If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Monday, November 17

My blessed distraction

The first week we were here, a friend offered to show us around some of the back alleys... one of the streets is called "The flower and bird market". It actually is much more than that- they sell puppies, kittens, birds, plants, hamsters, and rabbits! Of course, after I knew where it was, I wanted to go often just to get to pet the puppies and hold the kittens.

And if you know me, you know what I began to ask for... a puppy. or a rabbit. or a cat...
The answer every time was 'no! we don't need an animal!'
But I put on the charm and almost began pleading... so after a while the answer was "not right now. maybe later" ( I was breaking him!!!)

Well, I was all set to wait until we moved into a nicer apartment (we've learned that there are much better (cleaner) apartments in the city for a slightly cheaper amount!).

But, wouldn't you know, we went out with a friend on Saturday and we were just walking around and she said she wanted to go look at the animals! So of course, I said yes!

We walked up and down the street that sells the puppies, and Scott, to my very great surprise, says "I wouldn't mind a little dog like that" and points to this tiny puppy that's all black except his tummy and paws and a little strip of white on his face.

So I pick him up and he's just licking me and wagging his tail- all his other buddies seemed very timid and were painfully skinny. But this one was a chunk! So I looked for all possible signs that he's sick, but he looks completely healthy.

I put him back, and we all walked to a book store together, the whole time we're discussing if and how we could take care of a puppy. The more I think about him, the more I want him! Finally I burst and told him how badly I wanted him. To my great surprise, Scott says ok!!!!!!!!!!
So we walked back to the street and told them we wanted the little black puppy. Wouldn't you know, he was the most expensive puppy??? What a coincidence, the Americans picked the most expensive dog.
(I'm kidding, they raised the price specifically because we're Americans. We're used to that, though, and our friend bargained the price down a lot) (in American dollars, he was $8)

Scott held him for a while, and it was so funny to see a guy who supposedly doesn't like animals much smile so big when he just wagged his tail and licked his face all over.

We got a little leash for him, and walked home! We finally agreed on a name: Duke! (sorry, all you Carolina fans)

He was so frightened at first... the people here are a little of cruel to animals. But his first night, we put him onto our little porch in a cardboard box with a pillow and lots of blankets.

He wailed all night. I wondered if this was such a good idea. But the next day, we took him hiking with us, and he was so adorable because he slept the whole time in a scarf I tied around me. His second night, we brought him into our bedroom and he was so much better. Last night was his third night, and he didn't wake me up at all!

He is much happier now, and runs around the apartment bumping into things and chewing on chopsticks. He has almost potty trained himself- he started going on a piece of plastic I set down, and sometimes he goes right beside it, but its just a little puddle its so easy to clean!

He does NOT like to be alone. He is a cuddle bug and will just sit with me all the time! Scott picks him up all the time and he won't admit it, but is so taken by him!

What's really nice is that he can go anywhere with us. Restaurants, shops, etc. And he's so easy to feed- I just give him a little bit of my food, whatever I eat!!

Now, we're just looking into vaccinations and getting little Duke neutered... it may not be possible here, but we'll see.


Anyway, I call him my "blessed distraction" because I have been getting so frustrated with how hard it is to live in this apartment sometimes. It doesn't stay clean because dirt comes under the doors and dust comes in from all the broken windows, the bathroom doesn't drain properly, so we have black mold growing in the kitchen and we don't have hot water in the kitchen, so washing dishes is literally a pain to my hands.

But, ever since I've had Duke, I don't care as much and he's such a joy. I'm sure Scott is glad that my anxiety over our apartment has lessened!



Here are a few pics I've taken. It's hard to get a good photo because his little face is so dark.
Here we are at the top of Fu Heng Mountain! We went hiking with some friends; he slept the whole way.





Yes, our couch is really this color. It came with the apartment, don't judge me! He fell asleep on me last night! How sweet!!

Doesn't he look so tiny in Scott's arms?

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