Animals around the world

I have lived in a few places in my 27 years, and wherever I go there is a recurring theme; I fall in love with animals! Of course I have pets at home who are always in my thoughts, and living overseas has allowed me to meet even more. In the Philippines, my first friend was a cat called Tracey Sue. She lived in the apartment block where I lived for the first 3 months by myself. It seemed like she didn’t have one home but just got by on occasional scraps and attention from the inhabitants. Filipinos have a different attitude to pets, so when she came by my door one day I think she got a pleasant surprise. I was pretty lonely having just arrived so I was very pleased to see her. She was a bit shy to begin with but it didn’t take long until she was making herself at home in my apartment  (see picture!) Unfortunately I had to leave her when I moved house, but low and behold, 2 new creatures with big brown eyes, were waiting at the new place to be loved! Two dogs were abandoned by the last owners and were semi-domesticated. They waited outside asking for food and attention, and me and my housemate Ella couldn’t leave them. We let them on the drive and fed them what we could. Pretty quickly they worked their way into our hearts and our home, sneaking in and hiding at first; we couldn’t throw them out! We named them Hazel and Honey. Sadly Honey died of a horrible cough, pretty sudden, so we were left with just Hazel. She was a little timid, especially of men and brooms L Hazel was such a good girl and pretty popular with the boys in the neighbourhood which we realised one evening… we were relaxing outside and Ella went to her room to find Hazel under the bed with what looked like a rat. Ella panicked and I took a closer look, only to discover one small beautiful puppy. We had no idea she was pregnant! Immediately we knew he was called Horace. He was very naughty and spoilt! We all loved him and he was notorious for stealing slippers and bras. I wanted to take good care of them (vets bills were hard on a volunteer allowance) and bring them home but it wasn’t possible so I found them new homes…. heartbreaking L They really helped me through some hard times and were good companions. I hope they are happy now.

So fast forward 3 years, and I have fallen in love with a new set of animals, feline and canine. My niece and nephew Archie and Maggie are just delightfully soft. They are indoor cats, as ragdoll breed, they are very submissive to anything and wouldn’t last long with racoons, and other cats and dogs! They make their own entertainment in the house; Archie by playing ball like a dog, literally bringing you the ball and chasing it, although unlike a dog he decides exactly when he is in the mood or if he has other busy to attend to! Archie the meerkat giraffe cat is timid with new people, but is very loving. He also likes to eat plastic and ribbons. He likes to clean Maggie but it can end in him getting carried away and a confrontation starts. They love each other though, and Archie looks for Maggie if he hasn’t seen her for a while. Maggie aka Maggalulu-doodle-day is more sociable and likes to be part of things. She has ‘love attacks’, when she just cannot get enough strokes and scratches. If she was in a cartoon, love hearts would be popping out of her eyes and in circles around her head. She is so irresistible she even makes a grown Scottish man go high pitched and soft! She also has different tone miaows, eye blinks and positions she tilts her head depending on what she wants, so clever. I will miss the furballs and their insane beauty.

The others I will miss are the infamous dogs, Suki and Jones. They are well known in the ‘hood and are best buddies. Suki comes to the happy house I have been living in during the day. She has pointy ears and is a bit like a bear. She welcomes everyone and keeps an eye on the situation. Jones is from next door. He is 7 months and is incredibly cute, and mental! He was found in a pack of wild dogs that were going hungry and eating the pups, so he was saved. He has a glint of the wild in his eyes, especially when he is running round the garden at 100mph. Suki and Jones are good friends, Suki being very patient and teaching Jones a thing or two. He adores her and she doesn’t mind when out for a walk and he walks in front of her, looking at her every 2 seconds with his overly long tongue falling out of his mouth! Suki is 7 but still plays and has a spring in her step when playing with Jones, fighting over bones and biting each other’s legs! It is a very cute friendship. They are such a positive influence on the house, always pleased to see people and entertain.

They have made my day, every day I have seen them, and seeing them be so happy, enthusiastic, fun and hopeful brightens up the world. I’ll miss both the fleabags but know they are an amazing pair and will keep on making every person they come into contact with happy J See this for more of an introduction to the terrible 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmo4KvJZ-uk 

Disclaimer: The anthropomorphism of animals in this video is recognised and projection of feelings is purley speculative ;)

 

Tracey Sue making herself at home



The new arrival, Horace

Hazel and Horace



Experiencing Livability

This blog has been severely neglected, due in part to being busy doing everything I possibly can in this amazing city and province, and also sometimes doing nothing!

