A Rant

In which, the Ecuadorian Consulate in Atlanta is basically useless

So here's the post I promised about the Consulate in Atlanta. Since I know most of you are probably tired of hearing about Jethro, I'll keep it relatively short and I also promise to put up another post documenting our adventure on Saturday.

When exporting pets from the US, the governing authority is the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). They, along with the country you are planning to export the pet to, dictate the requirements you must fulfill before putting your pet on a plane. 

To make a long story shorter, basically you have to vaccinate your pet within a certain time frame, make sure they are cleared from external and internal parasites within a shorter time frame, and then have them examined by your USDA certified vet within 10 days of your flight. Your vet fills out the APHIS form with all the necessary information, then you have to either drive or mail it to your state USDA office for certification. 

This all seems relatively straightforward, but now comes the tricky part. According to previous regulations, you then had to take this paperwork to the nearest Ecuadorian Consulate and basically have them endorse it, just saying that they've ok'd everything and your pet is free to enter the country.

APHIS put out a new form in December of 2014, and it was actually very welcome, because the old form was a little tricky and I believe you had to have it translated. The new form was very streamlined and was in both English and Spanish, so no need for translation. We had also received notice from several unofficial outlets that the endorsement from the Consulate was no longer needed, but there were conflicting reports about it, so we decided to cross our T's and dot our I's and just get the endorsement to be on the safe side. 

This is where our story actually begins. There's a Consulate in Atlanta, and according to their website, their hours are from 10am - 2pm. I'd heard from other people that you needed an appointment to be seen, so I tried both calling and emailing, which had exactly ZERO results. No one ever responded to any emails and no one ever answered the phone. There wasn't any easy way to leave a message either, unless you just pushed random numbers to get out of the message loop. 

So we decided to just show up and see what happened. We went down on Tuesday and arrived at the Consulate at 1:30, only to find that nobody was there. I tried calling again and sent another email, but nothing. The best course of action seemed to return the next morning when they opened at 10am.

The next morning, I received an email (hallelujah!) from the Consulate stating that they only worked by appointment and that I should've prepared better and contacted them sooner, and that they haven't received any emails or voicemails from me and they would know, because they checked this morning. Also, they're busy all day today so they couldn't guarantee that they would be able to see us. Oh, and their hours are 9am to 2pm. 

Needless to say, I was less than pleased with the response they finally deigned to give. 

So we show up, and there was a really pleasant and very helpful young intern there. He was very nice and took our information and let us know it would be 20 minutes or so before the vice-consul could see us and endorse our paperwork. No problem, we sit down to wait. 

In the background, I can hear him talking to another lady, and what I hear makes me realize that she's probably the one who sent me the email that morning. My Spanish isn't 100%, but I could understand enough to know that she didn't want to have anything to do with us and was just being really dismissive, telling the intern that we could wait as long as it took and that it was our problem and not hers. 

So he finally comes and takes our paperwork, only to come back a few minutes later with a really apologetic look on his face. He tells us that they (I'm assuming the vice-consul and this other woman) are telling him that we have the wrong form. We tell him that this was the form that their website directed us to, that it was directly from the USDA APHIS website. He understands and goes back to talk with "them."

This went on for a few minutes, this poor young intern going back and forth between us. He was very apologetic and very nice, saying it didn't make any sense to him either, but that the vice-consul and this other woman were insisting that we had the wrong form and that they couldn't (wouldn't??) endorse the form we had. 

At this point, I was kind of panicking. We couldn't get the form they were wanting in the time they wanted it. Our flight was leaving THAT DAY. We would've had to go all the way back to Simpsonville to our vet, then down to Columbia to the South Carolina USDA office, then come back to the Consulate, all before 2pm, which is when the vice-consul left for the day. 

I may or may not have had a mini-breakdown in that moment, but thank the Lord for John! After I tried calling the Secretary of State for Georgia, he just stood up and said, "Thanks for your help, but I think we'll be fine without it," shook the intern's hand and walked out of the office. 

We were pretty scared at that point - we didn't have the Consulate endorsement, would Jethro be accepted through Immigration and Customs? Then, as we started calming down, we realized a few things. A, the Consulate was apparently looking for the OLD form. The intern had brought a copy of  the other forms they had endorsed, and it was the form prior to December 2014. B, the endorsement wasn't even necessary, we were just doing this to make sure all our bases were covered.

All this to say - if you ever plan to bring a pet to Ecuador, don't bother dealing with the Consulate in Atlanta. You don't need anything from them and, even if you did, they're not competent enough to know the updated regulations for THEIR OWN COUNTRY. *end rant*

At the end of the day, everything went without a hitch. Jethro is here now and being spoiled more than he ever was in the States. So I guess it really is all's well that ends well. 

