Dodi is our watchdog, though we never asked for him. He is constantly sleeping on our front porch. Apparently this was his territory before we moved in. Dogs here are not normal. Many dogs look like they're part dog, part cat or goat! They're dirty, wild, and not domesticated like dogs back in the States. But we've found that Dodi is the closest we've seen to a normal dog. When we come home from running an errand, he will greet us by simply lifting his head a little, while his eyes are still closed, and then once he knows it's us and not some stranger, he returns to his deep sleep. Hmm..not an 'ol yeller, but we'll take him. (our neighbors take care of him)
Merpati birds are very common here. They are beautiful dove-like birds and very friendly. This bird swoops down and hangs out in our yard every day. It has a nest in our neighbor's roof. He often greets our caged rooster (our neighbor's rooster, but it's in our yard).
Ribut, which means "loud", is our rooster who every morning promptly at 6:30am serves as a personal alarm clock for us whether we like it or not. His crow is probably the loudest we have every heard, though our bedroom window is very close to his cage. When we are talking on the phone or to guests, we often have to pause the conversation during one of Ribut's crows because there is no way anyone can hear over the noise! People here take much pride in a rooster who has a good crow.
And our last animal that lives with us is none other than a large pudgy toad we call Tuan Toad, "Mr.Toad". Todd usually waters our lawn and Tuan Toad has a big hole in our yard which serves as his home. Todd says his "hello" by filling up his hole with water so that Tuan Toad will come out!
We think he's probably annoyed because he always has to wait until the water is drained from his hole to get back in. :)
