Preparing for civilization

So the day has finally come -- we're packing for our European get-away, aka honeymoon, and an excuse to return to civilization. Ahh, just thinking about the seafood, the beer, more food, and more alcohol... I'd have no complaints cramming the rare waking, sober moments to study and spending the rest indulging in food and liquid!

"Milk does a body good..." I say favorites in life does a body good. I didn't mind that we delayed our honeymoon until now, but what I seem to really care for is taking the time away from Dushanbe. Despite of having to do school work during this trip, I am simply glad to get out of Dushanbe, pamper myself in civilization, drown myself in food and wine, and lose myself in the romance of my husband (anyone yakking yet?). This is going to be a good trip, only if we can successfully get out of Dushanbe.

Dogs n Dushanbe

So the house in Dushanbe is much bigger than ours back home. Kohdee is able to play chase, or be chased, with Marsh n Mellow. The cycle usually starts after they finish potty outside, Kohdee takes the lead to grab her rawhide and runs between the dinning room and the guest waiting area. The cycle typically ends when they manage to roll up an area rug all the way against the wall, or, when the 3 pounder successfully steals the rawhide from Kohdee. Imagine the commotion and chaos when a 50lbs dog is chased by a 3 pounder and a 5 pounder, in regular and reverse directions, for about 5 minutes. It works great when I'm trying to study.

These three hellraisers kept me company for the past 5 months in Dushanbe. I'd like to believe that their lifestyle has gotten better since we've been here because they no longer have to be in the kennel all day. I actually think they like Dushanbe better than we do: they have me home with them all the time, they get to run around in the yard, they chase after snow flakes when it snows, but they know nothing of the world outside of our front gate.

Stray dogs lingering around the streets. You see some laying in the ditches from Darwin's survival of the fittest and it tugs at your heart. Others, well, depending on how many there are, you'd wish you left home with 10 cans of pepper spray. You can see the lifestyle of Dushanbe simply by looking at the stray dogs. There are more similarities than differences and this is where I reside. I will go into details about Dushanbe in later posts but for now, since the dogs are taking a nap, I should take the opportunity to do school work.

More to come, I promise...