I have always wanted a dog...

So as many of you know there are an obscene amount of stray dogs in most of Latin America. Here in Guatemala, especially Parramos, is no exception. You can not walk down the street without passing at least ten stray dogs. It is so sad because they are all too thin and not fed, yet they continue to have babies--so the process never stops. There are also many stray dogs that wonder through NPH--they squeeze under the gate or dig holes under the fence. Most of them are gross and I stay far from them, but there is one that as stolen our hearts...Mari! Mari has been living outside of house 4 at NPH for over a year. The volunteers that lived here before us fed her and so she continued to come back. At first we were not sure how we felt about having a stray dog around, but she quickly made it very clear that she was not leaving and we all fell in love (or well most of us did). Mari spends most of her days lounging on our patio in the sun or occasionally heading off for walks through the NPH grounds. She usually eats our leftovers and the rare bag of dog food when some thinks of buying it. Mari has really become a pet to us all (well definitely myself and Yvonne and I think the others like her) and she gets so excited when we get home from work or come outside in the morning--she jumps up and down and can't control herself. I have always wanted a dog and now my dream as finally come true. 

Here are some shots of Mari--the funniest is she lays in our doorway, but never tries to enter the house. What a great pet!