Llegamos

In which, we arrive

Well, we're here. It's been a long time coming and there were a few moments in there where we despaired of making it, but the Lord was amazingly gracious and we arrived with nary an issue.

Driving - their least favorite thing

To make it easier, I'll start at the beginning. You're welcome.

We left Simpsonville on Tuesday morning around 11am. The plan was to drive down to the Ecuadorian Consulate in Atlanta, get the final certification for Jethro's paperwork, then head to a little house I had reserved for us via AirBnB to spend the night, before heading out the next evening.

It went mostly well - we had a little kerfuffle with the Consulate (that's going to get its very own post), but all in all, it went as planned. We arrived to the house around 3pm or so, and it was DEFINITELY on the wrong side of the tracks,but the house itself was nice and clean and we were able to relax. 

Slightly worried about the upcoming trip

We went out that evening with a friend of ours (Hi Mildred!) and had an awesome meal at BrickTop's followed by milkshakes at the Varsity. Pretty much a phenomenal evening. By the way, if you get the chance, have the deviled eggs at BrickTop's. TO.DIE.FOR. 

Anyway, we pretty much crashed that evening, and the next day, we decided to rent a car to do our last minute driving around. We stopped by the Consulate (yes, again, and yes, still to come in its own post) and then ran by FedEx to get copies of our paperwork. By this time it was noonish, so we stopped for some food, then ran back to the house to load everything (and Jethro) up in the car and head to the airport. We dropped the car off at the rental return center, then hopped on the transport bus to the international terminal (which was a feat in and of itself, with that ginormous crate). 

By this time, Jethro was confined to his crate, but he was doing pretty well. We could tell he was nervous, but he didn't seem to be overwhelmed so we were happy about that (mainly me). 

Time to go!

We got to the terminal and got all our stuff wheeled in and right up to the counter. The lady was very kind and the process was amazingly straightforward and SOOOOOO much less stressful than I ever imagined it would be. We filled out the paperwork for Jethro, paid his fee, got our bags checked and were headed towards the security check, all within 15 minutes. We stopped at the oversize baggage area for Jethro's crate to be checked, and then he was taken down to the holding area. It was as smooth as you could possibly imagine. I was worried while checking in at the airport because I've heard from others that the airlines can be veerrrrry picky about letting you on the plane with just a one-way ticket. Apparently this is to protect themselves from having to bring you back at their own cost, but we didn't have any issues.

We made it through security with absolutely no problems, found the same Blue Moon Brewing Company restaurant that we found last time, and sat down for a drink (or three). We went to our gate about 30 minutes before boarding, saw Jethro's crate on the tarmac, got on the plane, got confirmation from the co-pilot that Jethro had indeed been boarded, and we were off. 

Truly, the Lord had his hand on us throughout the entire thing. Every step along the way, we've only dealt with kind and generous people. It's been absolutely mind-blowing to see everything work out so incredibly smoothly in the absolutely perfect manner. 

Upon arriving in Quito, we went through Immigration without a hitch - 5 minutes, tops. Immediately after, Jethro was waiting for us in the oversized baggage area, where a kind young man told us that he had been a little anxious, but they had offered him water when they took him off the plane. We could tell (and smell) that he was nervous, but he didn't make a peep as we loaded him up on the carriers and wheeled him through Customs.

This is where I was the most nervous. All our bags went through the scanner and then we had to hand our paperwork for Jethro to a man standing behind a little plastic table. While we were loading the bags back onto the carriers, he walked over to me with the paperwork and said, 'Estas bien', handed me the papers, smiled and said, 'Welcome to Ecuador' I could've cried. 

We left the Customs area and immediately found our ride - they stand there with a sign with your name on it, which is amazingly helpful when you're still in shock and can't process Spanish just yet. We got everything loaded up with some wonderful help from the airport personnel who basically walked us through the entire process, and we rolled into our hotel around 10pm (we're behind an hour here, so it was 11pm EST). 

Our room on the end at QAS

We stayed at Quito Airport Suites and if there's a better suited place for people with animals tired from a long flight, I don't know where it would be. There was a large open grassy area and little rooms around the edge. Ours was on the very end, which was nice since it meant we didn't have to worry about Jethro bothering anyone. The room was clean with a good-size bathroom as well as excellent Wi-Fi (always necessary for us gringoes who are way too attached to our electronics).

The lady who checked us in was very kind and spoke English which, again, was super helpful. Within 10 minutes we were settled in and basically ready to go to bed. 

