When you experience something really traumatic, it will take some time to be able to talk about it. And I am not talking about the Purim Madness, before I left for Poland.
Going back to pick up my cat was somehow final. And I really didn’t feel like leaving TLV. Not only because of the 0 degrees awaiting me (everybody was telling me how lucky I was after weeks of -15!!), but mainly because the whole cat story has been a lot of pain in the ass throughout the whole time.
Moreover, I felt so comfortable and home here already, that I really needed to convince myself to do it. The benefits were obvious, seeing family and friends, and dispite the cat, getting everything that I desperately needed. So there was a lot of shopping going on and I needed to get more black into my wardrobe not to look like a tourist douchbag anymore.
Seeing Cookie again after our longest separation ever since was great. She approached me me immediately, sniffing on me, and I saw how great she was doing with her two step moms. Thanks again! Words can really not describe how thankful I am for your help. This was one of the many things that made my trip possible. People taking care of my cat, because I was not able to take her with me in the first place.
After we went to the vet and completed the documentation, I was quite relaxed, but somehow I felt that this couldn’t have been the end in the cat story. Actually, I wanted to send the docs already on Sunday to the airport in TLV. But I didn’t, especially because my parents were there, and I didn’t want to ruin the weekend. It’s horrible when you can feel things coming.
So I did it on Monday, 48 hours before the flight. The immediate answer was that they cannot approve our arrival. I need to ship her as cargo with an airway bill. The documentation procedure was describing the shipment in the cabin, I bought a ticket for her as requested. Now they wanted something completely different.
I called LOT, they told me they can change the ticket from cabin to the cargo hold, but they can’t do cargo. At this moment I was having coffee with a friend, and he will tell you I was not there. There was no such option as not going back to TLV with Cookie. This was the third attempt, I was ready to stay and do what it takes to get her there.
So I called my savior in TLV (that nice gentlemen who provided me with a phone and maaaany other things, after I lost mine) to call the airport and ask them what they exactly wanted. Which he immediately did, and I know how busy he is. This information was absolutely crucial in the further organization of the transport.
LOT gave me a contact for the cargo and the guy was immediately checking with Warsaw my documentation, whether they will give their ok to do it in such a short time. They agreed, but he also told me that this will have its price. He also said that the 1700 PLN will include everything (keep that in mind). And since I knew that there is no other option to bring her there, and that there is nothing we can do about the price, I agreed. He prepared an airway bill and the airport confirmed our arrival at 4 pm.
So far so good. The next day we left early to do the custom clearance in PoznaΕ one day in advance. We went back to the apartment and were waiting for the flight. At 3 am I handed my cat to the forwarder. Before entering the plane I asked whether my cat is on board, and the answer was of course and that she feels very comfortable there. Kamuvan I did not believe the second part, but being the cat daughter of a crazy gypsy she had to have a “hard ass”.
This was probably the longest felt flight I ever had. I was in TLV at 10:30 and started searching for the cargo terminal. They sent me to terminal 1 and then there was not even an information available how to find the cargo. So I called the cargo company and was able to find it after some 1km walk in the sun with my 30kg of luggage. When I arrived there at about 11:30, the vet hadn’t even seen my cat. The cargo guy asked me why I didn’t contact the vet and that they weren’t informed according to their standard procedure, so they didn’t do anything about it. Seriously? The arrival date was set, it was the Polish cargo company who sent the papers, I wasn’t even involved. Then he told me that I will pay 600 for the escort of my cat from the plane to the warehouse. Welcome to Israel!
The vet showed up after 15 min and asked me to come pick up the certificate “in the next building, on the first floor”. Of course there was no next building, only a warehouse and of course nobody knew where the vet was to find. So after some further walking hence and forth, I returned to the company and asked for assistance. It took us a while to find him. But I had the certificate, I paid the 600, although the guy in Poland told me the price was final (remember?), and only needed to do the custom clearance.
The moment I arrived there, the customs closed for that day!! Are you fucking kidding me!? No more customs after 1 pm? At the airport? This must have been some kind of joke. We even went to another customs point, where they simply didn’t want to do it. Meanwhile it was 2 pm, my cat already locked for 10 hours in her travel box without water, food, and a toilet. Don’t need to mention that I was solidary that day.
The cargo company then told me that they tried everything possible, that customs don’t want to coorporate with them, and that the only possibility to do the custom clearance is via an agent. So I went to the agent, spent there 1 more hour, and paid 600 more. I had reached a point of complete resignation, I didn’t even have the energy to become dramatic. I just wanted this nightmare to find its end, get my cat, and finally go home.
Then I was suppossed to go to the customer support to get her. There I was told that I actually should pay 160 more for the storage of my cat in the warehouse. Seriously!? But since they knew that almost everything went wrong that day, meaning that I have already been fucked really hard all day long, I didn’t have to. Wow, kindness in this bureaucracy madness.
At 4 pm that day I was able to demand my cat at the warehouse. I was here to get my khatoola. The moment she was brought to me, she yelled at me. We were 12 hours apart, but this was probably one of the hardest days for me. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Probably I would recommend her to meet some nice Israeli khatool and stay here or swim back home. π
my beatitude 
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