Jim's World

Many people were interested in Jim's whereabouts while I was back in the U.S. for three months, so I asked him to write a special, one time only guest post detailing his dog-centric ventures in Bucharest. All I can say is I am glad he didn't decide to trade me in for a newer model...

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Boy did I get around while you were out having that baby. Not only did I live it up taking two sometimes three leisurely walks, eat my weight in treats and sleep the day away, I had my own personal attendant named Deborah to make it all happen. She was awesome, staying at our giant apartment taking care of me; all the while you were sleeping four Schlinks in a teeny hotel room. Suckers.

That's not to say I didn't have my own share of roommates. I had my lady pal Bea when I took a few weekend trips to the Chordi rez. She likes to hump her stuffed horse and manipulate her owners into eating homemade dog food. Made from REAL meat! I loved having her over for Christmas, Chordi #1 kept sneaking us scraps when Mark wasn't looking.

Did I tell you I roomed with Buddy the ambassador's 900 year old yellow lab? Not THAT dog lives the lap of luxury: multiple servants, a huge house and an equally huge yard, big enough to host over two thousand guests. I ran, sniffed, and marked as many trees as I could like a kid in a candy store. It's tough being a diplomat's dog sometimes.

But the roommate who took the cake was this homeless fellow who was rescued by some of Deborah's friends. A couple of ladies walking around the lake spotted a dog that seemed intent on committing suicide. He kept frantically running into the icy lake over and over again before getting stuck in the muddy rocks exhausted with effort.  Coming to the rescue, one of the ladies whipped out the tie-string of her Costco sweatpants to create a makeshift leash. After bumping into her stroller a few times,  she realized the dog was blind in addition to injured, traumatized and abandoned.

Getting him to the local vet for assessment, the half crazed chap arrived just in time for a bone shaking seizure at the door necessitating an MRI order at the vet's insistence. 600 RON worth of MRI brain scans later, the vet determined the pooch wouldn't need euthanasia, just daily medications to treat his epileptic fits. "Oh, and by the way, the blind dog also needs a new home," he said with simplicity.

Finding homes for healthy, stray dogs in Bucharest is a daunting task let alone a special needs dog. Too many of them run a amok in the streets multiplying like crazy since Ceaușescu's day. With few rescue shelters,  most dogs take to the streets. They even blend in with the bi-pedals, crossing the streets at cross walks and blocking the bike lanes at the park. For a species that routinely licks itself, their learned behaviors are quite impressive.

Wait for the walk

Fat homeless dog. Not many are this lucky.

Despite our pal's shortcomings, Deborah was undeterred with his rehab and found him a home after a few weeks. While he was an alright roommate, I was elated to reunite with you and Deets. The littlest one is pretty okay too even though she can't scratch my belly yet. But I can wait.

Shameless begging

Hai Romania!

Since coming down the mountain from my parent's house en route to Bucharest, my ears remain clogged, inhibiting my ability to pretty much hear anything other than the sound of gnashing as I eat my pasta and my own internal dialogue that sounds nothing like Daniel Stern. Can you imagine my disappointment? On top of that, Joe Cocker isn't helping me out either. Instead, it's Thomas the Train theme song stuck on repeat.

Aside from this congested deafness, the trip home went so well, I might even dare do it again. Mom-in-Law (aka Mil) arrived at the airport with great timing, just as I stood in line to check bags. After getting away 100 bucks richer, when Lufthansa didn't charge me with extra baggage fees, we clomped on down to security. All of us ladies verklempt, a cascade of tears as I said my goodbyes to my own sweet beautiful mom. I underestimated how much I'd instantly miss her.

At least I had plenty of distraction: busting out the electronics and 3 oz. containers of k-rap, dismantling the two car seats, slipping off shoes and herding Deets, Margo, and Mil through the metal detector was enough activity to cause a back-up in security. TSA was quite patient with us, they even acted kindly which I appreciated. 

Hauling approx 105 pounds worth
of equipment/goods/people. No sweat.

We timed ourselves well, providing 45 minutes of pre-plane prep time before boarded onto the vintage 747. No back-seat TV screens or self-serve galleys, but the hospitality was great. I enjoyed one attendant who looked like Amelia Pond, another who was perplexed by Deet's love of ice. But in particular I enjoyed an interesting gent who claimed to be one of Mitt's best friends and another man in emo skinny jeans and leather who watched copious amounts of Daria on his '98 MAC.  He also routinely rifled through his Tory Burch handbag, pulling out oddities like this mask:

Oh, he also had several
Where's Waldo books.

Nine hours of flying went by quickly with the tag-team help of Nancy, and I couldn't have asked for better behaved children. With one flight down another to go, I was prepared for the vastness of Frankfurt's airport and requested (twice confirmed too) for golf-cart assistance since we had only one hour between connections. Of course, no one knew nothin' so Mil and I were left to hustle our asses (and car seats, and carry ons, and children) from terminal Z to terminal B which included security screening. I had to privilege of getting felt up not once, but twice. Deets too! Poor kid didn't know what to think.  Glad the Germans are so thorough with their screening, but next time dinner and a drink would be nice.

From FRA to OTP we arrived to a happy Mark. We gathered our bags, smashed into our car for an exhilarating ride home, as is the usual for Bucharest traffic. Back at the apartment Deets promptly exploded his toys all over the living room, reacquainted himself with Jim and aside from jet lag, seems quite happy to have his whole family again. I feel the same too. Now if I can just get a hold of one of these, I'd be set...

Eh?