Lukie and some lighter things

About a week ago, my dog, Lukie, got hit by a car and died. I’m not a fan of emo blog posts, so I’ll just say I was a little broken up about it. When he was born and I adopted him last July, I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached since I knew the logistics of bringing a dog home after Peace Corps are a little complicated/still not sure where I’ll be living after PC etc. But this summer the little guy and I bonded, and just recently I made the decision in my mind that he would have to come home with me. People around town were absolutely flabbergasted by all the tricks he could do: Eguapy (sit), Mba’e la porte (shake, but much more colloquial Guarani sounding), Speak, Lie down (those I taught in english), Eka’u (roll over, but Eka’u literally means ‘get drunk.’) Many people had never seen a dog do tricks, and they always put forth the typical amazed reaction, with a widening of the eyes and saying: “Miguel, demasiado letrado nde jagua”, which translates funnily as “Miguel your dog is much too scholarly.” Damn right. Also funny to me was that Lukie would never do tricks for anyone else; only me. I think it had something to do with my unique accent when I said the commands (in Guarani and English as well). Many a time, after hearing Lukie ‘speak’ when I told him to, my neighbors would launch into hilariously fruitless attempts to get him to speak again themselves: “Lukie, eespick. Eespii Lukie.” Lukie would respond by lying down and licking himself.

Lukie was even allowed to come into classes where I was teaching and everyone thought it was completely normal. Also, they aren’t too nice to the dogs here (I have never seen a trained dog, and they often hit the dogs if they are misbehaving/begging for food), but Lukie could do whatever/go wherever he wanted. Once one of my friends saw Lukie begging and slapped him. So I go, “Miguela, Que haces a mi perrito?” (what are you doing to my dog?). And she goes “oohhh No sabia que era tu perro. Lo siento, aca lo voy a dar algo de carne” (OMG I’m so sorry Miguel. I didn’t know that was your dog. Here, let me give him a little something to eat.) And with that she gave him a HUGE piece of meat (very generous, meat is expensive).

So it’s somewhat sad/weird not to have the little guy around anymore. My host family is already asking me if I want another puppy. Right now I’m not sure if I can handle the responsibility of raising another pup in general, let alone the fact that I will be continuously be comparing him to how awesome Lukie was.

On a lighter note, many things are awesome about Paraguay right now:

-Oranges and avocados are in season. I live in an orange grove. Two of my friends have giant avocado trees. Let the fruit fiesta begin.

- My current girlfriend, Shakira, (at least that’s what I tell everyone in my site, believe me when I say it never gets old) performed a concert in Asuncion last Tuesday, her first concert ever in Paraguay. In case there was any doubt, the woman knows how to sing/dance/perform. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the backstage access I thought Peace Corps Volunteers would be entitled to.

-After getting my account filled with over a milllon Guaranies (the local currency) at the beginning of the month, I promptly blew it all on some shopping therapy in the local supermarket (Shotout to Megan and Nika for their middle school project). I bought a ton of veggies and fruit, a cutting board, peanut butter, sunscreen, really strong Brazilian instant coffee, and goodies for the St. Paddy’s Day celebration this week, you know the necessities. I now have fridge full of food that will last me about 2 weeks, and less than $10 for the rest of the month. There are 3 weeks before the next payday. Hopefully I get lots of dinner invitations in March.

-I went for my first hour plus run since I’ve been in Paraguay this morning. Asuncion marathon in August? Maybe just the half.

-I had this weird line of discoloration on my stomach, so I went to the doctor and got it checked out. I was worried it could be a rash, maybe dengue; something that could kill me, or worse. The doctor tells me it's a LEMON JUICE stain. I mean I knew girls sometimes used that stuff to bleach their hair, but I had not idea it could have the same effect on skin. Needless to say from this point forward I will exercise caution when eating lemons (and limes, just in case) shirtless. No more suns out guns out during lunch at my host family's.