In the Clear, So to Speak

Back to blogging, and with still not a lot of free time, I've decided to parade around a few more photographs of me and Fady and put up information about us and coming events.

This will be brief, but here's some news: we passed our immigration interview! And, it was not easy. What made the entire experience unreal was a) 4 hours of fitful sleep, b) pre-dawn wake-up call, c) 3 cups of coffee on and empty stomach, d) 1 hour drive to Garden City, Long Island (in the cozy car of Jill and Judy, thank you Jill and Judy), and e) the thorniest interviewing agent in the land. Why us? Reports of how congenial and humane these interviews are crowded us over the last few weeks. But somehow we ended up with a stern fellow of Peruvian decent who managed not to look us in the eye more than three times and jarr us with every word he spoke. What? Why? Is this really the deciding moment of the fates of those inter-regionally and faithfully married? I do not believe so--because most of what he looked at that we provided in hand as not previously submitted to the Feds was not exactly what one would need to prove their undying love and committment. All we had to submit by hand today was photographs, bank statements and phone bills. So, we were told: they are not asking us about undying love and committment, but they are looking for it. As an archivist, a person in the field of records management, I have to say, the "documentation" we provided represents the smallest fraction of our lives, our connection--past and present. How did it satisfy what the agent was looking for? In the future, should I seek funding for a study inside a Phd program, I'd say I smell a dissertation. Alien Status Adjustment Cases: How Documents Love. But thank all the gods that it gave someone satisfaction because we PASSED, with a red stamp spelling APPROVED providing clear evidence of Fady's long-term residence (and implied hopes for a bright future).

And here we are, in Mendecino, California, December 31, 2006.



For Thanksgiving, we visited the wonderful and vibrant Christine at UNC. Thankful we were for the great news about Chris's clean bill of health, and this bit of sun and beach after days of rain during the holiday week in Carolina Country.