I had a puppy for a whole of two weeks before she died. Today was our two week anniversary and I had to take her to the vet, again. It was discovered she had distemper and needed to be put down. I never would have thought that after only two weeks I could be so upset but I guess I really enjoyed her presence. I can't imagine having to say good bye to Farley if I cried this much over a dog I'd had for little amount of time. So, I had to say goodbye to Gobi today.

I did have a wonderful man help me today though. I had lost the list of taxi phone numbers that Enkhee had given me so I went to the store to try to call one. This wonderful man took us there, came in with me to the vets, helped the veterinarian put her down and made me leave the room. I, of course, was in tears. After she was put down they put her in a box and told me that it is Mongolian custom to take the pets to Zai San. I thought they meant the agricultural college near my place to be disposed of in a hygenic manner. No, you have to hike up the mountain and just put them there. We made her a little bed and put her to rest on the hillside. The nice man came with me and hiked up with me. He went above and beyond what any person would or should have to do. Especially for a stranger. I gave him 10,000 TK for all his trouble. He didn't want to take it but I forced him to. He just thought he was driving some white girl to the vet and ended up doing so much more. Mongolians are such a helpful people. If I were in Toronto, no perfect stranger would have helped me like that, well, at least I don't think so.

I looked up distemper on the internet and she definately had all the classic signs. The coughing, the infected looking eyes. It said that they run a temperature but it's usually gone unnoticed because it spikes. All the other times she'd been to the vet they said her temperature was normal. Today, it was through the roof. I also learned that as long as humans are vaccinated from the measles, they are immune. Distemper and the measles are similar viruses.

Albeit, I had to cancel my vacation plans due to Gobi's illness but there are lots of things going on around here. Plus, I can get caught up on personal errands. There is an ice town being built near my place that looks really neat. Ice sculptures are springing up all over town. They will most definately last here! It's quite cold. It's so dry here, even the snow is dry!