Spain update november 2024 follow - up
Friday, the 8th of November 2024
On Wednesday morning, the last ladies left for the shelter and are allowed to rest in quarantine until they leave. Only Martientje and her companion Bonita stayed behind and until they left, they had the garden and the heated veranda to themselves. Another week and they will be allowed to make the journey to the promised land next Thursday together with the other chosen ones. Everything is going perfectly until Marie-Carmen calls on Friday that she has a problem, sigh... A small dumped Podenco who came in at that time with a broken leg that was apparently "repaired" by an incompetent surgeon is in severe pain and has a hole in her hind leg through which the plate can be seen. My stomach turns inside out because Marianne has only been gone for a few days and I wonder why she did not show the dog to her. Anyway, I leave for Belgium with Dirk on Sunday afternoon. He stays overnight and returns to Spain the next day, Monday, together with Buffalo. Before he leaves, he promises to get medication from the chemist for my stubborn “Halloween” cold which still makes my voice sound like that of a chain smoker who smokes 2 packs of Gitanes a day… With a voice like that I must call all the adopters tomorrow to give them an hour for the adoption day… It is no wonder that some will not recognize me because normally my voice sounds like that of a young sparrow that has just fallen from the nest. What I suspected happened the next day… When I called my adopters on Saturday there were several who did not immediately recognize my unusual voice and as I called, I became hoarser and the more I sounded like a hardened smoker at the end of her life. Anyway, I persevered, and everyone was given an hour to pick up their dog and that was the most important thing.
Sunday the 10th of November 2024
In the afternoon we leave with the cheapest flight to Belgium where we rent a car after a bumpy journey and drive to De Pinte. Fortunately, Carrefour is open, and we can stock up on food for this evening and the coming days. After a short night, Dirk goes to get some syrups and throat pills as promised and then he leaves for Hof Rosa Canina to pick up Dirk B. Martine, his wife, stays with the mobile home in HRC to welcome them on Thursday together with reception team Nensie, Sabine and Kevin when they arrive at night after a journey of 1700 km with the dogs. When they have landed, I get a phone call that they are on their way to Casa Belgica where a few cumbersome jobs await them before they leave for Belgium again. Later that day I got a less pleasant phone call. Marie Carmen has dropped off the little Podenco with the word "PROBLEM" and it does not look good indeed. Dirk does not know what to do because, given the photos I receive, it is out of the question to let her make the long journey to Belgium. It does not stop because Martine calls me to tell me that an old lady with dementia must go to a nursing home and the dog that was allowed to come along earlier is not allowed to come along after all and is brought to HRC. I am very worried, and I wonder what will happen next. In the evening Dirk calls again because he does not know what to do with the dog. She is so well-behaved and so quiet and has apparently already stolen a few hearts. At 23:00h I go to bed knowing that it will not be to sleep but to worry. And so, it happened.
Tuesday, the 12th of November 2024
I woke up as I finally fell asleep, only to wake up 5 times and check the time. The last time I looked, it was 7:30h and I got up to see if an email had arrived, but it had not. From Spain, in the morning, there is a message that Dirk still does not know what to do with the little white-red spotted rough-haired lady with the big ears and the amber eyes. Martine calls from Hof Rosa Canina that the old lady's female has been brought in by her daughter. As the day passes on, I answer my few calls as best I can, with the listeners' understanding for my hoarse voice. The only one who does not show any understanding when I have her on the line to give her the coordinates of Hof Rosa Canina is Marianne. She bursts out laughing when she hears me babbling but makes up for it by saying that she will come to the adoption day!!! Anyway, in the evening I suddenly got a phenomenal, formidable EPIPHANY!!! I called Dirk immediately to say that I am going to send an email to Dr. De Frutos with all the information about the Podenco and the question whether he wants to operate on her because I do not know by whom or when she was operated on. The cost of the operation does not matter if the poor animal is helped. I add that my husband and co. are going to Belgium on Thursday and leaves with the dogs so that he can only bring her in tomorrow and we can only pick her up on Monday. I sent an extra email to Dirk that he must send all the photos of little Podenco's leg to the doctor in the meantime. After barely 10 minutes Dr. De Frutos answers that she can come in the next day and that it is okay if we pick her up on Monday evening. He will try to operate on her tomorrow, and she can stay in the clinic until Monday to be cared for. A weight off our minds. Only the Dirks have an extra journey of 160 km tomorrow, an exercise for the next day…
Thursday, the 14th of November 2024
