any electricity. The rumor is that by
the end of January ... like the January
coming up ... the health clinic where I reside
will be hooked up to the grid.
It would be nice if that happened.
But for now something like getting a simple
haircut (I get one of those number zero
on the clipper ones) requires electricity.
So, being in need of one requires a 23 km
trip to the nearest town.
The other morning I decided to get on
my bike and go to that town in
search of a coiffure to get a haircut.
As I take off, 9 (the dog) and the head of the
health clinic's dog, start following me.
It about 3 km through the bush until
you arrive to the paved road and then
it's 20 km from there.
The dogs kept following me and I was
kind of hoping they would give up at
the road.
But they didn't ... with 9 and the
other dog tailing me and weaving
in and out of the road, I thought ...
what is going on here.
It is bad enough that I am the only
nasara (white person) riding a bike
or even anywhere, let alone these
two dogs.
So I started pedaling as fast as I could
with the plan to basically ditch the dogs.
Figured they would get the hint and quit.
9 was smart enough and gave
up after 2 or so kilometers. The
other dog ... not so. He just kept
running and running and actually
sprinted the whole 20 km.
I'm like this has got to be a sight
an old guy nasara pedaling his
rearend off while this dog is sprinting
after him. It must of been by the look
on the people's faces as we flew by.
All I kept thinking was ... why me and
this dog has got to quit, he's got to.
When we arrived at the coiffure
(barber shop) in the town, the dog
just drops in front of the door and
goes into a spasm for a few seconds.
I thought the dog was going to die
and how was I going to explain
this to the head of the clinic.
After about 20 minutes and .50 cents
(USA dollar) later, we head back.
This time I went slow and added
an extra hour to the return trip. I
got the dog some food along the
way but all I heard all the way
back as we passed by was ... there's
that nasara with the dog.
When we arrived the dog was beat
and I'm sure he didn't move much
the rest of the day.
Funny thing was only saw the dog
for about a minute before he went
on the 46 km journey with me.
If we had electricity it would be nothing
more than a boring haircut. I am
now wondering if too much
development can take the adventure
out of life.
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