Relationships

Don’t forget to cultivate all the various relationships around you. Today, befriending and becoming family with Tin Tin & Tiger, the family dogs, really solidified. Not only does tiger not try and eat me when I startle him in the middle of the night, today he decided to follow me to class! Usually he isn’t let out of the compound, but for some reason today he was outside & decided to go on an adventure with me to class. He picked a good day for it too. I guess Matt had an allergic reaction to something and his lips have swollen up a bit and are itching so Manang Uzi was taking care of him this morning. So for the first part of class she left notes for the rest of us with the task of going to talk with the LGU breeding center next door. So after walking the 2.5 km to class, Jackson, Tiger and I trekked next door & checked out the center including their 600 lb boar they use for artificial insemination and their methane powered range top. Tiger just sat under the table while we chatted with the people who work there learning a little more about their operation. Then we got to hike the 2 km back into town to the market & talk with a store owner for a little “community interaction” before heading back out to the Livelihood Center to have formal class. Tiger just ranges out in front as I walk occasionally stopping in some shade to wait for me to catch up & then he just lies down on the floor whenever I stop to talk to people & during class! Great dog.

I forgot how much I feed off of simple interactions with people (and animals). The little head nods & smiles you can exchange while walking around, or just chatting with the store clerk for a bit while drinking a coke. Simply acknowledging the existence of the people around you goes such a long way.