After 2 days of pills and syrups, I feel a little better despite the bad weather and the rain that lashes against the large windows. Especially the good news that the little Podenco has been operated on successfully gives me some peace of mind and a little more breath. The only disadvantage is that her leg had to be fixed with an "external frame" because the bone on which 2 plates were screwed on top of each other was completely rotten and inflamed. Even after scraping, cleaning and adding artificial bones, it was still too weak to put a new plate on. That means that she must walk around for weeks with an external frame that needs to be accurately disinfected where the pins come out of the skin, sigh. When I look at the photos that Dr. De Frutos sent, my heart overflows with pity. Poor little one, how she must have suffered. In any case, from now on she will be well taken care of, that much is certain. During the day I get the usual phone calls from the drivers, from Martine and a visit from my concerned 85-year-old upstairs neighbor, Liliane, who tells me again about the burglary in her apartment when she was visiting her son in Mallorca. Even though we were at home at the time and Liliane lives just above us, we had not heard anything. It was “discovered” that same day by her son who came to take care of the plants and called the police. No one had heard anything, scary when you consider that we live in the “Centre” of De Pinte, in the shopping street where the town hall and the police are located. Knowing Dirk, he immediately called a security company and the next day Verisure came to hang up the cameras. So, the possible thieves have been warned. It is and remains terrifying in any case. At 23:00h I call the drivers who are crossing the pitch-dark France with their precious cargo one last time and ask Dirk how things are going because the day before he had suffered a kind of facial paralysis that started with a watery right eye and resulted in paralysis of the right side of his mouth.
Friday, the 15th of November 2024
Four hours later, the door opens, and Dirk drags the luggage into the hallway. Ten minutes later, he slides between the sheets and starts talking for a few minutes about the journey, the arrival and finally his condition, which he demonstrates a few times by looking at me with a right eye that does not close and smiling at me crookedly. Then, fortunately, he falls into a deep sleep. Because we cannot park our van there, we leave 5 hours later with the neighbor's car to the doctor for our flu shot and advice for Dirk's problem. It turns out to have something to do with an inflammation of a nerve that "serves" the right side of the face. The condition is called Bell Palsy, never heard of it, but in most cases, it takes time to recover. He is prescribed Cortisone and urgently advised to consult an ear, nose and throat specialist as soon as possible because the doctor is not reassured. Easier said than done because tomorrow is adoption day and on Sunday, we leave for Spain at 5:00h. After he picked up his medication, he dropped me off at home and left for HRC to clean the van and prepare tomorrow's adoption day together with Dirk B. It is after 14:00h when he gets home and sits down behind his PC exhausted to answer his emails from the past 2 days. After an hour I called it a day and forced him to rest for a few hours. At 20:00h we sit down with a veggie lasagna, then watch TV until 22:00h and then go to bed, it will be tomorrow soon enough…
Saturday, the 16th of November 2024
I get up at 7:00h to apply my war colors. Delicate work because it is regularly interrupted by heavy sneezing. In any case, the result is satisfying and at 8:30h we are ready to leave. While we drive to HRC I realize that tomorrow at this time we will most likely be bumping along the ring road of Paris. When we arrive at Hof Rosa Canina it is already buzzing with activity, and it is time for congratulations because it is Yolanda's birthday today. Before we start, we have a strengthening breakfast with the staff as usual and then we are ready. After the umpteenth adoptive family and accompanying thoughtful gifts, Marianne Phillipo makes her typical overwhelming "entry" into our reception office together with a friend. I am sincerely happy with it, and I am not alone because it has been a long time since she was present on an adoption day. Once the last adopters, who are colleagues of regional manager Nensie, have picked up our Icarus and the photo has been taken, everything is prepared for an improvised birthday party. Birthday girl Yolanda brought all sorts of snacks, Annie who also had a birthday brought Italian pastries etc. That means one thing, namely that there must be singing, hoarse or not. After paying tribute to the birthday girls, I put Marianne in the spotlight and ask for applause for her 20 years of dedication to GINB and the hundreds and hundreds of sterilizations she has performed. In appreciation she gets a minute-long standing ovation from everyone. After the successful adoption day and the subsequent mini-birthday party everyone says goodbye to each other. Kevin takes Bonita with him who, together with her friend Martientje who is now leaving for Kain, was allowed to come to Belgium and is now waiting for an adoptive family. We leave for De Pinte where the suitcases are waiting for me, sigh. One thing keeps going through my head as we drive home and that is that the daughter of the demented lady who brought the dog to HRC today called regional manager Martine to say that she was so sorry. Whether she could take along the dog again. Of course, I gave my approval because it was nice to see how happy they both were.
