Regarding my obsession...

Part of living in the countryside is that there is a lot of "life" around. There are trees and plants of all kinds. The landscapes are made more pleasant by the bounty of birds and butterflies. There always seems to be a friendly dog around to keep me company. Living close to nature is normally a very pleasant thing. The problems arise when certain unwelcome life forms decide to move in-doors with me. That's been happening a little bit lately. I again have rats.

My relations with the rodent population have historically been pretty routine. A rat would decide to move in, and I would hear it moving around at night. I would borrow a trap from a neigbor, and presto: after a day or two the rat was gone. I would be free for a few weeks, until another one showed up. It was very easy to handle. This new group is different, though. There appears to be an entire family that has set up shop somewhere high up in the walls of my house. I will hear two or three of them running around, and jump up with my flash light and machete to give chase. They always go back to a specific hide out.

I have been in the process of covering holes and weeding out every possible place these guys could be hiding, but still they elude me. They do not enter the trap. They eat poison and do not die. They are too quick for my machete to make a mark (although I got one this way recently. It was awesome!). There is a particularly large individual I have caught a glimpse of a few times, who I think must be the chief. I call him Osama. My dream, before ending my service in May, is to place his head on a stake in my front yard.

I apologize if this entry is disturbing. I have become a little bit obsessed.

In which Tim reports the news that you have all been waiting for...

It is true. I, Timothy S. Brown, certified city boy, am now the owner of a horse. He arrived about a week ago while I was off in the capital, and he came with saddle, bit, and bridle. I have christened him ''Capicua'' which is a term related to dominoes, and carries the conotation of good luck. He is a medium sized animal, and white in color. His color makes everyone say that he is the perfect horse for ME to have (ha, ha, ha. white horse for the white guy...I wish I were clever enough to have thought of it first...).

I was told by my project partners who arranged the purchase that he is a very good horse. They said that he was strong, beautiful, and calm. I guess two out of three being true ain't too bad. He is both strong, and attractive. He sure likes to run, though. Every time I have saddled him up so far he has quite literally chomped at the bit wanting to take off down the road. This wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that I have ridden a horse maybe half a dozen times before this, so I am not yet comfortable doing reenactments of the Kentucky Derby in my Dominican countryside. Enough said. We will have to get used to each other a little bit.

One of my neigbors has taken me under his wing, though, and promised to ''enfriar'' (translation...''make cold'') the horse for me. After a week or two he should be ready to match his speed to my comfort.

I will get some pictures up as soon as I am able.