When we got home from counting bees yesterday, Cok Bagus was waiting in the yard. So happy he hardly seemed able to contain himself. If he had been a dog, his tail would have been wagging so hard it hurt.
The story blurted out in short, confusing statements in the Indonesish hybrid that he and I speak. "Anging. Kecil, kecil. Very kecil. Di rumah Ibu. My son. He there. Waiting. Waiting Pamela."
Tim took one listen and announced he'd seen plenty dogs and was not going to be fooled into walking over to Ibu's house. He resolutely started to count activity at the two Trigona itama hives near our house, ignoring me pointedly.
I didn't want to disappoint Bagus, so I dropped my bee counting stuff, slipped out of boots and into rubber slippers and went to find him. He wasn't going to go over, but wanted me to go.
The story blurted out in short, confusing statements in the Indonesish hybrid that he and I speak. "Anging. Kecil, kecil. Very kecil. Di rumah Ibu. My son. He there. Waiting. Waiting Pamela."
Tim took one listen and announced he'd seen plenty dogs and was not going to be fooled into walking over to Ibu's house. He resolutely started to count activity at the two Trigona itama hives near our house, ignoring me pointedly.
I didn't want to disappoint Bagus, so I dropped my bee counting stuff, slipped out of boots and into rubber slippers and went to find him. He wasn't going to go over, but wanted me to go.
Kusuma was there with the puppies. The.Very.Little.Puppies. He was almost as excited as his dad. Told me he'd named the dark one Super and the white one something else that I didn't catch. Before long Bagus showed up and said I should name the dogs. I said Kusuma alread had and a long conversation between them ensued. Too fast for me to pick up much of it, but my name was used repeatedly. When it was over, Kusuma asked me to name the dogs. I said that I would chose Super for the dark one and he seemed really happy. Then they wanted a name in bahasa Hawaii for the white one. "ummm, how about 'ilio? That means 'dog' in bahasa Hawaii." Great name! Everyone was happy. Bagus and Kusuma practiced saying 'Ilio and kept asking me to repeat it.
Bagus had bought some concentrated milk and a bottle and Kusuma tried to feed them through the bottle but they weren't sucking. I guess they aren't hungry, he said, but they seemed too lethargic not to be at least a little hungry. I played with the bottle and then tried feeding them on a piece of cloth soaked in milk (which was working better but going to be a long haul to keep them fed). We tried to get them to drink from a bowl and 'Ilio got some milk but Super just got a wet chin. After awhile of coaxing the slow little puppies, I said that I'd better get back home. Bagus showed me a box -- it was for the puppies to sleep in. OK. Then he put an old t-shirt in, snuggled the puppies in on top, handed it to Kusuma and instructed him to go home with me. I still hadn't caught on at this point and told Tim upon arriving that since he hadn't come to see puppies they'd had to bring them to us.
Bagus had bought some concentrated milk and a bottle and Kusuma tried to feed them through the bottle but they weren't sucking. I guess they aren't hungry, he said, but they seemed too lethargic not to be at least a little hungry. I played with the bottle and then tried feeding them on a piece of cloth soaked in milk (which was working better but going to be a long haul to keep them fed). We tried to get them to drink from a bowl and 'Ilio got some milk but Super just got a wet chin. After awhile of coaxing the slow little puppies, I said that I'd better get back home. Bagus showed me a box -- it was for the puppies to sleep in. OK. Then he put an old t-shirt in, snuggled the puppies in on top, handed it to Kusuma and instructed him to go home with me. I still hadn't caught on at this point and told Tim upon arriving that since he hadn't come to see puppies they'd had to bring them to us.
They puppies, particularly Super were really weak. I wasn't sure we were going to be able to keep them alive. Even Tim worried about it and helped to modify the bottle and feed them often.
After an hour or so Kusuma said he needed to go home to have a shower. OK. That was early afternoon. By 7pm I had figured it out (Tim says I'm slow). No one was coming back for the puppies. They were good little doggies overnight with a 10:30 and a 4am wake up (they slept through the 2am earthquake). They were much more active and normal in the morning than they'd been the day before, so I'm thinking chances are improving of them making it to adulthood.
In the morning I found Bagus and found out officially that the puppies were a surprise present for me. He'd only intended to get one, but his friend had 8 and didn't have enough money to feed them so he took two. I could have them and love them and when I couldn't watch them, he and Kusuma would take over. When I went back to Hawaii, they would live here at Ibu's house with Congo. I asked what to do with them while I went off to count bees -- No problem, Kusuma would watch them.
In the morning I found Bagus and found out officially that the puppies were a surprise present for me. He'd only intended to get one, but his friend had 8 and didn't have enough money to feed them so he took two. I could have them and love them and when I couldn't watch them, he and Kusuma would take over. When I went back to Hawaii, they would live here at Ibu's house with Congo. I asked what to do with them while I went off to count bees -- No problem, Kusuma would watch them.
When Kusuma arrived in the morning he told me he'd re-named Super and that his new name was Bobo (since he's so fat). That lasted until when I got home in the afternoon and he'd decided that the new name should be Baliwa (I may not have it quite right) for Bali-Hawaii dog. At the time of writing, that is still his name.