Tis the season for pets. Or something like that. As I have written about previously about the crazy critters of Iasi here, I suppose it was only a matter of time until some of them made their way into our hearts. Our American Animal-Loving Hearts. Back in April the neighbor's dog, who we fondly refer to as Udder Boy (it's a girl, you can imagine why she has this name), only partly because she is BUTT UGLY, had two adorable and scrumptious puppies, cute as a button if you will:
I particularly liked the one with the white paw. And vaguely wanted to adopt her. But just managed to play with her walking to and from my house. Oh but that wasn't enough, so come July (read: dead heat of summer, nothing going on, just NOTHING) I decided I wanted to adopt her for real. Which by that point of basically living on the street was like adopting a hoodlum toddler. But a hoodlum in whom I saw potential; I named her Jamila (juh-mee-luh). So it was a special time of me trying to figure out if we could actually keep her on our property all the time and adopt a hoodlum as a pet. But what about the poo? What about the fleas? What about her propensity to roll in the dirt ALL THE TIME? What about the garden THAT ISN'T MINE and she's digging holes in it? What about her brother who is always howling at the gate? What about THE MILLION THINGS I DIDN'T CONSIDER? Yea, so then that swiftly came to an end and I threw her back out onto the street. Now to be fair, she never really was "mine", she was kind of just hanging out on our property during the day sometimes, I would sometimes feed her leftovers, try to teach her to sit and come and stay, and that was about it. Not a good arrangement, I will admit. So it came to an end.
The only problem is this- she knows me now. So she always wants to play. Partly because maybe I was the only one who ever played with her. Only her version of playing is now like an 8 year old hoodlum's version of playing. She's covered in the dirt she rolls in for fun, maybe wet from splashing in raw sewage, and smells like the garbage she was digging in for her lunch, and she wants to play. With me. Only me. Dozens of people pass by on the sidewalk outside my house. But only me does she come barreling after to jump on. I don't even have to say anything, she just senses when I come around the corner and THERE SHE IS, ears up, tail wagging. Usually when I have on something white. And her brother of course loves to join in the fun. They're kind of big now, so it's just. not. great. Because I don't want to be mean, as I still have a soft spot in my heart for my hoodlum street pup, but really truly if she gets one more paw print on one more of my skirts, I may have to go all WWF on her.
Fast forward to camp. We are leaving camp and this cute little adorable precious puppy shows up at the camp, having followed a few people back from a walk. We thought, "Awwww how cute!" Right, and we're five hours away from home. Erin wanted to keep it. Dave was like yea, not so much.
But then she FOLLOWED us the whole 2 kilometers down the dirt road to the main road where our bus was. And so we all (obviously) took it as a sign that she really wanted to be with us, and Dave conceded. Thus she made the 5 hour journey to her new home. So began the adoption of Ginger, the cute little mutt from the mountains of Romania who now has a home in Iasi with American missionaries. Oh man, and is she ever rockin. Really.
Then fast forward to three weeks ago, when my roommate sees a kitten and decides it must be hers. IT'S JUST SO CUTE! And the runt, ohhhh she needs someone to take care of her! And ohhhhh her big eyes! Etc. Since Simona is as impulsive as I, she decides to adopt her very own street cat. Only this one is all of days old and can fit in the palm of her hand- much more moldable and manageable. Let's be clear- I am a dog person. 100%. Through and through. I grew up with a father who thought cats were best run over by lawnmowers, and we always, ALWAYS had a dog. All this to say that I was perfectly clear when Simona asked about the cat- Yes, have your cat, but it will not be in our house. It can have all of our yard and everything it contains, but not our house. Period. And that has worked out well. But I must say, I've kind of come to like the little critter. Unlike most cats I've known, she's quite playful and actually likes being pet (petted?). I wish I had something else in the pictures I took, for perspective, as she's actually quite small. But alas, this will have to suffice. Meet Bella:
I know, I KNOW. You want to hear about Israel. Well, let me just say that I am still wrapping my mind around "Israel" and "the Israel trip" and all that that encompasses. It was a kind of a Big Life Thing. And I also have 272 pictures, and clearly I am not going to post them all here, thus there must be organization and grouping and the like. So. While I do that, I will post some trivialities of my days. As per usual.
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