Sunday, the 17th of November 2024
As I thought yesterday, we will be driving onto the Paris ring road around 8:00h today. We got up at 4:00h, got on the highway in De Pinte an hour later and stopped an hour and a half later in Aire St. Léger for our traditional breakfast. After our chocolate cake, croissant and coffee, I squeeze in the toilet my painful and tired back into the 5 kg, tight uncomfortable support corset that is supposed to give me relief. A tiny half hour later we climb back on board and leave for Paris. As daylight penetrates the darkness, the traffic increases fivefold and as usual, the French motorists, motorcyclists and many intrepid couriers constantly change lanes or directions without taking other road users into account. Resulting in Dirk's "French anger" and angry reproaches towards them. Hoping to calm his nerves a bit and to somewhat reduce the cursing and swearing, I agree with him wholeheartedly, as always. Calming him down is easier said than done, because when a courier blocks his path, he gesticulates and curses him. The colored fellow man with the dented van apparently has the same temperament because he gestures and angrily swears back and sticks up his middle finger. Sigh… Fortunately, half an hour later we drive straight to Bordeaux and the GPS cheerfully states that we still have 772 km to go to our destination. That means that Dirk will only stop twice, my poor bladder. Hours later we drive past our “old” hotel that I leave behind me full of memories and melancholy. Another 89 km and we are there, Dirk says encouragingly. As always, the last few steps are the hardest. After a tour through Anglet we finally arrive at our hotel that turns out to be a Hydrotherapy center with seawater! The first people we see in the large entrance hall that fills our lungs with humid sea air are the National Karate Team of France and people in bathrobes. At the reception I am immediately offered a flyer with various treatments. None of them are for me. The evening meal and the room are okay but...
Monday, the 18th of November 2024
We wake up at 7:00h, Dirk immediately takes care of his still not fully closing star watery eye, reluctantly takes his cortisone and takes some of the luggage downstairs. In the meantime, I bring my war colors again. Indeed, again, I do not go outside without it because I cannot do that to anyone. At 8:30h we sit at the breakfast table and 20 minutes later we leave. My corset is behind me in case, but since the lower part of my back and upper thighs are irritated from sitting in the corset all day yesterday, it will probably stay there. As soon as I am settled in, Dirk notices that we look like 2 old fools. Before he can say anything else, I immediately reply "speak for yourself". When we drive from the parking lot, the GPS reminds us again that it is still 755 km from here to Talavera and back to Casa Belgica because as promised we drive straight to Dr. De Frutos to pick up the little Podenco. Thereafter we return 80 km to Casa Belgica and will finally be home. Before we get there, we first must enter Spain and then drive 500 km “straight” down towards Madrid. We have just crossed the border when we are stuck in a traffic jam a few km further. It looks like something serious has happened because in the distance a plume of black smoke can be seen and from the sound of it the blaring emergency services still must squeeze through the traffic jams. I am always terribly afraid on that road because the road winds down through countless bends and it is always a “truck race” there, rain or shine, they drive like madmen into the depths. After 45 minutes of queuing we finally drive past the scene of the accident. A truck loaded with new cars has apparently gone off the road, caught fire and rammed several road users who are also burnt out!! Here and there its burnt-out load is still glowing. A mess!! It is crawling with firemen, ambulances and police who make sure that no one is filming. It makes you silent.
I must wait until 17:00h before we finally arrive in Talavera and half an hour later, after the necessary explanation from doctor De Frutos, we drive home with the Podenco, whose hind leg is in an external frame and her head in an Elisabeth collar. Home, home, Casa Belgica, finally!!! And what's more, safely home!!! After all these years, Dirk and I still give each other a "High Five" when we drive into our street!! You would for less. Soon we will install our guest, feed her, unload the luggage, put everything in its place, then think of something to eat and raise a glass of Cava to our safe arrival. Tomorrow morning Dirk will pick up the dogs and Miss Podenco's rehabilitation will begin. For now, finally rest and more rest, after 1819 km we deserved it...
