[SarSerceSaice]

I travel a lot in the middle east and it's totally different there. There are lots of stray dogs and cats (partially because there is often a lot of trash on the street in some of the bigger cities like Cairo) and people generally don't keep dogs as pets. Muslims generally believe dogs are pretty vile - someone once told me that if you have a dog in your house then angels won't visit. So pet dogs aren't generally common there, except in some of the wealthier and expat circles. I was considering a job in Jordan but one of the things that kept me from doing it was the thought of trying to navigate having Amy there - with so many stray dogs carrying god-knows-what diseases, difficulty finding vet care and good food, etc. Not to mention I already totally stand out as an American - walking a big old pit bull would just make everyone either say nasty things to me or give me a wide berth - way too uncomfortable.