Poor little pooches. Until they snarl at me and snap at my heels, then they are stupid creatures who will get a solid kick if they bite. Oops. That's naughty. I haven't kicked any dogs, don't intend to, but have to hold onto that thought to get me through the fear of walking past them after nightfall. Dogs here are guard dogs - they will bark at anyone and anything walking past afer dark and really go for you - they are inclined to bite as well.
Dogs roam freely, but they all belong to humans. If you run one over (highly likely, given their penchant for chasing cars and sleeping on the road) you have to find the 'owner' and pay for it. Dogs aren't desexed here either - so they just keep on breeding! There is a vet who flies in for a couple of days at set times, but it's not something people want to do to the dogs.... so driving along is alway humourous watching the dogs stuck together after fits of passion......
Dogs are treated pretty badly here. They are mangy, flea ridden and skinny skinny skinny. The dogs that belong to ex-pats are an exception. But you have to be careful- fatten a dog up too much and it will make it to the BBQ. Pohnpeians eat dog, and January is the worst (or best) time of the year for it. People struggle financially after Christmas and need to eat, so bye bye Fido.
There are three dogs that belong to the family living below us - Back, Brownie and Blackie. There are all in good physical shape. Back and Brownie are gorgeous dogs (unless they don't know you - that's another story). Blackie is a psychpoath who I am convinced is the spawn of Satan.
Thursday 22 March 2007
Monday 12 March 2007
Driving
Driving in Pohnpei is both very simple and extremely difficult. Simple because the speed limit is a maximum of 25 mph (40km/h) and there is one main ring road. Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road is easy as there are no traffic lights (just traffic police in white gloves for the rush half hour) , no multiple lanes, no roundabouts and no high pressure decisions. You simply cruise along. In theory.
In actual fact driving here is not dissimilar to playing a video game. Obstacles spring in front of you with alarming velocity and regularity, and seem to be targeting you in particular.
Pedestrians walk up to 4 abreast on the road. There is no footpath, so some road walking is understandable. But there is only enough room on the road for 2 cars to pass one another. So if a car is coming in the opposite direction, as a driver you have to:
a) stop
b) nudge / kill them
c) run into the car coming the other way.
I still haven't figured out the preferred method.
The roads are very windy, so you never know what's around the corner. Never know, but can usually bank on the fact that a taxi is overtaking another car at speed on a blind corner and will clean you up if you don't have the reflexes of Annakin Skywalker (and sometimes even if you do).
I could really take to this crazy new sport except for the fact that a lot of the pedestrians are children, from age 3. I think it's wonderful to live in a place where kiddies are free to roam and enjoy themselves, but I live in constant fear of hitting one of them. No one else seems overly concerned. They seem to have no problems giving pedestrians a nudge, and speed up for dogs. I'm sure there is an order to all this I can't discern, but....
There is also an enthusiastic, even joyful, approach to disregarding road rules. Drivers just pull out (if you see a car on the side of the road, just wait. It will invariably stay there until you get really close, then pull out. It makes for a fun passenger game). People park in the middle of the road, or stop to let people in and out of the car whilst covering both lanes. It's kind of cool. And also scary.
Jo
In actual fact driving here is not dissimilar to playing a video game. Obstacles spring in front of you with alarming velocity and regularity, and seem to be targeting you in particular.
Pedestrians walk up to 4 abreast on the road. There is no footpath, so some road walking is understandable. But there is only enough room on the road for 2 cars to pass one another. So if a car is coming in the opposite direction, as a driver you have to:
a) stop
b) nudge / kill them
c) run into the car coming the other way.
I still haven't figured out the preferred method.
The roads are very windy, so you never know what's around the corner. Never know, but can usually bank on the fact that a taxi is overtaking another car at speed on a blind corner and will clean you up if you don't have the reflexes of Annakin Skywalker (and sometimes even if you do).
I could really take to this crazy new sport except for the fact that a lot of the pedestrians are children, from age 3. I think it's wonderful to live in a place where kiddies are free to roam and enjoy themselves, but I live in constant fear of hitting one of them. No one else seems overly concerned. They seem to have no problems giving pedestrians a nudge, and speed up for dogs. I'm sure there is an order to all this I can't discern, but....
There is also an enthusiastic, even joyful, approach to disregarding road rules. Drivers just pull out (if you see a car on the side of the road, just wait. It will invariably stay there until you get really close, then pull out. It makes for a fun passenger game). People park in the middle of the road, or stop to let people in and out of the car whilst covering both lanes. It's kind of cool. And also scary.
Jo
Thursday 8 March 2007
There are some links to other sites now.
I have added a few links to interesting sites. See if you can find Jo on the FSM government site!
Ben
Ben
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