Ups and Downs (Literally)

In Which, Jethro Cannot Enter the Park

Before I get into details of last week's Sunday adventure, I just want to take a minute and talk about the ridiculousness that is my dog's hair. 

I feel like it's about to grow legs and walk

O.M.G. Seriously you guys, this is after TWO DAYS. I never realized that Jethro sheds so dang much! Maybe it's because we have light grey carpet in our house and here we have dark red/brown tile, but it is so obnoxious. I've gotten to the point where I'm sweeping every day, usually multiple times a day. For anyone who wants to know what they can send us, send me a Roomba!! I've never wanted one more in my life. Ugh.

THIS.IS.NONSENSE.

In other news, last Sunday (not today) we decided to make the trek up to Parque de la Familia. It's this huge, really well-tended, well-manicured park up on the ridge of the valley, about a 10-minute taxi drive. It was a beautiful day out, and we decided that Jethro needed some exercise. We'd heard from friends that Parque de la Familia is THE place to be on the weekends, so we packed up and headed out.

On the way, we drove through a teeny-tiny little hamlet (because, really, it's not big enough to be a town) called Pinllo. The most stand-out item was their church, which I managed to snap a picture of as we were waiting for some cows to cross the road.

Anyway. So we finally get up to the park, and we're really excited. This map kinda shows the rough layout. The scale is hard to gauge, but the park actually encompasses a LOT of space, so much so that they've got all these different areas named via their usage, as well as vendor stands and food stalls scattered throughout. It's a pretty cool place.

SADLY, as we were walking in, we were approached by a friendly looking (but really not very understanding) park greeter, who told us that dogs are not allowed in the park.

Say WHAT?! I mean, this is a beautiful, wide open, well-tended park! It's perfect for dogs! It's perfect for us with our dog! We even brought baggies to scoop the poop!

Regardless of our explanation, it was a no-go.

The greeter told us that we could walk Jethro all the way back to the park entrance where there was a rope where he could be tied up while we enjoyed the park.

We were torn at this point. Jethro is quite the whiny-butt when he doesn't get to come with us, but we had just gone to all the trouble to get up there. In the end, we decided to leave him for a bit and see how he would do. So we tied him to a nearby tree (rather than the line, which had several little dogs already) and headed into the park.

Jethro, being a whiny brat. 

Once we got in it was pretty uneventful. It was really beautiful though. We had a great view of the valley and could almost even see our apartment. There were a good number of people there, but the park is so big, it didn't really seem like it. We hardly ran into anyone other than at the entrances.

They had really well kept paths and different little pond areas. There were also different courts for different sports and players. There was one court specifically for handicap players, which I thought was pretty cool.

In the end, we didn't stay very long. When we were about to cross the road to the other side of the park, we heard Jethro...from all the way across the parking lot. That was our cue to leave, because no one wants to hear a bluetick coonhound in full bawl for any amount of time.

John's selfie

From the top of the ridge

Overall, it was a slightly disappointing trip, but the park is actually really nice, so John and I will definitely go back (without Jethro) and explore a bit more. 

Take 1...

Take 2 - Perfect!

One really fun thing that happened was that we took a bus back down the mountain. That was pretty cool because we haven't tried that with Jethro yet, and we didn't know if the driver would let us on with him, but it proved to be a non-issue with that particular driver.

Loving the walk...not the heat

Lest you worry, Jethro did get a lot of exercise in that day anyway. We had walked from our apartment down to the easiest bus/taxi stop to get to the park, and that's a good 45-minute walk, one way. Going there is not too bad because it's all essentially downhill. Coming back...is another story.

Check out these stairs.

They just keep going on...

And on...

Seriously, by the time we get to the top, I feel like I'm going to die. I've told John that the day that I can run up these stairs without needing emergency services will be the day that I know I've acclimated to the altitude and I've gained the Ecuadorian level of cardio that everyone seems to possess.

