A Brief Tribute to Cowboys

Cowboys are awesome. This is why.

Having lived in Colorado for most of my life, I would have thought that I had a pretty firm handle on what it means to be a cowboy. However, what it means to be a cowboy in Colorado and what it means to be a cowboy in Rwanda are almost entirely different things, the only similarity being that they both have cows. For one thing, Rwandan cowboys do not have horses. For another, they do not have land. Your average Rwandan cowboy is therefore a man (or little boy) with a stick, chasing their cows around on foot all day. Fortunately for them, there are so many of them that they have practically become institutionalized outlaws since there isn't the funding to actually crack down on the rather non-threatening act of illegal grazing.

I don't know if it's because of their lawlessness or because of their poverty or what, but the cowboys are some of the most generous people in my community. Despite living three men to a shack with no door, they're less interested in asking me for things than they are in sharing, whether it's that they offer to take me to Mosque when I ask or they offer me a seat and some milk (which is fresh from the cow and unpasteurized so I can't actually take it, but it's the thought that counts) when I stop by to visit, they always go out of their way to make me feel welcome. The one time they did ask me for anything was when they tried to sell me a puppy, but now that I know them better, I think this was less because they wanted the money and more because they thought it would make me happy. I think they would have actually been quite sad to give it up.

They have three other dogs of their own, all of which are well fed, trained, and cared for, which means they know better than to be afraid of Beans whereas the majority of people make a point of informing me they are worried she will eat me in my sleep when they see me walking her. Instead they rough-house with her a little bit and let her have some of the milk they're putting out for their own dogs. It's nice to have a place to go where I play with my dog and not feel like I'm scaring the locals and even better to have some friends that are animal people like me.