Ode to my ¨Pretty Rose¨

¨I feel like a backpacking Paris Hilton!¨ I told fellow PCV (Peace Corps volunteer) Amanda as I tightened my backpack straps and tucked my new perrita chiquita under my arm.

Before I came to the DR, I knew that I wanted a dog. Then, when I found out that they kill female dogs because they don´t want puppies. I knew I wanted to get una hembra (female). Then shortly after arriving, I read the book ¨The Farming of Bones¨ about a young Haitian working in the DR (it´s a great book, but I didn´t care for the ending). There was a character named Rosalinda. Maybe I like the character, maybe I´m just obsessed with roses (my only other dog is named Rosebud), or maybe I just liked the name, but I knew right after I read the name that I would have a female dog named Rosalinda.

So when Amanda told me that a stray dog had had six puppies in an abandoned house at her site, I said absolutely I´ll have one just make sure it´s una hembra!

Therefore at the end of August, I went over to Amanda´s in Imbert to pick her up. She is a cute orange and white (Go Longhorns!), skinny pup, but growing fast. She likes running around aimlessly (when she does this we call her LOCAlinda), digging, chasing chickens, she loves bones and rice, and she likes taking my socks outside to chew on (at least it´s not my underwear!).

Now she is my constant companion and goes almost everywhere I do. When we walk by kids in the street they say, ¨Hola, Rosalinda!¨ And I say where is my hola?

All in all, no matter what the day brings she is always there with a smile on her face ready to play.