For those of you who follow our blog regularly, we apologize for our delay in posting something new. We have had a very hectic schedule, and it is only going to get busier. This has caused a good deal of stress and anxiety over the past week. However, we are trying to lean on each other and, most of all, the one who directed us here. In the midst of all our stress, we have an exciting announcement! We have a new addition to our family! No, we are not expecting a child (yet), but we adopted a cat. For those of you who know me (Joshua) well, this might come as a surprise. From the time of my youth, I have not been a big cat fan; however, once you hear our story you may understand the transformation.
A couple weeks ago we visited a fellow teacher's house and played with her cat. We were already under a lot of stress and pressure, but being around the cat was surprisingly soothing to our nerves. After dinner that night Jennifer and I began talking about the possibility of getting a cat, but we made no plans to do so in the near future. Little did we know, our lot as pet less people was about to change. On our way home from language class a week and a half ago, we found a kitten in the stairwell of our apartment building. He was sitting on a high window ledge cold and frightened. The sight was more than we could bare. We had no desire to leave him out in the cold to die, so we took him to our apartment. He warmed himself by the radiator and ate a little food. It was not long before he stretched out on our laps to take a nice long snooze. Needless to say, we were both sunk. If leaving him out in the elements to begin with was not an option then sending him back out into them certainly wasn't. We verified with our landlord that we could have a pet and then began thinking of a name for our new kitty. Knowing that he is a Mongolian cat we decided he needed a Mongolian name, so we dubbed him Жижиг Баатар (it is pronounced Jeejeeg Baatar). It means Little Hero!
Not knowing how healthy or sick our new little fellow might be, we took him to the vet a few days after finding him. Along with our fellow cat owner,we went to the only vet in Mongolia. Thankfully our fellow teacher knew about it and where it is located. It was started by a group of foreigners who came to train Mongolians how to care for animals. It provided jobs and valuable information to many of the Mongolian herders. We learned that our kitty is in perfect health for his age and only needs a little more calcium in his diet. Being unfamiliar with the price of a vet in Mongolia, we prepared for the worst. However, his checkup, vaccination, and de-wormer medicine only cost us about $13. Those of you who own pets are probably picking yourselves up off the floor right now. This too was such a blessing because, as I am sure many of you can imagine, we are not swimming in Төгрөг (Mongolian currency). After his vet visit, we bought him some food, litter, and a few other accouterments to make his life more enjoyable.
He has been such a blessing! Having him has helped alleviate a lot of stress. Besides, we know that we rescued him from certain death. Pets are not a common thing in Mongolia. Many people have dogs but train them to be defensive attack animals, and cats are not widely liked at all. They are considered to be bad luck. It was evident when we found our cat that he had already been tormented and beaten. We feel like he was left on that window just for us. He has quickly become a very spoiled member of the family, but we think he is worth it!
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