New post (Starting out in Amsterdam)

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+#+TITLE:       Starting out in Amsterdam
+#+SUBTITLE:    Notes from an eventful arrival
+#+DESCRIPTION: A post from Eshel Yaron with notes from an eventful arrival in Amsterdam
+#+KEYWORDS:    life
+#+DATE:        2023-08-16
+
+@@html:<div class="metadata">@@Created on [{{{date}}}], last updated [{{{modification-time(%Y-%m-%d, t)}}}]@@html:</div>@@
+
+I finally got to Amsterdam.  Of course, I've been here before, but
+this time's different.  We've arrived in Schiphol on Sunday morning
+after a tense flight.  It's not a long flight, but we were flying our
+dog over with us, and he was flying in a cage with the luggage.
+
+I've been training Dudi for this flight for a couple of months now,
+feeding him snacks while he's lying in the cage and--in the week or
+two prior to the flight--even leaving him locked in the cage for half
+an hour after we'd get back from an evening walk.
+
+I honestly don't know what that sweet huge dog experienced during
+those long hours after we sent him away in his cage in one airport
+until we got him back on the other side, but when they brought him
+through that door next to the "odd-size baggage" signs, he looked
+fine.  A bit shook up maybe, definitely not at ease.  But he seemed
+excited to see us (and eager to leave his cage), and all in all we
+were relieved.
+
+We just had to get the rest of our luggage and walk past customs
+before we could let Dudi stretch his legs out of his cage, but there's
+always something, you know.  No worthwhile undertaking ever goes
+completely smoothly because there's always something that you didn't
+think that you'd have to think about.  For our arrival at Amsterdam
+last Sunday, this something happened to be Dudi's birth date.  We had
+a rough idea about when Dudi was born, since at the adoption service
+where we got him they told us that he was around three months old.
+They didn't know the exact date, though, because they got him from a
+lady that found him abandoned near a village up north.  We just
+figured he was probably born in November 2020, and that seemed good
+enough for all intents and purposes.  Dog don't really mind it if you
+miss their birthdays, after all.
+
+Now, to get your dog to the Netherlands, you have provide proof that
+he has effective antibodies for rabies.  You also need some papers
+from a veterinarian at your home country that states the dog's
+physical condition and history.  Apparently, they write down the dog's
+birth date on both of these sets of papers, and apparently we had
+November 1^{st} written on one set papers and November 15^{th} on the
+other.  Two equally arbitrary approximations.
+
+That led the unwary custom officers to suspect that these two sets of
+papers actually refer to two different dogs.  One two weeks older than
+the other.  We tried to explain that nobody probably gave these dates
+too much thought and that we don't know Dudi's exact birth date, but
+they wouldn't budge.  Our papers were "not right", they said.  This
+anomaly led to extreme scrutiny of our papers by the airport's vet,
+that had to be rushed from the other side of the airport.  I don't
+know how big Schiphol airport is, but it took that guy a long time to
+get to customs.  All the while, we weren't allowed to open Dudi's
+cage.  While the veterinarian examined our dog's recorded history, the
+custom officer tried to comfort us by saying that "the worst case is
+that he'll go straight to quarantine," which was naturally met with a
+calm and relaxed response from my part.  Something along the lines of:
+"great, but can he first take a piss?"
+
+After nearly an hour and a half of Dudi sitting in his cage and us
+sitting stressed beside him, the vet came over and said that we're
+good to go.  He said they apologize, but that they must be strict on
+these matters so they had to ensure our papers are correct.  I didn't
+care.  I wanted to hug that guy, and I probably would have if I hadn't
+feared he'd arrest me on the spot for excessive affection and Dudi and
+I would both end up spending the night in the cage.
+
+After getting the good news, everything fell back into place.  We let
+Dudi out of his cage right away and took him for a walk outside the
+airport.  Our driver was kind enough to wait for us outside the
+airport all that time, and the traffic on our way to the city center
+was light.  When we got to our destination, we were greeted by another
+kind fellow that waited for us an extra couple of hours with the keys
+to our new apartment.
+
+You see, what makes this visit to Amsterdam quite different is that we
+don't have a ticket back home.  But more on that some other time.