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| To be or not to be |
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 |
Warning: Major crib post.
When I asked for vacation my email went like this - " I will be taking some time off, on such and such dates, if my husband gets his Visa and Passport, for which we are still waiting. Otherwise I will be at work as usual" This was drafted only three days before his departure date, after many days of waiting. I should have applied for his Visa when I applied for mine as well, but somehow then our plans were not concrete and I wasnt sure if my company would sponser his trip. So it was upto poor DH, who collected documents and submitted it to the Consulate all by himself. I know its not a big deal, and I know I probably wouldnt have helped much with these things, even if I had been there in person, but still.
Hurdle number one was DH's vacation. We were saving our vacation for the summer. Now DH had to fight a bull's fight to get his vacation approved. Me being a meanie, planned his arrival around a long weekend here, so I dont have to take off too many days.
Generally the Israel Consulate calls the applicant for a short interview. Now DH works in a metallic building and he does not get coverage at work.
One week passed.
Two weeks passed. A slight lift in spirits for us when Boss agreed to pay for his travel. Its a different issue that we had decided on his travel irrespective of whether company paid or not.
In the middle of the third week, both of us were a little concerned. I pick up a fight with him. I am ready to give up hope that he will visit me. Again poor guy, has to put up with my tantrums and think practically about what to do next. He calls them a million times and emails them a million times (you know thats exageration). He even plans to go to SF to the Consulate in person and check on his application status.
Finally exactly a week before the departure date, as a ray of hope, comes a reply to his email, stating that they will call him for the interview soon. The next day he gets a call, the interview goes fine.
Now to hurdle number two. DH has his flight booked from Seattle, whereas our home is in CA, and thats where the passport would come to. DH has his flight on Wednesday, he is scheduled to leave to Seattle on Sunday night. No passport until Sunday night. The kodumai was it was in a nearby post office locked up all weekend to be delivered on Monday. I should borrow Usha's Kodumai title for this post. DH had to postpone his flight to the next day, which cost some money, and worked from home on Monday. In the mean time, DH calls up the Fedex folks to hold the package for him and not send it in the van for delivery so that he can collect it in person. The stupid Fedex lady was not able to do that, and the package was in the delivery van Monday morning. So when DH called them up again, the lady actually told the delivery guy to NOT deliver the package and take it back to the office! DH had to call them up again and explain it to them, now that it is already in the delivery van, to please deliver it as soon as possible. Some misunderstandings later, DH has the passport at 3:00PM on Monday,in CA, his flight to depart on Wednesday at 11:30AM from Seattle.
I am sure most Indians with long names have similar issues with spellings. DH's Visa had his name misspelt! And DH didnt tell this, kept worrying on his own, so as to spare me the agony.
Somehow Thursday evening DH landed in Israel safely. As always, I was in neck deep work only this weekend. But the folks were very nice, asked me not to bother about work and to have fun. :--)
Till I saw him, it was hard for me to believe he was actually here. I half expected them to port him back stating some reason. I know, silly.
The past few days were heaven. It makes me wonder what the heck am I doing here, away from DH, away from home, away from friends. I must be really stupid to do this, to go through this torture. And to pull DH into my torture land as well. Yes, now living here is really torture, for now.
DH entering the US was also much feared. Hurdle number three. We dont have valid Visas you see. Our Visas expired in 2006. We have put off travelling outside the US till now. My friends were making fun of me, scaring me, as I am here in Israel on Advance Parole. And DH was going to return back on the same. A friend even said that he will see what happens to me before he travels on Advance Parole. DH almost prepared himself to go back to India if they didnt let him inside the US. And I was prepared too.
DH is inside the US safe and sound. So much for the tension.
Now that we know we can travel on AP without fear, DH is already making plans to visit some other countries ;--) And no more Visa stamping, yippee!
Oh and did I say, I think I have started thinking of home in US as the home. I miss it. For once we have some good friends. DH is called to have lunch or dinner at a friend's place every weekend, which makes me feel a little better, he is eating some home cooked food, more than me. I guess I just miss being a family, however tiny it might be, with DH. Israel looked so different with DH around, I cannot even compare to my otherwise drab life here.
30 more days to go, the count down begins. |
posted by SK @ 9:46 AM  |
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| 9 Comments: |
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More than a major crib post, it was more of a mush post! Such uninhibited words have never been written!
Did you notice you were :( in the comments of previous post, three times in a row, all for the same thing? :) :P
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Yea I second Gradie...It was a major mush post! And as alwayz makes me 'j'! hehe...
And abt US bein ur home, as they say, Home is where ur heart is..and ur heart is most definitely in the US! :D
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adapaavi gw! :-)) My definition of mush is different!
preeti,
hehehe its not fun being away from family.
and yes you are right! :--)
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read this post yesterday and cant help laughing, wondered why u had said it as a crib post :), forgot to comment though. will catch up on ur latest post tomorrow, one day delay :)
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hmm I agree with you.. this is not a mush post..this is defnitely induced by mush ..
I visited Isreal last year for a training...was there for 10 days...deadsea,jerusalem, haifa..:) all too familiar.oo here are some things common between you and me
1) we are both 27 ;)
2) We both live in the bay area( we should meet up when you get back here!!)
3) we are both mush pots
4) The DH and HD are pava patta janmams..
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Visting your space after nearly 3 months. Now that we've moved to the Bay area and I've started travelling every week... I can appreciate now firsthand all your previous posts which you did while u guys were travelling and meeting on weekends... definitely this is a kodumai big time :(
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Maverick,
arey, it is a crib post :--P
Daisy,
You are soo right! We should definitely meet up when I am back :--)) I would love to meet you. One day I hopped to your blog from Ok's and I felt like it was me writing the posts, well, almost! :--))
Lonestar,
Acho , sorry to say, welcome to the club. And btw am still member of the club. Same old story continues when I go back :--(
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guess wat- me the great paranoid one thought you might want to remain anon and I was forcingt his whole meeting up thing on you :).. my doubts hightened when I saw that you hadnt responded to my comment.. anyways- thats just the paranoid me..
Yay- we should definitley meet up.:)
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Arey Daisy, Why would you think so?! :--))
Lets meet up for sure!
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More than a major crib post, it was more of a mush post! Such uninhibited words have never been written!
Did you notice you were :( in the comments of previous post, three times in a row, all for the same thing? :) :P