It was kind of a rough night because Jethro was still really anxious from the flight and the new area, so he paced and whined for a good portion of it. He would sleep for maybe an hour or two, then he'd get up and pace for a while. It was tough, but the next morning, I still felt refreshed. A shower made me feel even more human, and then Jethro and I went out in search of breakfast. 

Having the big open area was such a blessing, because it let him run around and kind of work off his worry. He was still a little nervous, but overall, we could see him calming down.

Jethro enjoying the space at QAS

After a great breakfast of eggs, toast, juice and coffee, we loaded up again to head to Ambato. I had contracted with Rodrigo Pilagonia from Quito Capital Rides to transport us from the hotel to our little casita in Ambato. He was very pleasant and spoke excellent English. He had a 10-passenger van, which made the luggage and crate a non-issue, and he was very kind about letting Jethro be out of his crate and just ride along as he normally would in a car. Rodrigo was an excellent driver and a wonderful person to talk to, and I highly recommend him. You can find him on Facebook in this group - Quito Transport and Rideshare. Just tell him John, Victoria and Jethro sent you :)

Now that we're here in Ambato, we are settling in and feeling more and more comfortable. The casita has a new garden out front, which will definitely be beautiful once it matures a little more. We reunited with Marco and Elena when we arrived, and we all went to lunch to catch up and talk about what we wanted to do going forward. We talked about finding a permanent place to rent and also about finding a program for John to join to start Spanish classes.

John and Jethro - status: LaLa Land

Afterward, John and I absolutely crashed. We both napped for about 3 hours, woke up for a quick bite to eat from the panaderia around the corner, then went back to bed until 8am this morning. 

So far, everything has been really wonderful. We're happy to be back with Marco and Elena, and we're excited to see what's in store for us in the upcoming year. Jethro is just happy to have all four paws on solid ground, and I think he'll settle into being an Ecuadorian dog pretty well.

For now, we're just settling in, but the next big thing is to find a permanent place to stay. Pray that the Lord would bring us to the right place - ideally we'd love to have 2 bedrooms and some green space for Jethro. We've got a little bit of time though, so we're not going to rush things.

After that, we'll be finding John a program where he can study Spanish. I'll be back to my regular proofreading schedule starting next week, so I'll have at least a few hours of busyness during the day.

For now though, this is where we're at and what we're doing. We'll be updating hopefully on a weekly basis to keep everyone back home abreast of all the local goings-on here in Ambato. In the meantime - hasta luego!

Jethro enjoying the new garden

Just Around the River Bend

In which, I use Disney to fully describe my feelings

This will actually probably happen quite frequently since I'm a huge Disney fan. I grew up in the middle of the Disney renaissance, with Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, and, my absolute most-favorite movie of all time hands-down - the Lion King. It just doesn't get any better than hakuna matata, my friends.

Pocahontas has grabbed my attention again recently, mainly for its absolutely fabulous lyrics and music (and the always hilarious duo of Meeko and Flit). I mean, when you have a line like, "With all you got in ya boys, Dig up Virginia boys!' you're pretty much an absolute genius.

One of my most-favorite songs in Pocahontas is Just Around the River Bend. Her father wants her to settle down and be 'steady as the beating drum,' building a family and a stable life. She disagrees and yearns for the unknown, whatever life's got for her just around the river bend.

It's funny, because, as a pragmatic little 7-year-old, when I first saw the movie, I used to think of Pocahontas as selfish and foolish, throwing away safety and security just for excitement and adventure. And what ended up happening? John Smith got shot and they both ended up with broken hearts! Don't look to closely at my angst over this, I was a very strange child.

Rediscovering these songs over the past few years was a joy, like finding $20 in a jacket you hadn't worn in forever. Hearing Just Around the River Bend again, it was amazing to examine how my heart and outlook on life had changed.

We're leaving for Ecuador in three weeks. It's definitely 'around the river bend.' I feel excited and scared and hesitant and elated and unsure and confident, all in one big messy lump. A friend described it as fascinating and fun and big and scary and wonderful - to which I said yes! And my inner 7-year-old is telling me to not be ridiculous, that life isn't meant to be those things. Life is meant to be stable, to be secure. Not unknown and scary.

I don't have a concerned father telling me to give up my childish ways and settle into life (although, maybe he should've told me to STICK with my childish ways), but I do have friends and family who don't understand our decision. That's fine, I don't expect everyone to understand. It's not the usual life choice, that's for sure.

We want to see what's beyond our shore, beyond our current horizon. We want to experience it, taste it fully, live life outside of the safe-zone, the zone where we know all the variables. That's a little weird, I know, but that's where we are. There's nothing wrong with the life we're leaving, the life that so many people live. It's a good life. We just want something different. Something a little further down the river.

And who knows, maybe my inner 7-year-old will actually start acting her age.