This story is reprinted from www.vetswithoutboundaries.com. Stories of travelling with my husband as volunteer veterinarians between 2017 and 2019.
As I wait out a global pandemic and wonder what the future holds for those I love and the world at large, I thought I would share one of my favourite stories from our travels as volunteer veterinarians. What stories do you want to recall that bring you hope? What experiences are you most grateful for? I hope you enjoy this one about the little Cuban street dog that could!
This morning we were up early to beat the heat and make our way out of Santiago de Cuba and cycle on towards Bayamo. We pushed our bikes up calle Jose Seco, a pedestrian only street and across the busy intersection towards Plaza de Marte. I noticed a young dog trotting ahead of us as we walked along, with a lolling tongue and happy grin on his face. I noticed he was in good shape, muscular and fit and, compared to many of the dogs we had encountered in the Santiago, appeared to be in excellent health. Traffic was already heavy and as a result we decided to walk the bikes to the next major intersection before starting to ride. As we crossed streets and weaved between pedestrians and people pushing bicycles, I would see the little street dog pop up between us, ducking and weaving along the sidewalk and street, keeping time with the two of us. Each time he trotted beside me, I picked up a foul odour and noticed his neck and backed were streaked with something rotten he had obviously rolled in earlier that morning. I said to him “hey stinky dog, where are you headed” and he looked at me with a goofy grin as if to say “you tell me?”
I figured he’d abandon us once we started to ride. When we reached the Avenida de los Libertadores, it was time to get riding. Rob hopped on his bike and started off in the lead. I laughed as stinky dog jumped down from the sidewalk with a spring in his step, let out 3 happy yelps and sprinted off behind Rob. The traffic for Cuba was heavy with taxis, motorcycles and buses taking people to work. Our route out of the city towards the carretera central (highway) that would take us over the Sierra Maestra mountains and towards Bayamo, took as through a traffic circle, stop signs, left turns and across major intersections. I watched and held my breath repeatedly, as Stinky Dog navigated traffic like a seasoned pro, keeping pace with our bicycles and showing no signs of fatigue.
Finally, stopping to check our map we decided we needed to end this charade. We yelled at him “go home Stinky Dog!” And waved our arms. “vamos amigo”. He would turn, walk a few steps the other direction and then as we rode off quickly, we would find him back with us again, happily following along, within a few hundred meters. Finally, giving up, we decided to ignore him, hoping he would tire of the chase. We wound our way out of the hilly city of Santiago, up and down hills before finally leaving the city and traffic behind. Stinky dog stuck to us like glue. He stayed behind Rob but every now and then, if I fell too far behind, he would turn and look for me to make sure I was still riding. As we stopped for a rest, I told Rob that it looked like he had found himself a great mountain biking dog. Rob just laughed and said, “I’ve already told him the first thing I’m going to do to him is to cut off those balls!” I laughed and replied that he didn’t seem too concerned about Rob’s threat.
By now we were about 12 km outside of Santiago and unsure what to do with Stinky Dog. He seemed quite happy and showed no signs of tiring, despite the increasing heat and our faster pace. As we cycled along and puzzled over our dilemma we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a cycle race. Police sirens blared and pointed for us to pull off the road while groups of cyclists, clad in colourful spandex, blasted past us. During a lull in the chaos we made our move and were back on the road, quickly making a left turn off the highway to make our way to the village of El Cobre and the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Cobre. Apparently the multiple bikes confused Stinky Dog and as we looked back, he was no longer with us. I suspect he continued on, happily racing after the road riders, enjoying the freedom of the open road and the joy of just running for the fun of it!
The 4 km detour was well worth it. As we weaved along a hilly road, lush with tropical vegetation, we would catch glimpses of the beautiful Basilica high on the hill ahead of us. I stopped to pull out my iPhone to take a photo and suddenly my heart stopped. My phone (camera) was gone. Having had it to take a photo of Stinky Dog at our last stop, I knew I had lost it somewhere in the last 8km. 8km of mostly rough downhill riding, which meant 8kms of uphill riding in the heat. We turned around and started retracing our steps, in the hopes it was still lying along the road and not in someones pocket. We started back and lady luck or perhaps it was La Virgen de la Caridad (Our Lady of Charity) whose shrine is housed in the Basilica, blessed us. Regardless, there on the side of the road, 200m back was my perfectly intact phone. Rob let out a cheer and after tucking it safely inside my pack, we started back towards the Basilica.
As we road towards the Virgen’s shrine, Rob suddenly stopped at a rode side stand and bought a $2 CUC bouquet of flowers. I gave him a quizzical look. “I know I am a scientist and also an atheist, but I somehow feel we need to make an offering to Our Lady of Charity” he said. “It’s a lot cheaper than a new phone!” I laughed, tucked the flowers along side my panniers and decided I would not only give thanks but also ask for the Lady’s blessing.
Rob watched the bikes as I went into the cathedral, truly remarkable and one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites and shrines in Cuba. Sweaty and likely quite smelly, I walked in with other pilgrims, there to make an offering to La Virgen or Cachita, as she is also known. I placed my flowers at the shrine along with a favourite photo of James, Hannah and our dog Maisy, which I carry in my wallet and had taken when they were all quite young. I asked the virgin to protect our kids, to keep them safe and then, under my breath I also asked her to watch over Stinky Dog, the little street dog from Santiago.
La Virgen de la Caridad, Cachita as she is known locally or Our Lady of Charity is a religious icon to almost all Cuban women. In Santeria, the virgin is syncretized with the beautiful orisha, Ochun Yoruba, goddess of love and dancing. Legend dictates that the virgin was discovered during a violent storm, by 3 fisherman floating on a board in the Bay of Nipe in 1612. Fearing their lives would end, they pulled out the board and found inscribed on it the words “I am the Virgin of Charity”. As the storm subsided and their lives were spared, they assumed a miracle had been granted and a legend was born.
Over the years, many have offered gifts to the Virgin. Ernest Hemingway decided to leave the 23 karat gold medal he won in 1954 “to the Cuban People” and rather than hand it over the the Batista regime, left it to the Catholic Church where it was temporarily held in the Basilica.
In 1957 Lina Ruz left a small guerrilla figurine at the feet of the virgin to pray for the safety of her two sons, Fidal and Raul Castro Ruz, then fighting in the Sierra Maestra. Was it fate that saw the two Castro brothers living into their senior years or was it the spirit of El Cobre?
