Traveling from Bishkek to The Small
Southern Town with four cats – while definitely worth it – was probably one of
the most ridiculous things I’ve ever done. I’ve already described the whole
rigmarole I had to go through in Bishkek to get permission to take my cats out
of Kyrgyzstan. That was just the beginning.
B overlooks my pile of possessions
At 2:30 Sunday morning, a taxi (driven by Anatoli the Awesome) came to the
school to pick up me, my various feline and non-feline possessions and B. (B
came along to help me carry things and to laugh at the absurdity of what I was
doing.) We got to the airport at 3am only to learn that check in for my flight
wouldn’t begin for another hour. This was actually fine, as it gave me plenty
of time to take the cats (or more specifically, their paperwork) to the
Veterinary Control desk in order to receive even more stamped government forms
from someone who didn’t so much as look at the cats.
Meanwhile, I should definitely mention that the instant we hopped out of the
car we were descended upon by a dude with a cart who charged an exorbitant fee
for use of said cart ($50!) but with four cats, two suitcases and a backpack it
seemed worth it. He also tried to convince me that my money was also paying for
him to call his brother on the other side of the security check in who would
make sure that I had no problems getting the cats checked in. I didn’t believe
that for an instant. Cart Guy was actually quite helpful, until he put Gee
through the x-ray machine. Ooops. But that comes later.
Kitties in Manas International Airport
While waiting to check in, the cats provided entertainment to numerous children
who wanted nothing more than to poke their fingers into the carriers in an
attempt to pet (er, poke) my cats. The kitties were surprisingly well-behaved
and tolerant of all this nonsense.
In order to check in at Bishkek’s Manas Airport, first you must go through a
narrow door, then through a security check. This means that as soon as check in
for your flight begins, you and everyone else on that flight immediately must
rush like mad for the narrow door, pushing and shoving at will. Yay,
civilization. Cart Guy, Anatoli, B, and I forced our way to the front and got
me and all my crap through the narrow door. That was when Cart Guy put Gee on
the conveyer belt, which whisked her into the baggage x-ray machine before I
could do anything to stop it. People began screaming at me (“You’re going to
kill your pet!”) and I started shouting at Cart Guy while frantically pulling
the other three carriers off the conveyer belt where he’d put them. Gee had
already been scanned, but I had to take the other three out one at a time and
carry them through the metal detector while their carriers were put through the
x-ray.
Once the cats, my suitcases and I were through security, I got to explain to
some very friendly customs guys why I was taking four breed-less street cats
home with me. (I must’ve had at least 6 different people ask “But don’t you
have street cats in America?”) The customs guys actually seemed quite impressed
when I told them that the cats were my responsibility and I couldn’t just
abandon them. Although perhaps they were more impressed with my ability to
explain all that in Russian.
After customs examined all my cat paperwork I was finally able to check in.
First I had to pay $401 in excess baggage fees, which I’d expected. Well, I’d
expected $400, and while I had more with me, the smallest bill I had was a $50,
and of course they didn’t have change. Luckily I had $1 worth of soms left, and
they let me pay with those.
Then I was instructed to leave my three cats (the ones going in checked
baggage) on the floor in front of a random-seeming elevator. I had to leave
them sitting there, mewing pathetically, as Luball (the cat who came on the
plane with me) and I went off in the other direction to go through yet another
security check. I was quite worried that I would arrive in Atlanta 30+ hours
later and Gee, Bee and Heelio would still be sitting in their carriers in front
of that elevator door.
Luball was wonderful during the trip. She had to be taken out of her carrier at
least six times and she never put up a fight or caused any problems. She was
quite quiet during our journey, and managed to keep from peeing or pooping
until we checked into a hotel room south of Atlanta. God knows how she achieved
that feat; I sure didn’t!
Anyway, we arrived in Moscow 5 hours after leaving Bishkek, and we then spent
seven and a half hours waiting around for our flight. So boring. I remember
back when I used to think Moscow’s Sheremetevo was exotic… but after Bishkek’s
Manas, Sheremetevo is boringly mundane.
Boredom in Sheremetevo
The flight to New York was 10 hours long, and we left 30 minutes late. Then,
when we got to New York’s JFK, we sat on the runway for a good 45 minutes
before we were able to disembark. My layover had been only two and a half hours
long to begin with, and I was very worried that I wouldn’t make my connection.
I ran through immigration and was one of the first people to claim their bags
(both of which arrived). Then I asked where I could find my cats… and the woman
in charge of baggage claim info told me the wrong place to go to! I was
standing there, waiting for my cats to appear, watching my fellow passengers
all leaving, fearing that Bee, Gee and Heelio were all still sitting in front
of that elevator door in Manas, when I heard the distant sound of cats crying.
I went in search, and found them on the other side of the room from where I’d
been instructed to wait! They were overjoyed to see me, and I was thoroughly
relieved to find them.
I stacked my cats and suitcases on top of a cart and wheeled them through
customs – who didn’t even look at their paperwork! All that paperwork to get
them out of Kyrgyzstan and to bring them in I apparently needed nothing. Weird.
I went to re-deposit my baggage on the other side of customs and was told that
I’d actually have to go out to the Delta check-in counter to drop off the cats.
At this point I had a mere 40 minutes. Let’s just say that there was a lot of
frantic running around, and we barely made the plane.
In Atlanta, the cats were there, but only one of my suitcases. I didn’t really
care; I knew the missing suitcase had made it as far as New York, and all I
cared about was having the cats safe. I met my mom at baggage claim, and we
drove to just south of Macon before stopping at a motel and collapsing from
exhaustion. We got to The Small Southern Town Monday afternoon.
Heelio confronts Daddy Cat through the screen door
The cats seem to have had no problem adjusting to their new home, although the
cats which already lived there are somewhat put out that these interlopers are
snuggled up on what they consider to be *their* bed :-)
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