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Amelia (left) and Austin (right), Patio Dogs - Scooby Icons
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I am very late in posting this entry, since my November/December trip to Spain. So much to tell you about. Here we go! :-)
My employer,
McAfee/Intel, shut down the entire week of Thanksgiving this year, giving us time off during one of the most celebrated holidays in the U.S.A. This presented the perfect opportunity to visit one of my all-time favorite places to volunteer, once again – Scooby Medina del Campo, an animal rescue sanctuary in Spain. I'm trying to get there twice each year now, or more if I can arrange it. Yep. I'm hooked! :-)
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| There's Something About This Place that is so Very Special and Calls You Back Again and Again... |
Everything
lined up nicely for the trip. The
airfare was very good, and I was able to use some travel points to reduce
it to half price. Prior to my trip, I had been in contact
with my friend, Sabine, who is one of the Scooby Germany team and is living on
site, to confirm that I could stay there, and that I’d have the chance to
work with her and other volunteers whom I had met during other visits.
Reality is, it’s a full day traveling from California to Spain, and a
full day traveling back, so I took a few
extra days so that I could have seven days at Scooby, two in Madrid, and two
for traveling to and from. Left home in San Jose at 5 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. plane from San
Francisco to Madrid. I had a three hour
layover at JFK in New York City, and then on to Madrid.
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| Medina del Campo Train Station |
After
arriving on Saturday, Simonetta, another Scooby volunteer from Italy, who lives on site, picked me up and took me to Scooby. She showed me to my place, and I settled into my caravan, and then went exploring to
meet and greet the animals.
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My Scooby Caravan - Comfy Digs
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| Snuggly Bed with Lots of Warm Blankets and Space Heater Made My Caravan Very Comfy |
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After that, my jet lag caught up with me, so I took
a nap, got up and had dinner in the kitchen. Met two young women who were
visiting veterinarians, one from Northern Spain and the other from Prague. One
was here for three weeks, the other was staying for six. A few days prior
to my arrival, there were several other vets there helping out under the
tutelage of a famous Spanish vet. The two
ladies explained that since the economies are bad in different parts of Europe,
they are having a difficult time finding jobs that pay enough for them to
sustain their own living; so they are volunteering, hoping to find other
opportunities, while keeping their skills and knowledge up to date. After dinner, I turned in early to catch up
with the nine hour time change.
On Sunday, got
up early and got ready for my first working day. During this time of year, it’s very chilly in the mornings and at night, so I brought layers, including a rain-proof jacket
and pants and a nice new pair of rubber boots to leave for my fellow
volunteers to use when they visit.
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| Chilly, but Lovely Scooby Morning |
Ate
breakfast and met up with Sabine. We
worked together to clean some of the paddocks, and also socialized with the
animals (my favorite time). We met so
many wonderful dogs, galgos and other mixed breeds. Each and every one is so
special and most of them are friendly and yearning for attention. It is sad to see some dogs that are so very
shy, they tremble if you get too close to them. Sabine, Ana, Simonetta and
other volunteers work together to socialize the shy ones and bring them out of
their shells. Their efforts are really paying off, as many very shy ones have been adopted and successfully integrated into loving homes.
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| Sabine and a Lovely Galgo - All Love |
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| Sabine and Another Galgo Mix - She Certainly has a way with Animals |
In the
afternoon, I met three volunteers from Scooby Italy, who were there for three
days to take photos, videos and to write profiles for many of the dogs that are
available for adoption. Thankfully,
Italians adopt a number of Scooby’s galgos, as well as mixed breed dogs. It was fun getting to know these ladies
during their short visit. We laughed about what time we ate our respective dinners. I normally ate dinner around 7 p.m. and they ate around 10 p.m. They think we eat dinner too early. ;-)
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| Scooby Italy Team |
One of the most special times that I had with them was in Paddock 2, visiting all of the beautiful galgos there. It was there that I fell in love with one who followed me everyplace. She was "my galgo girl" whom I visited each day, brought treats, gave hugs and kisses and had a difficult time leaving. She has since been reserved and adopted.
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| My Galgo Girl, Sevillana - Some Lucky Ones Have Adopted Her. Blessing to You, My Love! |
I cannot tell you how happy it makes all of us who have anything to do with Scooby to know that one of our love bugs has been chosen and adopted into a loving home. It is the case for most of the dogs, but sadly, not all. More about that later.
I shall end this entry, and continue with Part 2 of my adventure shortly. There's so much more to share. I'm excited to tell you about the rest, so stay tuned....
Hasta Luego! Thank you for reading my blog. More to follow. Bless sends her blessings. Sara sends smiles!
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| Our gorgeous Galga, Bless! |
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| Our gorgeous Galga, Sara! |
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