October 8th - The Animals of Rajpur

The cows have free reign ... wander as they please (including one who literally went up the steps and into a shop ...). It's like Africa and the goats, I wonder how they tell who owns which one, where it is, how they know to come home ... it also seems to be quite close to calving season – or else there are some very fat cows … it's a little like with someone you think is pregnant but aren't totally sure you should ask ... but I have to believe at least a few of these cows are definitely expecting. And hopefully deliver before I go. By now I'm wanting to pet them as I go by on my way to class in the morning :-)

The monkeys – well let's just say, when I call my niece and nephew "monkey's" I couldn't be more right :-) The ones over here are everywhere causing more than a little mayhem and constantly being chased off properties by caretakers and theoretically the dogs. I've been surprised by just how 'everywhere' they are here and also how much bigger than I've seen in either Bali or Africa – clearly well fed monkeys. Also lots of baby monkeys about – tightly attached to mom when I arrived, but most now starting to explore on their own.

I also have a family of pigs and piglets in the land below our garden ... very cute, then there is the little frog I discovered in my room one night ... as I was sitting on the floor! And the dogs – some lovely ones well looked after and part of the family and others, well less so ...

And finally the ants ... I am not sure which is worse ... the constant stream of ants going along the side of the sink and onto my towel ... or the daily trickle of dead ants that I now have after I admitted defeat and asked for the insecticide ... there is clearly karma at work ... be either at peace with them alive or else removing their little dead bodies after they die ... clearly, I'm not becoming a Hindu anytime soon :-)

I was skyping with a friend today who was off to Seattle shopping ... I could fully picture the roads she'd be walking down, when all of a sudden it seemed quite weird ... but where would the aimlessly wandering cows and monkeys be??? It is going to be more than a little surreal to head back to the streets of the big cities ... I will miss being as close to mother nature as I have been here and in Africa, no matter what lovely little surprises she occasionally has in store for me :-)