Where The Wild "Bis" Are

When I first met Arabs at my university in St Louis (UMSL), they found it rather humorous that Americans had cats for pets. They would tell me that cats were as numerous as squirrels in their countries, and just as big a nuisance to some. My town had plenty of stray cats, but it wasn't until I arrived in Jordan that I realized precisely what my Arab friends had been trying to tell me. No sooner had I made it to Shadi's house did I meet the first of dozens of neighborhood felines. The next morning was even more of a shock; while following the trail of one "bis" (slang word for cat) I stumbled upon a cat tree.



Over the course of my 2 week stay I almost saw more cats than people. I did see a lot of wild dogs, but cats outnumbered everything. My fiance promised me for my dowry (since I did not request the standard amount; I think its getting somewhat outdated anyway) that he would procure for me a kitten. Being as that they are so numerous we figured this a simple task. Kittens had been born near his house but by the time I arrived Momma had moved them to a secure location. Damn. A year before the Alkhazaleh family had adopted a stray kitten they named Kareema


She was 3 months old and a darling. Shadi, I'm sure, was her favorite human she owned.


But they were having a hard time potty-training her. There was a big cat outside who would chase her away, apparently. So she did her business all over the house. Also, for some reason my Jordanian family didn't know what a litterbox was. So while Shadi was at work, Babba Hassan drove the kitten out to a field and abandoned it. :( I was steamed at Shadi for weeks. He's been searching high and lo for a momma kitty and recently we had what seemed like a hit. A lady bis gave birth in their house, and we picked one out for me we would name Deepika (its a Hindi name meaning "Little Light", a play on my arabic and english names, both which mean Light of Heaven)


But one night Momma got the itch and moved the babies elsewhere. I was devastated, but not to worry; Khaly Mohammad has a cat give birth in his house nearly every month, and with the abundance of felines prowling Jordan, it shouldn't be too long till I get my wedding present :D