As expected, Bonita had a rough first night so her first day felt like two steps back from last night. That’s to be expected. What I didn’t expect was for her to spend the day coming in and out of my office, as I’d hoped she eventually would. When she finally came into the room well away from the door I realised something really important.

I’ve got this.

I’ve been reading a lot about how to calm anxious and skittish dogs and my hands-off let her come to me approach is generally the accepted one by dog experts.

That’s all I think I’m going to say about raising my new baby. If I had a human child, I sure wouldn’t talk much of it online, not with the whole world, well meaning as it usually is, having an opinion on the matter. I have my tight circle of fellow doggie moms to rely on if I get stuck, but, most important, I have to trust myself as much as the refuge trusted me to take on this formidable task. I can’t do that if differing opinions have me second guessing myself all the time.

But I will share a few things that I’ve already learned about my fur baby:

-She gives better tongue baths than do cats — smooth tongue and no drool!

-It doesn’t matter how well you stir her medication into her food, she will pick it out;

-She’s not sure what to do with toys and soft beds;

-She loves being scratched behind the ears;

-She really likes dog biscuits;

-She’s not so sure about peanut butter, to which she would say, “Maybe if mom doesn’t try to hide my vitamin in it next time, I’ll like it better. But ha ha ha I made it burst and it splashed ALL OVER her.”

So there’s already been laughs and tender cuddles and tonight, I sat on the bench on my porch for the first time and realised that nights here can be really tranquil with the Earth smelling so fresh that it’s like being in a completely different place. “I would have never known this had I not gotten a dog,” I thought.

And so, I find myself changing with her and discovering how much I’ve missed the gentle clinking of ID tags telling me I have soft kisses and cuddles coming.

I wish I could have a nice Bonita update post for you this morning, but I am managing a genuine crisis instead. I am so angry and so overwhelmed.

After I did all my immigration stuff last spring, I put my passport away carefully and have been using my residente temporal card as my ID. So I can say with assurance that my current situation is caused by an idiot who put a wet thumb over my passport when it was last handled:

That’s what I found my passport photo to look like when I pulled my passport out this morning to start working on my visa renewal paperwork.

I immediately contacted the embassy in Cancún and the person who called me back was genuinely helpful. She confirmed that my passport, which I renewed in 2016 so I’d have it for 10 years and really delay being in this situation of having to renew it from outside the country, is absolutely useless now.

I am exactly one month away from having to start the renewal process for my residente temporal visa, for which I need my passport as ID.

To get a new passport, I have to start from scratch, including getting guarantors. I thought I could use my hosts in Chelem, but I haven’t known them two years so I have to complete another form and pay an extra $50!

Once I have the paperwork in order, I could have printed everything and send it myself to CDMX. Average processing time, 20 business days.

But since I need my lack of guarantor form notarised, I have to print out everything and bring it in person to Cancún, which they do say does a better job of keeping the process at the within 20 business days. They close at 1PM, but I can leave Mérida at oh-dark 30 on a bus and get there mid-morning, then come home in the afternoon, so no worries about Bonita being left overnight (although her meal schedule will be interrupted).

In both cases, I have to send the original of my birth certificate, which I know for a fact I will never be able to replace if someone loses it, and the current passport.

Adding to the stress is that I need to provide them my credit card information, my card expired at the end of February, and despite the new card having been sent to me at the start of January, it’s not here yet.

The costs for this are unfathomable right now when I’m looking at over $500 for my visa renewal and over $500 for renewing my truck insurance — $280 for the new passport, a lost day to go to Cancún (which means losing $200 in income), the bus trip to Cancún, and the prepaid DHL.

Before I decide what I’m going to do, I’m going to see if can get some advice from Mexican immigration. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to renew in Progreso since I know the agents there. I have no idea who I’m going to deal with here in Mérida. I have a clean copy of the photo page so I’m hoping that if the immigration officers at least have that, they’ll turn a blind eye to the damaged photo and let me renew my visa, thereby eliminating the time constraint and the trip to Cancún.

So here’s my warning to Canadian passport holders: despite appearing laminated, your precious photo page is not not even water resistant. All the technology that goes into making the passports secure and they don’t have a lamination process to make at least that page waterproof? Ha. This is just another money grab. 🙁

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Bonita (beautiful) is a mixed breed 11-year-old female. She’s had the same name all her life and I like it well enough, so I’m not changing it.

So what brought us together? I was lonely. That’s quite a new feeling for me.

Twenty years ago this fall, I moved out on my own. I wasn’t alone then since a colleague very generously gave me a hedgehog (!). Two years later, I adopted Tabitha. Three years later, I adopted Samuel (who died unexpectedly), and then four years after that, I adopted Neelix. So I had a presence in my home for a solid 15 years, to when I lost Tabitha five years ago this spring and Neelix five years ago this fall (already!).

I didn’t have time in the couple of years after to be lonely as I was in places where I had friends and also access to pets. Same thing on my European adventure that already feels so far away. After, I landed here and had a dog for six months. And then, boom, I’m rattling around in a huge house all by myself and not in a state of mind to go out and meet people, which is really hard for me.

So I began to look into getting an older cat, so I wouldn’t have a super long-term commitment. But this is not a cat-friendly house (I don’t own most of the furniture for one thing!) and I didn’t want to have to deal with a litter box. I also wasn’t delusional enough to think that my walled in garden would keep a cat in.

It was a relief to admit to myself that I wanted a dog — a bit more personality and a child-like innocence in the house, a creature that I could pamper and that would appreciate my effort. But young dogs are so much work and I didn’t want to be tied down for years. I know I’m not going anywhere for the next couple of years — I’m in nesting, recharging, and money-making mode right now. I was talking about this with a friend and she suggested adopting a senior dog. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself! I would be giving an old dog a second chance and home where it would be loved in its golden years while only tying myself down for likely no more than five years. Moreover, this house is ideal for a dog and I know my landlady was disappointed not to be renting to a dog owner, so no worries on that end. The decision was made!

I did some research and found a wonderful refuge south of Mérida, Evolución. These folks do amazing work providing a home to dogs who would otherwise not have anywhere else to go. They keep their dogs long-term — my Bonita had been there going on ten years!

Like when I adopted Tabitha, I had to go through a thorough vetting process, including a home inspection, which happened last Sunday after my Saturday visit to the refuge. The refuge is currently home to around 200 dogs and is spotless. The dogs are treated very well by an army of staff and volunteers. I was presented first to a dog who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. Since I’m pretty much the pet whisperer, I knew he wasn’t the one. Next up was Bonita who was curious and affectionate without it seeming like she’s that way with absolutely anyone. I knew she was it. They thought she was eight or nine, but after some digging on their site, I came to learn that she’s ten or eleven. Bit older than I wanted, but not a reason not to take her in.

Next up was for her to go to the vet, which was supposed to happen Monday, but didn’t happen until Wednesday (the refuge is busy!). As expected, she’s got a few issues, but nothing some antibiotics and TLC won’t cure. So I said I would still take her in and they promised to drop her off today. So first thing this morning, I headed out to get the minimum I needed to receive her — I didn’t want to go too crazy until I know exactly what she needs and what her personality is like, but at least she has a cosy bed and some toys.

This is quite an adventure I’m embarking on. It doesn’t feel real yet. But I’m sure that a moment will come in the next few weeks when I won’t remember life without her.

¡Bienvenida, cariño!