The rest of the week was actually pretty busy and quite eventful. We went to Quito on two different days to get our visa process started. As you might remember, we're applying for the Student Visa. John will be taking Spanish classes starting on Monday, so this allows us to kill two birds with one stone.

Anyway, I'll update more on that as we will most likely be making the final trip back to Quito sometime later this week. Stay tuned for more on that saga.

I leave you with this photo that we took in Parque Cevallos a few weeks ago. It's part of the new advertising campaign across Ecuador and in Ambato in particular. I love these colors, and for some reason, they don't remind me of Christmas!

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

Cleaning Up and Getting Gone

In which, we make a Final Decision

So, I have a confession to make - I actually had the Visa post written in January, but I forgot about it and just 'found' it again when I came to write this post so...you get a couple posts in succession! Also, due to some recent changes on the Ecuadorian  side, we've changed our minds (again) on how we're going to be handling that situation, so I'll be writing another post on visas in the very near future.

Anyway, onto the more important and INFINITELY more exciting news - we bought our tickets to Ecuador!!

We will officially be leaving Wednesday, March 25 from Atlanta at 5:50pm. We are so excited, especially me. It feels real now, you know? Like, it's not as if we weren't going to go, but having the tickets in hand (or at least, in electronic format) just takes it to that next level of reality. It's really on the books. It's really happening. I really have to make a concerted effort to get my house cleaned up and cleared out. Oy vey.

As I'm sure some of you will be curious about, we also got Jethro booked on our flight! Needless to say, I am so completely relieved to have that worry off my back. We ended up taking him to Petsmart to do an absolute, final double check on the crate-sizing issue. Wonder of wonders, he ended up fitting appropriately into the 2nd largest crate, which made him eligible to be shipped as baggage, rather than cargo. I might have done a crazy-happy dance in the middle of the store that had both Jethro and my husband acting like they didn't know me...

Ahem.

Jethro 'enjoying' his new crate

Anyway. We will be flying with Delta again, on a direct flight from Atlanta to Quito. When I called to ask them about shipping Jethro, they allayed all of my fears. Yes, we can book him now and guarantee him a spot. Yes, the plane can accommodate his crate size as checked baggage. No, he will not get bumped if the plane gets too full; basically, if we fly, he flies. Yes, we can pay the $200 crate-based shipping fee rather than the $2500 cargo rate. That last one especially made me ecstatic.

Torn apart music room

In other news, we have started clearing out the house, but it's been in fits and bursts. Our bonus room is pretty much done and I've started tearing apart our music room as well. Mainly it's just a matter of organizing what's in there, then relegating everything to its appropriate pile - store, donate/sell, throw away.

As you can see, it's a bit of a mess right now, but it's nothing a couple of hours and a few trash bags can't fix. My  mom graciously (!!) left me a ginormous box full of odds and ends encompassing my entire life as well as portions of my sisters'. Some of it has been really fun to go through and see, while other stuff is headed straight for the donate/trash bin. Sorry, Mom! I'll keep the important stuff, like these.

Sweet baby Nikes. circa 1987

The plan is to have our house available to rent for the beginning of April. We'll be putting it on the market in just a few weeks, so if you know of a couple or small family looking for a low-maintenance house for a year, send them our way. I'll be sure to post a link to the listing once it gets put up.

That box was FULL o' baby stuff

So there you have it. March 25th is the drop-dead date. Several people have asked if we're having a going-away party. We are not officially planning anything, but we'd love to see all of you guys! If you want to hang out, hit us up! The last week before take-off is sure to be a cluster, but we'll be happy to squeeze any and all available fun out of the time before we leave.

That being said...the sooner the better, y'all. Hop to it!

Gone to the Dogs

Current Day

So now that everyone is up to speed on most of the happenings of our 2 week trip, here's what's happening now : I'm having to figure out the best and least stressful way to ship Jethro to Ecuador. I cannot stress the 'least stressful' part enough. 

