Babysitting

Marieta is leaving for South Africa tomorrow (and will be gone until after I have to leave, myself), so I'll be sharing babysitting duties of the two baby baboons, Elvis (also called Marnus by some) and Loede.

For those of you who have never tried to take care of TWO baboons (or any, for that matter), imagine herding cats--crazy cats. Also imagine the most poorly behaved three-year old in the world. Now you're beginning to understand.

They're a lot of fun, though, I have to admit. This morning I was with Elvis, entertaining him while Marieta had a meeting with staff. My best partner in all this is my dog, Pickles, who loves to wrestle with baby baboons. The play-bite, roll, run, and make evasive moves on each other. It's quite the show.

Sometimes Marieta's other dogs join in, and it becomes a free-for-all.

Tomorrow will be the test, though. Along with Marieta leaving, the volunteer who's been babysitting during most days, Jade, is also leaving. Elvis will be fine because he's become attached to me and several others, but the baby Loede (pronounced like Lloyd) has only really been attached to Marieta and Jade, and tomorrow she'll be screaming and crying for her moms (and she has a set of lungs, I tell you). It's part of the process, though, so she'll eventually be fine.

Wish me luck.