Puppy is an only dog no longer . Rachel has now been adopted by a second, younger dog, appropriately named Doggie. She wonders whether the children in her village are all dyslexic, because they have been calling Puppy’s new sidekick “Goddie”.

(Both the dogs actually belong to other families, so when Rachel leaves the village to go to M, as she did yesterday, she lets the families know that she will be away and will not be feeding the dogs.)

Rachel is presently in M writing up something on the WCS computer. When that is done, she is scheduled to go to Tana for two days, then to another M near Tana to participate in the training of the new crop of volunteers for a while.

She and a friend were able to watch a DVD of a program on Ankarana (northwestern Madagascar) and crocodiles that go into caves. Her dad had recorded it from a PBS show and sent it to her in case she should have computer access again. [There used to be a naturalist in M who had a computer on which it was possible to watch DVDs sent from home. He’s now gone but sometimes an occasion arises, particularly in Tana.]

Her Solio [solar charger] is still working out great so she has had plenty of power for her cell phone, but reception has been very spotty in and around the village, unfortunately. Her grandpa got to talk to her once in early February, but mostly calls have not been going through.