The Specifics

I know that our life is an open book…or daily blog…since 2011.

But when dogs do all the talking, like they have on our blog, they don’t have a need for specifics. Or a need for all the problems and papers that us persons shuffle around. Everything in this world is made up…and dogs don’t have time for that. But facts are facts. And we have to follow the rules of the world that we do live in. And the countries we live in. Right now is kind of a frustrating time for us here. But we knew it could possibly happen.

We have been trying to get our student visas for Italy for a couple years. We visited the consulate four times. And the first time, we didn’t have the right certificate from a school they asked for. And in the midst of getting that, they changed requirements for students. Which meant we had to be more fluent and knowledgeable in Italian. So we started on that route, taking more classes online from our school in Italy. And in the middle of that, they released a new kind of visa for digital nomads. We thought this would work for us under advice of professionals, and they changed rules on that. So we were back to the student visa. Problem is, Brickle, our senior dog, was aging fast. And if you have a senior dog, you know how valuable time is. Good health is not guaranteed day to day. And when we were offered a free flight on a private plane for our both of our dogs, there was a stipulation. We had to go then. And we had to fly where it was flying. And we had one choice. Go and make the rest work, aiming for the ultimate goal of getting Brickle to his house. Or wait until we passed another test in the states. And that was for end of the year. It was May. And well, we decided to go. And yes, Brickle did make it here. And yes, this is the situation we are in now. Was it worth it? There is no question. Yes.

But coming here meant we were simply on tourist visas. We were in England for a month. And so once getting to France and then Italy, our time was three months stay. We took the Italian test last week. They are scheduled for specific dates only. And now, we don’t have any time left to wait for the results. Which will take weeks. They don’t give a specific date. So, point is, we have to leave the EU countries until we can get the test results back. If we pass, we can reapply for the student visa and be good for at least a year and then take another test! No. Buying a house in Italy doesn’t mean you can stay. I sure wish it did. This was the only visa…a student visa…we qualified for.

This is an adjustment time. A time where we have to work around the rules. And I’m sad to leave. Truth be told, the first few weeks here almost killed me. It did. Losing my dog after being here one week, no bathroom or shower and sleeping on the floor was not fun. No. It wasn’t. But we worked thru it week by week. We got better at surviving. And now, just when we are about to feel like we are home and are on a roll, we have to leave a few weeks. I won’t say that it’s not depressing. It is.

But I also know that maybe it will be good to give Fruity some more adventures traveling that he loves and find him a rescue that needs him. And us. Where will we go? We don’t know yet. And time is marching on. We have to leave next week. Stay tuned. We will be going over our options with you. There aren’t many we can afford. But as always, we will figure this out. Brickle got here. The rest doesn’t even matter. Yes. He was worth every sacrifice then. And now.

I know to some, it may not have seemed important for a dog to be included in your dream of restoring a house in Italy. But I simply don’t care. He was my life. And he was included and thought of first. Always. We were in this life together. His dreams were my dreams. My dreams were his dreams. And he’s still being included now in every decision. We won’t give up on fixing your house, Brickle.

-Rachael