ooooh weee

The hotel keep ten cats in the kitchen. A black and gray striped one likes me. I like an orange and white one with long hair. The rest are afraid of me because I make like I am going to kick them when they get into my food. There are three kittens that look positively deformed. One of the boys, Sisi, treats them like stray soccer balls, and he does Tae Kwon Do, so they are pretty tough cats, despite being confined to a ten by fifteen foot rooM.

There are dogs out back, by the staff house. One is chained. He is big, but skinny. The other two are little, white and black, and dirty. They cry and cry and cry. One hits the door next to mine. The chained one jumps sometimes. I never go back there because I miss Bela and because it is not really for guests.

The saxophone playing neighbor has really improved in the last two months.

I make a lot of pancakes. Whipping the milk a little helps get them fluffly. Another important thing about cooking is that I have a lot of trouble making a rice accompaniment taste good without some type of stock. Most of the cubes here have MSG, but I found one that doesn't. It does have maltodextrin, which I am afraid to google. I feel kind of like a noob because I need packaged flavor to enjoy the food I cook.

I have a one year contract with the National Center for the English Language; it includes time for me to spend in the bush. There is a problem though, I have a dirty criminal record. In 2008, I was arrest in Sky Harbor for having a fake ID. I wasn't charged; in fact, when I showed up for court, they told me to go home. But, it is on the books, so whether the Malagasy Ministries will approve me for a long term visa is uncertain. Regardless of what happens, it I hope it will happen during the next business week, as my current visa expires on July 29.