It’s time to meet Tobi

When Ostrava University helped me find a flat, I was told about this perfect place that had everything I needed, was close to the city center and to my office, and the price was right.  And at the very end of the message was this:  “…and it comes with a companion animal, Tobi!”

He loves to sit on my ankles

He’s very friendly

His front legs are short like a kangaroo and he run/hops

Not what I was expecting, but hey when you’re living abroad, you need two qualities: flexibility and patience. As an animal lover, my main stipulation was that Tobi had to have a decent-sized enclosure and there had to be opportunities to let him out because I’d be sad living with a miserable animal.  Tobi, a 15-year-old chinchilla, is anything but that.  When you let him out, he actually runs up to walls, and ricochets off them.  But then he settles down into his preferred spot – on my ankles. I miss my four cats at home.  He’s not cat – he’s kind of squirrel-like to be honest.  But he’s a creature to keep me company and whom I can care for.