They didn't speak a lot but they supported my journey in a very important and honest way: animals.
I definitely can't tell about all of them in this one article, but here are some special cases.
France - Nancy
The two cats of my friend a in Nancy are one of the most improbable couple, the cat version of Pinky and the Brain. Lachesis is the dark side of the force. Intelligent, agile, silent but also
aggressive, she spends her time sitting somewhere on the side of the sofa, sighing at the view of her flat-mate Olympe. Olympe is clumsy (you can even hear her walk), attention-seeking (she can
even do tricks on her own to get you admiration like a somersault - yes really) but she is one of the most lovable cats I have ever met.
On day,my friend was away and I got the news that my parents cat had died. Olympe cannot read but she can feel. She jumped on my knees and stayed there purring for one hour until I had to get up.
India - New Delhi
The Malik family counts one dog named Pesha, a young Beagle. Pesha eats only mango and biscuits. Even if he is lying in a corner like a corpse, within one second he can be perfectly fit if one of
these items is present in the room.
On the day I was sick, the boy of the house brought up a plate with cookies which he put down next to my bed. Unfortunately, pesha forced his way into the bedroom at that moment, rushed on the
biscuits, ate them like his life depends on this food and then lied down in a corner of the room, with a blurp in my direction. Thanks Pesha.
Across the road, another dog is living. This one's house is the street. He is a young mager one, hardly older than a year I guess.
In any case, although I never fed him anything, this dog adopted me. As soon as I go out of the house, he follows me, jumps on me also pinches my but with his teeth (ouch !!!)
I wish I could have taken him with me...
India - Kalbeliya
What I want to mention there is not the white family dog which is loved, even if not really cared about, but the presence of a pet mongoose which likes to be patted on the belly and steal lentils
from the pouches. Amazing. I didn't know these animals could be tamed.
Bali
My friend Allison cares about one old female dog called Robin and two cats called Cat and Cat.
The Cats are very independant and come home only for food, which they demand very loudly. Robin is a very anxious dog, barking at anything moving, but still very love-demanding and terribly
jealous, especially of the Cats.
In the morning often, the cats would bring a dead bird or mouse. That was too much glory for the poor clumsy Robin. Discretly, she would approach the Cats and bark at them shortly but
aggressively. The Cats would protest loudly but flee, leaving the whole prey to the dog which they seem to despise to the most. Then Robin could bring out the dead animal into the entrance of the
house where Allison would finally find it, next to a very very proud dog.
Australia
Of course I should speak here about Millie, which is the best educated dog I have ever seen (can do anything on command: sing, roll, sit, lie, be dead and much more) and also one of the greediest
(she would even rush on a raw noodle fallen on the floor...) but I prefer to say a few words about another animal.
My friend Yamina brought me to a zoo with a large aviary, full of coloured parrots.
Just after I entered, a pink Galah landed on my shoulder and stayed there until I left the aviary again (which probably was a good hour). It was the first time I had such a close and long contact
with a bird. He would rub his head and beak against my cheek to greet me and it was no problem to caress his soft feather.
Of course like all parrots he was very talkative, but mostly with noise. And still sometimes, it sounded like he was really whispering something to me with a human voice. I still shiver when I
think about it.
South Africa
Next to our house in the Xhosa village, there were 3 dogs. An older one, a young one very similar to the Indian one and a baby, all males. From the first day they adopted me, even barking at
strangers who would come to talk to me. The baby was very playful and constantly hanging at my skirt.
On the last day, as we were coming back from a celebration we crossed a group of young women and among them was the little baby dog! Since it wasn't the first time he was trying to escape, I
grabbed him quickly and brought him back home. But when we arrived, the baby dog was sitting in front of the house... I had grabbed the wrong dog! There were now two babies, absolutely similar,
the new one being only a little bit smaller and thiner. The new one was of course pretty impressed in the new environnement so I carried him in my arms and he finally fell asleep with his nose
under my armpit, sighing softly.
Again one dog I would have loved to take with me...
Tunisia
Tunisia is the kingdom of cats and nearly all foreign families arriving here adpt a cat within the first weeks. My parents didn't break the rule and after the first kitten died on the road, my
parents adopted a second one, which turned out to be a female. Zephyrette is her name, because she was found in front of the Zephyr mall.
Zephyrette has to stay inside the house. But she wants to go out. Especially she has a friend outside: a little black and white female cat which my mother is also feeding in the garden.
Zephyrette has 4 activities in the day: sleep, eat, play and trying to escape, either by rushing through an opened door or trying to fax herself under a closed door.
Since it is quite hard and we keep a good eye on her, she spends her morning sitting on the window, the black and white cat on the other side and they watch each other. For hours.
I guess they speak about their lives and how they would like to exchange them: the black and white female wanting the pillows, Zephyrette wanting the garden...
Dear animals I haven't quoted, I didn't forget you! Laura, Nina, Sassy, Batty, Shibi, Brandy, Bobby and the baby cats, Blade, Coconut, Socks, Bali, Macha and all the nameless cats and dogs who
shared a bit of unconditional tenderness with me...
