25 March 2012 - The reality of relocating to Moscow: Part 1 (The Lads)

Oxley's new bed in an apartment bereft of furniture

[Perhaps Chumbawamba's "Tubthumper (I get knocked down)" or Pat Benetar's "Hit me with your best shot"]

I've heard it said that moving is one of the most stressful events in one's life.  I suspect that moving among countries would rank even higher.  I will be experiencing this stressful event this year.  Twice.  Great idea....

The fact that I am only supposed to be in Russia until I return to the United States this summer was a bit of a complicating factor.  It didn't make sense to move everything to Russia as there wouldn't really be enough time to fully settle before it would be time to move again.  Not to mention that most landlords aren't really interested in renting out an unfurnished apartment for less than a year.  And who knew how long it might take for everything to clear Customs in Russia?  So we decided that I would live in a corporate apartment in Russia and all of my belongings would be shipped to the US and placed in storage until I arrived there and I would just ship some things to Russia to get me through the next few months.  This also had the advantage that, since it takes a while for a shipping container across the ocean, I would have my things available as soon as I got back to the US rather than having to live in corporate housing there until everything arrived.

So far, it seems logical and convenient, right?  Aside from a few points that became more important as the process proceeded.

1. Getting me into Russia is not as easy as just buying a ticket; there's this matter of a visa.
2. 'Banes and Oxley could not be placed into storage for a few months.
3. I would be ripped from my life and roots in Frankfurt with essentially no notice or right of return.
4. Timing, as in most things, is everything.

Since the first point has been discussed at length in previous entries, I will skip it but cover the other points in separate blog postings to spread out the boredom.

Let's start with the cats.  As you may require from the posting from a few months after I moved to Germany, getting the cats there was not an easy thing and I couldn't have done it without the assistance of my sister-in-law and my brother (but mostly my incredibly organized and patient sister-in-law who went through all of the visits with the veterinarians, Department of Agriculture and more).  Somehow they made it and, perhaps due to the drugging involved, seemed no worse for the wear.

In November I had anticipated that there might be similar issues to getting them back into the US, including ensuring that their vaccinations had been given at least six months prior to their entrance.  So I finally found a veterinarian and got them in for this appointment.   (Yes, I am a bad cat mom for not having taken them in before, but honestly, where were they going to pick up rabies and distemper in my apartment?)  I explained my plans to the vet and he said, "Oh, so you'll need a pet passport."  Excuse me?  Yes, Germany has something called a Heimtierausweis that is a passport of sorts for the domestic pets to travel around the EU.  I can't make this stuff up.  It's slightly larger than a regular passport, has a little hologram on the front (with animals in the hologram) and yes, there is a place for a photo of the respective animal, though this is optional (imagine the fun I had trying to get the Lads to pose in front of a white background without their glasses and not smiling).  This document is used to record all their vaccinations as well as to document health certifications made by the vet just prior to their travel.

So this was a major hurdle out of the way, though there were still two requirements before they could go to Russia.  First, they had to get one of these health certifications no more than 10 days prior to the date of their travel.  And, second, to go to Russia they also needed to have a ringworm treatment or something as a precautionary treatment within 3-5 days of their travel, which effectively set the date after which they could travel - which was only a window of a couple of days.  Hmmmm.....  And then there is the matter of actually transporting them there.

A slight digression.  The firm somewhere along the way decided that it might also take too long to clear customs for an air shipment of my possessions, so whatever I wanted to take, I needed to be able to take as excess baggage.  Umm, seriously?  For 2-3 seasons of clothing (maybe only two, as who knows when winter ends in Moscow and whether summer might arrive before I went back to the US) and with one of those seasons consisting of a lot of large warm items as well as my new clunky snow boots?  Seriously?  I had an odd assortment of luggage available (an old Hartman rollaboard with shot bearings that I had replaced with a small Rimowa but hadn't thrown out, the small Rimowa itself, a cheap rolling duffle bag I got at Wal-Mart to bring some clothing back from the US one time, my Tumi rollaboard for 2-3 day trips, and the gigantaur Rimowa).  It sounds like a lot of luggage, but it's really not.  But it nevertheless would take up at least one of the luggage carts.  Now picture me arriving in Moscow with all of that and going through Customs.  Is there any way they would NOT stop me to look in the bags? And then think of adding on to that two large crates with the Lads in them, yowling at the top of their lungs.  Trying to find any sort of taxi that could accommodate all this stuff.  Getting set up in the corporate apartment with the cats still yowling.  It just sounded like a really, really bad scenario.

