Destruction and Dogs

Wow what a morbid title. But hey--alliteration! ;)

Today I wanted to talk about the rise of Nepal from its ashes (and now I turn into a talk show host). But seriously. One year ago, on a Saturday in April, Nepal was shaken by an earthquake of 7.8. Luckily, this happened during midday on a weekend, so most everybody was out and about, walking and socializing. Few people were inside their homes, on a beautiful day like this. That's why we were able to escape a death toll larger than 8,019. It could've been much worse.

However the point of me saying this was not to make y'all sad. No, no please don't. Today I went out and among the rubble was a rebirth. Old buildings that had fallen were now being rebuilt, clean, advanced, and up to new safety codes. People now had jobs, fixing roads and monuments. Neighbors helped each other, communities grew tighter than they were. As always, life goes on.

The hills stay standing. The people stay resilient. Nepal forges on.


All right now onto the other part of my title!
As you probably all know, dogs and cows run rampant in India and Nepal. Actually to be honest I didn't realize how real this was until my uncle drove past a cow that was sitting in the middle of the street. I wish I had good pictures.

The dogs here are almost all strays, homeless and without food or shelter. It hurts to see all these beautiful pups and not be able to help. I can't even touch them, because my mom's scared I'll get rabies or fleas. (eh, it's okay I can't get any crazier)

This puppy was walking up the stairs to a temple we were visiting then walked over to sit by me. Incidentally, just minutes before, the puppy had been sitting in the middle of the street, just like the cow. ALSO they were shooting a movie at the temple with a whole wedding scene and stuff and it was super cool but I don't think I got in the shot. :( Jk, jk, my sister really wanted to though.

The problem with all the pups is that there are too many of them. They are neither spayed nor neutered, so the population keeps growing. Many people consider them dirty and only a select few keep any as pets. And even when they are pets, they're the fancy breeds, with the long locks and pedigreed background, not the poor mutts of the street.

I wish I could start a dog shelter, get them all a place to sleep and eat, but how would I manage such a task? Agh, this makes me want to adopt them all and take them home.

Oh there's so much to talk about-traffic, cars, my first taxi ride, my adorable cousins, school, similarity to Japan, adventures, food, stories-I just hope to be able to tell it all.

Until next time! Big hugs