened to me, although it was very scary, and made me scream at the top of my lungs on several occasions. Kyle had to kick a dog in the face to stop an attack. Another volunteer on the main island was bitten three times by dogs while out running. Walking through one of the villages, I felt a fear of these dogs that I have never felt in my life. I generally don't walk around the States with fear. But there, walking along the beach was fearful because of the dog attacks.
The dogs in my village weren't scary, just very sad. I called them all Mange... there was the family Mange and the baby Manges, and the Future Manges of American Samoa (FMAS). They were all thin, under-fed, sickly, and had sad doe-eyes. But you can't save them. They were a constant reminder of the hardships of certain places. Then there was the baby dog that I heard whimpering in the middle of the night outside my window, in a box, under a neighbor's overhang, during a rainstorm. I brought it inside and calmed it down. I fell asleep and woke up an hour later to my roommate Kyle wondering what the hell was going on. The puppy was howling and crying again, and I agreed to put it back outside. Instead, I banged on my neighbor's door until he took it inside. Then there was the tiny dog that was in the outdoor bathroom stall several times when I went to use it in the middle of the night, who scared me half to death. Shivering, sad. I talked to it, but had to leave it there. And then there were Mange 1 and Mange 2... our sweet, adorable little mangeroos. We watched them grow up from puppies to teenagers. Mange 1 never made it very far. We found out one night, very matter of factly, that he passed away, and might have been poisoned. I cried myself to sleep that night, and it was one of the harshest feelings of lack-of-control I felt all year. Sweet Mange 2 made it a lot longer. I think he passed away just before graduation, but he put up a fight. He came to school every day and wandered around campus... but he was really sick. And you can't save them.
And then there was the day... a Saturday, I took my usual long walk to the far village beach. My sandal broke, so I walked back barefoot. I stopped at the store to get two frozen chickens, and carried them up and to the top of the hill that leads down to my village. When I got to the top, I was barefoot on the paved road, each hand with a bag of frozen whole chicken, and there were four dogs at the top of the hill. They saw me, they all looked at me, and I froze in my tracks. I thought it was the end. I thought my life would end swinging frozen chickens at the savage dogs. But in some random turn of events, they looked at me, turned around, and kept walking down the hill. I was stunned, and relieved. I walked cautiously, thinking they would be waiting for me around every turn, but they weren't. I don't even know where they went. But I was safe, and I eventually made it back home.
Dogs seem to come up in a lot of my Manu'a stories. But there are so many other animals there... stay tuned. :)
The dogs in my village weren't scary, just very sad. I called them all Mange... there was the family Mange and the baby Manges, and the Future Manges of American Samoa (FMAS). They were all thin, under-fed, sickly, and had sad doe-eyes. But you can't save them. They were a constant reminder of the hardships of certain places. Then there was the baby dog that I heard whimpering in the middle of the night outside my window, in a box, under a neighbor's overhang, during a rainstorm. I brought it inside and calmed it down. I fell asleep and woke up an hour later to my roommate Kyle wondering what the hell was going on. The puppy was howling and crying again, and I agreed to put it back outside. Instead, I banged on my neighbor's door until he took it inside. Then there was the tiny dog that was in the outdoor bathroom stall several times when I went to use it in the middle of the night, who scared me half to death. Shivering, sad. I talked to it, but had to leave it there. And then there were Mange 1 and Mange 2... our sweet, adorable little mangeroos. We watched them grow up from puppies to teenagers. Mange 1 never made it very far. We found out one night, very matter of factly, that he passed away, and might have been poisoned. I cried myself to sleep that night, and it was one of the harshest feelings of lack-of-control I felt all year. Sweet Mange 2 made it a lot longer. I think he passed away just before graduation, but he put up a fight. He came to school every day and wandered around campus... but he was really sick. And you can't save them.
And then there was the day... a Saturday, I took my usual long walk to the far village beach. My sandal broke, so I walked back barefoot. I stopped at the store to get two frozen chickens, and carried them up and to the top of the hill that leads down to my village. When I got to the top, I was barefoot on the paved road, each hand with a bag of frozen whole chicken, and there were four dogs at the top of the hill. They saw me, they all looked at me, and I froze in my tracks. I thought it was the end. I thought my life would end swinging frozen chickens at the savage dogs. But in some random turn of events, they looked at me, turned around, and kept walking down the hill. I was stunned, and relieved. I walked cautiously, thinking they would be waiting for me around every turn, but they weren't. I don't even know where they went. But I was safe, and I eventually made it back home.
Dogs seem to come up in a lot of my Manu'a stories. But there are so many other animals there... stay tuned. :)