Koala for Christmas

No, I don't get a hippo. :(

For years, Joe & I have wanted a dog. Now that we're not fighting through long-distance, it's much more practical. It could serve as our practice child, to help us get on a schedule of caring for someone, to help us stop being so selfish with our time.

But the truth is, after long-distance, after the stress of moving abroad & now that we only have each other, I can admit that it's the perfect time for us to be selfish–to figure out what we want most from life, take advantage of the opportunity to travel & fully soak up this year of being dependent on only each other.

For the first time, I'm glad we don't have a dog.

That said, I jumped on the opportunity to dogsit for one of my students. I said yes before I really knew the date & before I really knew what it meant. 

So on Friday afternoon, we met my student and his girlfriend (or wife? They have a PAC, which is like a marriage contract of sorts, so I'm not sure what term I should use). We met them in Parc Olry, which turned out to be gorgeous, right next to a gorgeous cathedral and and Art Nouveau villa. 

They said hello and walked us to their car, where we met Koala. Koala is a year-old Labrador retriever with big paws and a bigger heart. It was our day to get to know Koala, to see if dogsitting would work out or if we would be a horrible match. His favorite play place is Barbois, a park in the forest that sprawls along the hills outside our window. 

On the way to Barbois, Koala rested his head on my shoulder and tried to climb from the hatchback's trunk into the backseat to get more snuggle time with me and Joe. I knew that we'd be an okay match.

The weather had been rainy, so the ground was soggy. The paths had puddles. The rugby ball flopped and stuck to the damp earth when Alex, my student, kicked it for Koala. This is just as Koala would want things. "This is his weather," they said. He's not a big fan of the sun–and the reasons become obvious. At each puddle, Koala would stamp his paws around before leaping in, rolling over and scratching his back in the mud.

He was covered. And he was sprinting and chasing us and living it up. I am in love. 

It was starting to rain, and we were getting chilly with our muddy jeans clinging to our goosebumped legs. We headed back to Alex's apartment for hot chocolate with whipped cream that his girlfriend had made, and Koala curled up at Joe's feet.

So for Christmas Eve and Christmas, we will be staying with Koala at Alex's apartment–alternating between staring at the cathedral, going to the park and watching movies with Koala, our temporary practice dog.