2011

In order to fly on an airplane from Israel to the United States, Sharav had to be vaccinated for rabies, and then tested to make sure he had the rabies antibodies more than 30 days before travel.

Then, within a week before travel, he had to be inspected by a government veterinarian in Lod who kept typical Israeli office hours (example: Mondays and Wednesdays between 10 and 11:30 am), whose office did not answer the telephone or take appointments.

We walked from Ibn Gvirol to Azrieli, took the train from HaShalom to Lod, and then had to walk another mile or two to reach the vet.

It was pretty precarious because the non-refundable tickets had already been booked, and if I had gotten to the airport with Sharav and then found out he was not allowed in the plane, I would have been shit out of luck, but it all worked out in the end.

Fortunately, despite needing to comply with the TSA’s shifting whims, domestic flights were always easier. Unfortunately, Sharav never got to fly in an airplane cabin with me.