It is a week ago that we almost lost Miss Mali. I believe it was a very close call, one that was difficult to experience. Even today, a week later it is hard for me not to be affected by the thought of her not continueing this journey with me.
I’m not sure what she ate or when, but we are pretty sure it had poison in it. Luckily she threw it up, I think fairly soon after eating it. And perhaps she only ate a small amount. I am still frustrated that I was not aware until it was almost too late. She was really lethargic, not her usual exploratory self, not even gathering her sticks for the daily swim in the river, so I knew something was wrong. Then she threw up something quite awful, indescribable.
This happened on Monday, as we headed into town. I remembered thinking that it was from the river, she swallowed too much water or something, never entering my mind that she ate something with poison on it. Monday night she was exceptionally quiet as we had our tea and talked before turning in. I wondered if she was a bit jealous of the puppy and the attention I was giving it of late. But when I went to bed I got a bit scared because I touched her nose and it was dry and hot, she had a fever. I coaxed her onto the bed which seemed to be too much effort for her and when she laid down it was like a stone hitting the dirt.
I couldn’t get her to move and so in the end just lay beside her and held her. Her body had such an awe full smell, definetly not a normal “dog smell” and this also concerned me. It lasted several days as her body released the poison through her pores. She did not move all night. I held her until sometime after 3am, crying and praying that she would be ok – I am just not ready to carry on without her. It is in these moments that I have to ask myself what I will do when that day comes. In truth I just don’t know, our friendship has been my rock, so it is a day I pray will take many years still to arrive.
I finally fell asleep, sometime after 3 and when I woke up at 6 she was still in the same position. I was so afraid she was not breathing, but when I moved she lifted her nose to look at me. I felt her nose and it was no longer hot to the touch and once again wet. She struggled to get up, but she did want to go outside, so I got up with her and took her outside. She did not stay out as she usually does, coming right back in to lay on the floor close to where I was sitting. It still did not occur to me that it was poison, I kept thinking she got an insect bite or ate something she wasn’t used to, or it was the water, just not wanting to believe it was something done intentionally.
We left her for a few hours while we went to the hot pools the next day, she really could not come with us there, and it seemed she would be better resting. She was doing better, she ate some food and kept it down, so I thought she was over whatever it was that made her sick. When we came back, I turned the corner and my insides turned to ice. She was outside my room, sitting on the step in front of Patrick’s door. She was afraid to come to me, thinking I guess that she was in trouble. Shades of Maple Creek and the break-ins I had before leaving.
When I opened my room, (she would not come in with me, standing just at the door, then walking away) I found the curtains torn and the one window opened. It was so much like what happened at my home in Maple Creek the last time, that I felt sick inside. Here as well as there she could just barely reach the window sill when she was coaxed up by us. She would then have had to really stretch to push the window sideways, assuming she knew to do so and then jump out through a space that was barely big enough for her body to go through. In Maple Creek she would have had to be able to push the window up a foot and a half higher than she could have reached and got out an opening roughly the same size.
Here the curtains were torn about 2 feet above the window ledge, and torn cleanly straight across for both windows. This could be easily done if the fabric had a cut in it to start the tear as I have done it many times. She would have had to start the tear from that 2 foot mark though and make a clean rip (there were no tears vertically). We showed the owners of the Hostel and of course making our apologies, offering to pay for new curtains. They were very understanding about all of it, I think seeing my distress, they felt bad also, making light of it. For me though it weighed pretty heavy.
The next day we had to leave her again while we travelled back to Otavalo to get the rest of our belongings. It was not easy to face this idea so soon after this experience. Because we were concerned about her getting out again we left her with the owners, who kept her tied up until we were well gone. I worried about her all day, first because of how sick she had been and second because of what would have scared her enough to make her escape.
But we had made arrangements the previous week with the couple who had our things, and because we cannot rely on communication from them (they have trouble writing in English and so avoid it) we felt we had to make the trip. Patrick suggested I stay behind, he would go on his own. But I felt if Mali did indeed escape in this manner then I could not let her behaviour control my ability to leave her behind when necessary. I felt it would be better to leave her with the owners, changing the situation, so that she could not do any more damage. I still could not really accept that she got out on her own – we had left her the week before when we went to Otavalo for the day and she made no such effort. I felt I had to accept the idea she could get out though, even if I couldn’t see her pushing the window with the tip of her nose to do so. I have watched her jump into the river after her precious sticks and she is very cautious, nervous even. She will not jump in if she feels unsure of her landing, so to just leap out a window without seeing where she will land is not something I can see her doing. However that being said she has jumped out the car window to chase a golpher. In that case though she is able to watch the road and judge her landing, timing it just right. Eye on the Prize!!!!
On Thursday, when the owners asked about the reason she would have done this (I think it was bothering them also as they had not seen evidence she would behave this way) we said we could not understand it. For me it made no sense because I did not think she was tall enough to open the window and reach the spot where the curtains were torn. This is when they asked about the window – “It was closed?” I said yes and then they realized it was not Mali who was responsible. Someone had tried to break in. They insisted that we move to the other side of the cabins so that Maria could watch our doors from now on.
The side we were on faced the river and it really is isolated. Someone could easily access the cabins without being seen. The river is loud enough that we had trouble hearing each other in conversation. We could not hear the music played over the loudspeakers at the kitchen until coming around the corner of the building, so there would have been no way for Maria to hear Mali if she was barking especially if the music was on. The windows can be opened from the outside, they are not locked and there is no screen. Once they realized this was the more likely situation, they insisted we move to the other side of the building so that our doors would be visible from the living area. I did not want to change sides, I was happy where I was, but they insisted as much for themselves as us. They did not want us to be hurt or potentially have damage done to their property.
It is not hard to spot a Gringo here, there are not many of us and I think most people know where we are staying, it is a small town just like back home – word travels fast. There was a break in just down the road a ways at the home of a couple from the US last month. They are pretty isolated, only one way to their house across the river on a trolly type device, kind of like a cable car. Their dog was poisoned (the common way to remove the threat here) and the man was tied up. They held a knife at the woman’s throat while they took what they wanted – mostly electronics. Their dog died unfortunately, the man tied up while he was trying to save it. His wife has cancer and is not doing very well, so was in bed when they got to her. She really had no way to defend herself.
So now Mali getting poisoned just the day before she was found outside, began to make more sense. On the one hand I was greatly relieved that someone believed me regarding the difficulty she would have had getting out, but bad water would have been a preferable cause for her illness. I have little in the way of valuables, Mali would have been irreplaceable however, the reason for her life being threatened unnecessary.
So we are now getting use to being on the other side of the building, but I miss the great feeling of getting up, opening the door and seeing only vegetation. We will always be a little apprehensive about leaving now, but poverty is a big reality here, and people like us seem to have it all. It is hard to blame them for wanting a piece of what they perceive as a perfect life.
It was Sunday before I noticed Mali getting back to normal. I took her for a nice walk, but she seemed to not want to go, lagging behind often. She did not have her usual desire to race ahead and check out the area, until she saw we were on our way back. She knew the way and went ahead, but with a fixed destination in mind. Usually she is more curious about the landscape. Today she searched out her new favourite stick to get thrown in the river, so it has really taken a full week for her to get her energy and excitement about life back. It is a beautiful thing 🙂
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