Growing up, I didn’t like dogs, cats, wolves, chinchillas, or guinea pigs. We had them all. Animals were a constant source of tension in the house. Once, my dad caught a wild turkey while jogging and carried it home. He arrived in his underwear; his shorts pecked to shreds, and proudly declared we had a new pet. He threw it in the garage where Jonas and eight other kittens lived, and assumed my mom would feed it.
In addition to not understanding how animals fit into human life, we didn’t conserve energy. I hadn’t heard of recycling, or knew anyone who did, until I moved to California in 1994, I was 20. As a youngster, I left the lights on when I went to the mall, I let the waterfall run, when I got out of the pool to go watch 16 Candles, and as soon as I turned 16, I drove the family Suburban everywhere. Environmentally conscious? Me? Not really!
That was nearly 20 years ago, and along the way, a few dogs: Roxy and Zoey, and a few friends: Mylene and Anne have helped reshape how I see my relationship with the earth and the animals who roam it.
My best friend from childhood, Marlie, broke me into the idea of pet as friend the hard way. There was only one bed in her New York apartment; she and Roxy were sleeping in it. I could join them, or sleep on the floor. The dog was staying. Horrified at her choice to choose the dog over me, I climbed into bed with them and actually began to understand how having a dog sleep on your leg, sort of like a hot water bottle, could be nice.
My brother Brent also believed in rough education. Zoey ruled the roost. In order to help me overcome my, well, aversion is too strong, how about discomfort with animals, he insisted I play ball with Zoey. This meant, he’d take the goopey tennis ball from her mouth, throw it my way, and the 185-pound German Shepherd would pounce on my chest. Brothers!
Nevertheless, when Zoey passed away this year, I cried as well, listening to my brother talk about her final hours. Someone we had both loved, albeit in different ways, had left our lives.
It will be a long time before I get a pet. But something inside has started to shift. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, my yoga teacher Anne led a charity class for the animals from New Orleans. Again, because someone I respected immensely was modeling a life that included animals. I opened my heart a crack more, and let the strength of my yoga practice, and the sincerity of my intention float their way.
Helping me care about the environment has been slower in coming. A Swiss friend, Mylene, has been my main teacher. She is the only close friend I have who models a life of environmental stewardship. Mylene always travels with a backpack, takes the stairs and never takes more from a buffet than she can eat. She unplugs appliances when she leaves home, bikes everywhere, and if she has to drive, turns off the car at stoplights to conserve energy. She carries her trash, and the trash of others out of the Himalayas; she climbs up Swiss mountains using skins rather than taking the chair lift, and tries to limit her use of airplanes-one of the worst polluters. It probably took me 6 visits to Switzerland to begin to get how she saw the world.
Here is the catch.
With each country I work in for USAID, I inherit a new portfolio of projects. The constant theme has been using economic assistance to address development issues in countries in conflict. In Bosnia my work included: Privatization, Financial System Strengthening, and Adult Business Education. In Pakistan my gambit was a bit broader: Agriculture, Energy and Private Sector Development. Here in Colombia, we have a game changer. I work in the office of Consolidation (to be explained later), Livelihoods and…you guessed it…environment.
Read on, to hear about my first trip with our Biodiversity advisor. Climate Change, Conservation, Adaptation, Hunters, Turtle Police, Whale breeding, National Parks and more fried fish and plantains that I had ever hoped to eat.
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