We were excited when our landlord, Arie, said he was bringing one of the family dogs to live downstairs. But Snoopy has been a little hard to get close to. He's a funny dog - sometimes he's totally mellow, and at other times he's a crazy barker. He goes into "auto-bark" mode and can't stop even after he's realized you're a friend. He'll bark right in your face while you're scritching him on the head.
I think some of this has to do with Arie's sister, who's a bit high-strung herself and tends to yell at the dog and chase him with a newspaper when he barks, poor thing.
It's not all that common to own a dog in Jakarta, since Muslims generally view them as unclean. There's a strain of Islamic teaching that says you have to wash your hands seven times after touching a dog's saliva. Snoopy, I think, reflects the fact that our landlord's family is Christian, and that they are somewhat Westernized.
One thing we completely agree with Snoopy about is dislike of the Sari Roti bread guys, who come around every morning with their bread carts blasting their obnoxious theme song. It's supposed to have cute little voices singing "Sari Roti, Roti, Sari Roti," but they're so distorted by the lousy audio equipment, they sound demented. The first month we were here, the Sari Roti guys always woke me up. Snoopy often howls when they come around. It's funny and sad at the same time, his deep wail contrasting with the evil tinny perkiness of the carts.
1 comment:
i'm glad you have a new animal neighbor, even if he is a bit odd! he looks very cute.
his reaction to the roti carts reminds me of my nextdoor (human) neighbor who is also a bit odd, or possibly officially crazy.
during the warm months with our respective windows open i can hear her phone ring, and every single time it does she kind of yells/groans at it, something like "oh no!" or "go away!" or just an unintelligible grunt. it's kind of funny and sad at the same time.
it's gotten to the point that when i hear her phone ring i wince reflexively, waiting for her reaction. on the rare occasions when i hear no response i worry a little bit that maybe something's wrong next door...
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