Some of you may be asking, "Who's Jethro?" Allow me to introduce you to the most spoiled bit of obnoxiousness you will ever meet:

Hi guys...

Jethro came into our lives on New Years Day in 2012. He was 6 or 7 months old when he found us, and, after a tense couple of months in the beginning (a whole OTHER post all in itself), he's settled in and become part of the family...mostly.

As you may have noticed, Jethro is a bluetick coonhound. Smart dog, really, but very stubborn and, did I mention, loud? Oh yes, he's very loud. He loves to yell when he gets excited but he'll also let us know if he's unhappy or anxious. And Jethro has been known to be very, very anxious. You see where I'm going with this?!

Anyway. Shipping him is probably going to turn into more of a nightmare for me than for anyone else. I'm going to be terrified the entire time that he's going to make such a nuisance of himself that they won't put him on the plane. Or worse, he'll make it through one leg of the flight (if we don't get a direct flight) and they'll kick him off at the halfway point because he's being too disruptive!

Speaking of halfway points and legs. I'd love to get a direct flight. However, my darn dog is also dictating this minor detail. As you can imagine, airlines can be veeeeeery picky about shipping animals and they have LOTS of rules that vary slightly by airline. The main rule involves crate size. Some airlines aren't super specific about the size, they just have to visually confirm that the animal has plenty of room to stand, sit and turn around (ie, not squeezed into a too small crate). Other airlines literally have measurement guides that dictate the crate size your dog must have. 

Jethro, darn his coonie self, is considered a medium/large size dog per his weight. He's somewhere between 55-60 pounds, which isn't very big. However, he's lanky and long. According to his measurements via the airline requirements, he'll need a crate big enough for a Great Dane. 

Why the furor about his crate size? Again, it will determine HOW he gets flown down to Ecuador. If we can get him in the smaller (but still big enough) crate, we can ship him as checked baggage (so no dealing with Customs) AND we can get a direct flight. If he's only able to fit in the larger crate size, he'll have to go as cargo, and I'm unaware of any airline we would use to ship him as cargo that has a direct flight from Atlanta to Quito. Most seem to be routed through Houston or Miami. 

And this is all  just the beginning. Thankfully, Ecuador doesn't have a quarantine requirement, and there really aren't a lot of requirements for bringing in pet dogs other than a vet checkup and booster shots. The only seriously obnoxious requirement they have is that he has to go to a certified vet for a physical exam, then the certification form has to go to Columbia to be signed off by the state veterinarian, THEN it has to go down to the Ecuadorian consulate in Atlanta to be endorsed. The kicker? It has to all be done - from exam to every signature and apostille - WITHIN 10 DAYS OF DEPARTURE. 

Let's be honest...who can resist that FACE?!

Sigh. I complain now, and it's definitely a lot to get done in a short period of time, but I don't mind all that much. I mean, leaving him isn't really an option, so we'll just do whatever we've got to to make sure he gets to Ecuador in (mostly) one piece. The biggest question though, is this - will airlines have a maximum noise limit by the time they get through with him?!

In other news, we've commenced clearing out our house. We started with our guest bedroom, which was actually pretty easy. Most of the stuff went into the trash and the rest is going into boxes. I meant to take before and after pictures but, A - I totally forgot and, B - that room wasn't too bad to begin with.

We're tackling the guest bathroom and the music room this weekend. That WILL warrant pictures because that room is absolutely stuffed to the gills with...stuff. As you might guess, we have a lot of musical accoutrements in the music room in addition to several larger pieces of furniture. It's also become the catch-all for gifts-in-waiting, papers to be filed, over-sized baby boxes  and random bits and pieces that don't really go anywhere else in the house.

All this to say, if you have packing boxes, I would love to get them from you. I'd love to pack as we go in addition to throwing away as we go. This way, all that's left in the rooms are necessities, furniture to be sold/stored and boxes to be stored. Huzzah for organization!