So I decided to seek professional assistance, especially since from the start I had made it clear that I would only consider this if the firm was able to get my cats there as well.  Again, not possible to put them in storage.  Also didn't make sense to ship them to Chicago (assuming my family would be willing to host them) since I'd have to move them again anyway to New Jersey.

You might be surprised at how many pet relocation companies are out there.  I'm serious.  You might also, like me, nearly experience heart failure at the prices they charge for an international relocation for said pets.  The services they would provide would include booking of cargo accommodations, pick-up of the Lads from my home, delivery to said cargo provider, pickup on the other end, and delivery to my home.  It did not include the process or costs associated with getting all relevant vaccinations, trips to the vet for the ringworm treatment and health certificate.  And of course you have to provide the crates of the proper size for shipment.  So, want to guess how much?  [I'll let you think about this while you continue reading the rest of the blog.]

Due to all the visa-related changes in timing, the move was completed before either the cats or I were able to move, so they were living in my apartment with no furniture.  I know that this sounds like cruel and unusual punishment and maybe it was, but I figured they would still prefer being in their own 'hood rather than being boarded in a place with strange animals, sounds and noises.  I did keep out a couple of their sleeping mats/pads, their toys and some other things to try to make them feel at home, but I still felt horrible.  As you can see, Oxley took to hanging out in one of the bathroom sinks, as well as on top of the kitchen cupboards when he felt scared (which of course made me feel even worse).

They seemed to get used to it, though.  Well, at least until I brought up their cargo crates from the basement.  This put Oxley on top of the kitchen cupboards for more than a couple hours.  I had hoped that they might get used to the crates so it would be less stressful when they had to go into them.  I was wrong.  When the appointed time came for the pet relocation pick-up and I tried to load them into the crates, there was much yowling, scratching, growling and yes, the need to try to pluck a cat from the top of the cupboards (which cat then cowered in the back of the crate liked a cowed being, which made me truly feel like a heel).  But off they went.

While I was flying on Aeroflot, the Lads were living the life in the Lufthansa Animal Lounge before they made the journey with Lufthansa Cargo.  Lucky guys.  (Every time I think about an animal lounge, I just picture them sipping martinis and decrying the lack of civilized travel and their disbelief that they allowed dogs and ferrets into the lounge.  And then catching a whiff of tiger and realizing they might soon be someone's appetizer.)  The cool part about this is the pet relocation company gave me their air waybill number so I could track them like a package.  While they landed about the same time as me (albeit at a different airport) it apparently takes cargo a really long time to clear customs, but they finally cleared and were picked up by the local pet relocation contacts who delivered them to my apartment just a bit before midnight.

They seemed generally fine, though Oxley had had a bit of an accident in his crate.  That didn't stop him or Banes from immediately meowing, "Where's the food?!"  Ah, the Lads.....  Oxley also had a bit of an issue with the new litter box I had purchased, which had a covering over the top to assist in corralling both unpleasant scents as well as cat litter.  I think it reminded him of the crates, so a bit of training was necessary to help him get used to it.  In the interim, the cleaning lady rolled up all rugs except the one in my bedroom, so I'm not sure whether there was an incident or this was a precautionary measure.  At this point, I think we are at the point where we can have some rugs.

So the answer?  $3,400 and some change.  Oh, and the firm decided that this wasn't included in my package since it wasn't a long term assignment but a short term assignment following a three year long-term assignment.  WHAT?!  Somehow I don't think they would treat the human children of people this way and I'm not done with this issue yet.