I have fallen in love with the place and really enjoy the lifestyle here. Last year Vancouver was given the title of the most liveable city in the world by the annual Economist Quality of Living  Survey. Dropping to 3^rd place behind this year, to Melbourne(1^st) and  Vienna (2^nd), the survey of living conditions was designed primarily for companies to decide how much to pay employees and where to open businesses. The surveys have also drawn the attention of media around the world and have become topics for discussion. The Economist use some data from Mercer who also carry out the survey, taking into account  factors such as the widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk and an effective infrastructure. Whilst living in Vancouver, I have been thinking about what liveability means, and how the combination of living conditions affects people’s wellbeing. It is made clear by Mercer that there is a difference between quality of living and quality of life, the first being basic individual needs that are met in a certain situation and the second being a more subjective and about someone’s personal and emotional wellbeing. Someone could be living in a place with high livability ratings but personal circumstances could lead them to a poor quality of life. Mercer claims to have designed an objective way to measure quality of living, based on factors that people say are representative of quality of living, and assessing 10 key categories. The survey has been criticized for being too western-centric, and also doesn’t take into account cost of living when looking at livability.

Whilst thinking about the people who live in Vancouver, I wondered if everyone’s representations of quality of living are the same; one man’s punch may be another man’s poison. Would all agree that this is the top 3 most livable cities in the world and experience the livability factors? For example, for a homeless woman in downtown eastside Vancouver, the poorest postcode in Canada with high crime, drug and violence rates, her safety being jeopardized daily and her choices being extremely limited, would she agree with the high livability ratings? Or a recent immigrant from rural Mexico, coming from a tight community and now trying to find a community and employment opportunities in the city, would he agree? Having said this, the surveys do make it clear they are only using objective measures to determine livability, relating to a broad population rather than to individual quality of life.

I will be learning more about these livability surveys and their uses in my MSc in Wellbeing and Human Development starting soon, so hopefully some of these ramblings can be advanced! I think it is about a combination of many factors including basic survival needs, to choices, freedom, health care, community and more. Whether Vancouver can be rightfully be given a shiny badge for being a very livable place through these surveys or not, I am going to give it my own shiny badge for being such a damn fine place which I feel so grateful to have experienced. My reasons are below (in no particular order), and if you are thinking of where you could go for your next holiday, consider this……..

§  Connection with nature; the city is very green and leafy, with massive old trees lining the streets, supplying fresh oxygen and a feast for the eyes.  Green spaces are used very well. People take good care of their gardens and areas in front of their houses, and there are community allotments even in center of the city

§  The vista; from almost anywhere in the city you can see the crisp snowcapped mountains, or the horizon out to sea, making you feel more connected to the earth!

§  Proximity to mountains/ beach/ forests/ lakes, all within reasonable distance and all of incredible beauty and colour

§  Aesthetically pleasing houses and other architecture and so varied, from Hong Kong style high rises downtown, to wooden, colourful 2 tone houses on wide streets

§  Cleanliness and people taking responsibility for the city, including good recycling awareness and systems (Greenpeace was formed here, no wonder)

§  The openness…People talk to each other in the street; generally that is only done in the countryside at home! Also people chat on public transport; I actually had to adjust to this when first arriving, with an initial feeling of English awkwardness when people first talk but it didn't take me long to get well into chatting to strangers- you learn allsorts! Some people don’t want to talk, but if eyes meet there is generally an exchange of smiles

§  Liberally minded people and no fear of people expressing themselves; anything goes and differences are celebrated. The positive, quirky attitude of Vancouverites is uplifting

§  Loads going on but without the feel of too much and not rushed

§  Efficient public transport with pleasant bus drivers who go out of their way to help you enjoy your trip and find your way… refreshing!

§  A multi-cultural city that is reflected in the huge variety of music, theatre, and food (mmm the food, so delicious, generous helpings and veggie friendly)

§  The love of animals….. dogs seem to be involved with everything and people love cats too. Kids are also part of everything with lots of young families, so there is just endless cuteness!

§  People are active in Vancouver with sports and outdoor activities. It would be possible to ski in the morning and sail in the afternoon- although people may not go this far, they get stuff done!