Apple#49
It's not that we are not grateful for the prospect of being allowed to enter the US to live there for a year, but there's no getting round the fact that it is an extraordinarily complex and difficult process that demands incredible amounts of time, patience and money.
We are so close to having that long-awaited stamp in our passports now that we could almost believe it is actually truly going to happen, and that it isn't after all a fantasy projection of an escapist wish.
Do I want to describe the hoops we have had to jump through to get this far? I have tried, and decided it is literally all too boring for words. Suffice to say that I am not particularly impressed with the efficiency of the system. We remain in limbo this weekend after our Embassy interview last Friday, for which we travelled for 15 hours, from Thun to Kimpton, on Thursday, for the simple reason that, to quote our interviewer lady, 'we just found out a couple of minutes ago that there is no cashier available to take payment today'. Are you serious? Not a single employee in the Embassy of the United States of America in London capable of receiving the money that hundreds of applicants will need to pay in today? And our application cannot proceed until it is paid ... necessitating a further appointment next week to come in person to make payment?
That just takes the, er, cookie, doesn't it?
We have spent months preparing our livelihoods around the prospect of moving halfway round the world, giving up our home weeks ago, and there is another delay because ... someone had a Thanksgiving hangover. Or whatever.
Whatever.
Grateful, yes; really. Frustrated, also. Learning the lesson of patience? I hope so.
Despite all the upheaval of the last week, I have managed to eat an apple every day. Heehee. Today I was grateful that the trays of Well Cottage apples that Phil and Esther have stored in our garage include tiny weeny ones: 5 bites, and they are gone. Just right for an unchallenging midmorning snack, and to tick that item off my daily 'to do' list. Not that it matters too much, but I like it that I am still on top of my challenge.
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