TASTE OF HOW INDIA WORKS

Guess I am getting a taste of how India works or I should say doesn't.  The Indian Customs Officer did not process our paperwork timely and stated he did not have all required documents. We contacted a professional pet re-locator, Pet Fly who looked at our documents and said we had provided everything necessary. Guess the Customs Officer  did not get a bribe from an inexperienced family member helping us. Bottom line, $600.00 to re book our tickets and will have to start the pet passport paper work all over again as every thing must be done within 14 days of departure for India, 10 days for airline and 30 days for USDA in Nashville. We will use the Pet Fly, the cost 15,000 INR/ $277.00 USD, peace of mind priceless.   We plan to go at the end of Jan. after we have filed our taxes. I am sorry to have missed Durga Puja.  The good thing, we will not have to come back to the States to do our Taxes in March.

DISAPPOINTMENT

Today we were to be on our way to India.  It did not happen.  We did not receive the NOCs (No Objection Certificates) from the Indian Customs Health Officer for our two dogs.  Huge disappointment.  Yet things do happen for a reason.  I trust the Universe in that.  Tomorrow we drive back to Tennessee.  India still calls to me.

BIG HITCH

Big hitch with dog papers.  We may or may not go tomorrow.  I may go alone tomorrow. Everything is up in the air.  Despair.

OUR INDIA ADVENTURE BEGINS

We have buttoned up our Tennessee home, said our goodbyes.  Our India adventure begins.  Today we and our two dogs drive to Lakeland, Florida to see old friends and family.  On the sixteenth we fly from Orlando  with a layover in  Frankfort Germany and then on to New Delhi.  It's taken almost a year of planning and doing.  We go with the intention of making India our home.  I am excited to finally meet my Indian family and nervous that I will not adequately fulfill  my role as a proper Indian Wife and Grandmother.

HEALTH CERTIFICATES

In order for our dogs to fly to  India the airline must have the health certificates within 10 days of booking our tickets.  We have lost 2 days because the weekend and Nashville USDA( United States Department of Agriculture)was closed yesterday.  The Indian Customs Health Officer must issue a NOC(No Objection Certificate) before the dogs ever board the plane in the USA.  The Indian Customs Officer will not accept a direct fax of all the forms.  For this our Grandson, Vaibhav in New Delhi has kindly agreed to do this for us.

We spent the entire day obtaining our dog health certificates.  First our veterinarian had to certify that our two dogs Katie, White German Shepard and Nanhki, Toy Fox Terrier are disease free, parasite free and up to date on their Rabies vaccines.  This documentation must be on the Indian Government forms.  From there we drove  eighty miles to Nashville in order to secure the USDA's stamp of approval.  The USDA veterinarian found that some of our veterinarian's paperwork was not completed and no it could not be done by fax.  We notified our veterinarian we were driving eighty miles back  and they must be on standby by to complete it.  Back to Cookeville we went and then once again back to the Nashville USDA.  This time our paper work was accepted and stamped. Once home all paperwork was faxed to India.   One more day lost and also we are dealing with a twelve and a half hour time difference.  Everything is now complete at our end.

Now we wait.   If the NOC is not obtained by the sixteenth we do not go.