relief

When everyone asks me what makes me the most nervous about this move, I always respond that it's getting Tobey (my cat) through inspection, onto the plane, and into Ecuador. I have never traveled with a pet before, and I don't really know the rules. Plus, I have not found very specific instructions on the Ecuadorian Embassy website concerning pets (and don't even know whether or not to believe the website: exhibit A)

I took Tobey to the vet and got a health certificate, like the website said, and then had it notarized. I sent that and a $50 money order to the consulate in Washington DC, because one of my future colleagues had some luck doing paperwork with them via mail. The only point of concern was that the website stated that my certificate needed to be legalized by the USDA, and the vet told me I wouldn't received a copy of the legalized version. So I sweated it out for the last few days, wondering if I'd just spent a fortune on overnighting documents for nothing. However, today I walked out to get the mail and voila! there was an overnight envelope from the consulate with Tobey's health certificate! It now has a nice new sticker on the back, a stamp, and a cool holographic sticker similar to the one on my visa. I can rest a little easier now, knowing that he will not be an illegal alien! Now if we could only find something to make him sleep on the flight...