Not a Dog

In Swaziland, animals typically aren’t pets. All animals have a purpose. Dogs are for protection, and it is believed that if you don’t feed them it makes them meaner and more aggressive. Chickens, goats, and pigs are for food or for sale, so they are fed well. Cows are either for lobola (bride price), food, or sale, and are frequently considered an indicator of wealth. Cats keep the rats under control. The idea of keeping an animal for love is not prevalent; after all, when 50 of your relatives all live on one homestead, how could you possibly need another mouth to feed or someone else to love?

My new homestead is an interesting exception. We have 5 cats, 3 dogs, abundant poultry, and Cheese Boy. The cats and dogs all have names and are fed daily. The people pet them and love them, and it’s been wonderful to see such kindness. No one, however, is shown more kindness or love than Cheese Boy.

When I arrive back at my homestead, he bounds to the gate to lick my hands and nudge my hand to get his ears scratched. First thing in the morning, he comes up on my porch and tries to get in my house for attention. If I have leftover food, he’s frequently the first at my door to beg for it. He sleeps with the 3 dogs at his sides and he has one particular dog and cat that he’s best friends with.

Against all reason, Cheese Boy is a cow.

Cheese Boy on my porch

Good morning!

The best dry spot in the rain

When he was born, his mother died. My host make took him in and has been bottle feeding him twice a day for the past 3 months. He truly is one of the family. Without older cow role models but a powerful herd instinct, he has copied the behavior of the animals he sees daily, which are dogs and cats.

This porch is so comfortable

Cheese Boy needs no invitation to come in

Cheese Boy ignores polite requests for him to leave by lying down

He loves it when other PCVs come to visit. He licks their hands and follows them around like a little puppy. I never thought I’d ever find a cow cute or lovable, but this little guy has proven me wrong.

After the second PCV visited me and we fed him bread, make looked at him, shook her head, and said what a cheese boy he was. Culturally, that’s a term for city slickers. I was called a cheese girl when I put mosquito netting over my windows to make screens to keep the flies out in summer. The fact that he’s a cow somehow just adds to the fact that the name stuck and is adorable.

It's hot, so the two dogs and Cheese Boy love to sit in the shade of the blackberry tree

I think make said it best. One afternoon after one of my PCV visitors had departed, she laid her hand on his head, looked at me, and said: “There is not a person alive who hates him.”

Selfie with my BFF!