Addie flew in from Atlanta last night, and she got to be the first one off the plane!

My parents, and my Dad in particular, have been working tirelessly to get together all the paperwork necessary to get our sweet girl down here to us.  Beth, our friend and vet who I’ve referenced several times in the blog, was also key in helping us to understand the process.  One of the more stressful parts was that everything had to happen within 10 days of her flying down, so there was little room for error.

Addie’s vet records had to be sent from two different vet offices in Raleigh to a vet in Asheville. My dad then took her to the Asheville vet so that vet could fill out this official USDA form saying she was healthy enough to fly.  That form was overnighted to NY to the USDA headquarters or whatever for their approval.  It was overnighted back to my dad.  Dad and I then wrote up an affidavit for him to sign and have notarized.  He then drove to Raleigh after spending some time on the phone with the Secretary of State’s office to be sure of exactly what paper’s needed to be notarized and what needed to be apostilled (I had never heard of it either – basically internationally accepted notarizing).   His new BFF at that office had the health form apostilled quickly, so he drove back to Asheville that same day.

After all of that, he still had to get the right size crate that was flight approved, buy flight approved hardware for it, make sure the appropriate bedding was in it, tape all of her stuff to the top of it, write all of our info on it with a Sharpie, then, b/c he loves her and us, he drove all the way to Atlanta so she could have a direct flight!!!  He had to get her there about 5 hours early just because that’s what Delta insists upon, and the poor dog wasn’t allowed to get out of her crate during that whole time even though Dad offered to stay and walk her before she boarded the plane.  This is her in the Delta cargo area.  She looks happy enough!  They let her keep her favorite raccoon toy with her (they put it in the crate after the photo)!

In the crate in Delta Cargo at the Atlanta airport

Phew!  So on our end, we had to turn in a form at least three days prior to her arrival asking for home quarantine.  We also had to figure out how we were going to manage to get to the right part of the airport between 9:10 pm (her arrival time) and 11 pm (closing time) so we could bring her home last night.  The best way I know how to do anything that involves the government or any kind of red tape is to call our friend Jorge.  He knows everyone, he’s charming, and he knows how to get things done.

Of course Jorge just happened to know a woman who I understood to be someone who worked in the customs department at the airport.  I imagined a younger woman who just happened to be the one at the counter where we would need to go.  Jorge also has a neighbor with a big van that Addie’s crate would fit into.  Great.  Ready to go.

When we got there, Jorge told me that this contact of his actually works with Presidents and diplomats that visit Panama.  She’s kind of a big deal.  She’s around 60 or so and was pretty intimidating.  While Eric waited with Jorge and his friend, she ushered me past security and to a window where I (nervously) exchanged my passport for some kind of security clearance.  All the while, she was yelling at people to get things done and read the emails she just sent them and generally being completely in charge of everything.  I was just doing my best to understand her accent.

She eventually took me to a room that smelled a little like dogs and a little like plants that said something about the department of quarantine….something…where I was asked to sit on an old leather couch.  Occasionally people came in and out to watch parts of the baseball game that was on.  I spent most of the time responding to WhatsApp messages from Eric who seemed to be freaking out wondering where his dog was, but was actually just really really bored and/or jealous because he wasn’t playing super fancy airport person with me.  The long and short of it is that after about 40 minutes, I found out that Addie’s plane had come in early, but didn’t have a gate, so they had had to wait.  But the second they got to a gate, she was rushed straight to me, thanks to Jorge’s friend.  I still don’t know her name.  We were treated as total VIPs.  It was amazing.

Seeing Addie for the first time was so exciting, although I didn’t get to enjoy it for long because I was on Important Lady’s time and we were always in a hurry.  We took Addie out to the boys then went back upstairs to retrieve my passport.  Jorge then informed me that I was supposed to give this woman a big tip – I was thinking like a Southerner and wondering what kind of thank you note and gift were appropriate! – so I “slyly” handed her a good sum of money and thanked her profusely.  Had we not had her and Jorge, I have no idea how we would’ve managed to get Addie out of there.

Eric quickly got Addie to some grass, then allowed me to take a few pictures to show my parents that Addie had arrived safely.

Then we headed HOME!  She took about 30 minutes to check out the apartment, to figure out all the many doors to the balcony and how that worked, and to catch up on her water consumption.

This morning I took her for a walk around 8:30 our time, and it was already pretty hot.  She was panting pretty hard when we got back.  I think we might need to get her hair cut so she can withstand the weather here!  At least there is plenty of cool floor for her to lay on.

And anyone who knows her will not be too surprised to hear that she immediately took to placing pieces of food all over the apartment.  She even has some carefully “hidden” in the carpet.  Perfect.