July 4 is a momentous day on several fronts. Not only do we mark the 231st anniversary of Sea-to-Shining-Sea, but it is also the one-year anniversary of Hannah's year abroad. She has taken on CouchSurfing, Sudan and the Chinese transportation infrastructure in her quest to see and do. Along the way she has gained stature, a greater appreciation for her home and some direction for the next step.
Today is also a big day on one more front: I, Abby (the younger sister), have been invited to contribute the first guest blog post.
My topic is Varanasi, the holiest of Hindu cities located on the banks of the Ganga river. Hannah and I have just finished four days there, and find that what struck us most about the city was not it's spiritual tone, but rather the state of its four-legged inhabitants. The moral of the story: Domestic animals do not thrive in the absence of boundaries.
Because of cattle's sacred status in Hinduism there are feral urban bovines spilling into the streets. We were told that anyone could milk them, but otherwise they seem to have no direct human contact. As a result they looked underfed as they rooted through trash for food, were injured and untreated, and blocked traffic. We giggled to think about the state of affairs during mating season. On a more positive note, the water buffalo seemed to have herders and spent their days in the Ganga up to their faces, looking like horned crocodiles.
The dogs are an even sorrier case. Most of them suffer from a skin disorder that causes them to spend their days biting at themselves and rubbing on cobblestones. The results are hairless beasts with infected sores and lesions. Bob Barker's message on animal control doesn't seem to have crossed the Pacific.
Even the lone sheep wandering the street near our guest house had two crippled knees and could hardly walk. There are probably strong elements of cultural imperialism in this post, but closer to my heart is the burning knowledge that a couple of Wyoming ranchers could set things right in about six months.
The one animal highlight happened at lunch in the courtyard of our guest house. While eating, something caught Hannah's eye, and she said to me, "There's a mammal down there." She cautiously went to investigate and disturbed nothing less than a mongoose, whom we cleverly refer to as R.T.T. He was squirrel brown with a ferret-shaped body and very soft fur, I'm sure. We only got a brief glimpse, but it left a big impression in our hearts. We were afraid that maybe Hannah had scared it away from its cobra prey, but the creature count during our stay remained snakes:0-mongoose:1.
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3 comments:
I've actually seen two mongeese, but since Abby didn't see the second one yesterday, she says I can't count it. She says it was a puppy. A lightening-fast puppy?
It was not a mongoose. It was a chocolate-colored puppy that we later saw playing under the fruit stand.
A bitter conflict, indeed.
Mongeese? Not mongooses? Interesting debate over whether there existed more than one mongoose sighting. Hopefully y'all can resolve this issue.
Amanda Ellis Pollard
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