So, I got back from London last night, and I was beat. I was so tired. I started watching Raising Arizona on film four with my mum and brother, but I lasted maybe an hour before I felt so unbelievably sick and decided it was time for bed. It looked like an amazing movie as well. After emptying the contents of my stomache I felt much better and was able to actually sleep. yeah for bodies.
Anyway.
London was crazy.
I left Glasgow at 2pm and was on a train going backwards for 3 hours and I was sitting next to this totally annoying guy that thought he was entitled to have his leg on my side of the seating arrangement. RUDE. Eventually he moved it when I started sewing and making eilidh's birthday card on the train.
He was such a rude guy and he kept tutting and making loud noises whenever someone moved or touched his suitcase, because it was at the top and he felt like he was the only one getting off the train and his was allowed to be at the top, even although there were tonnes of people getting off before him. People.
Anyway. I got to Crewe to catch my London connection waited for a bit and then finally got on the London train where I had two seats to myself and I slept across them for a couple of hours.
When I went to London my medical my headphones snapped before I got on the bus, I'd kind of fixed them over the past couple of weeks, but then on Saturday before I got on the train they snapped again and there was no quick fix. It sucked, so I had one ear listening the whole way up and down. So on my London train I jammed the second 'free' snapped off ear bit under my head so I had stereo again. It was wicked, but very uncomfortable. One might say that sleeping on my headphones caused them to snap in the first place, but who's pointing fingers.
I got to London about 7 and I ate an 89p cheeseburger from burger king before starting my underground journey to Eilidh's house, but not before reporting three huge suitcases unattended in the train station. Things like that make me totally edgy, they were claimed by someone though, so crisis averted.
I got to eilidh's and they all looked amazing. It was her birthday and she was having a carnival themed party. The place looked amazing. She had ducks in the bath for hook a duck, and she had bean bag toss, and a comedy inflatable punching bag with comedy sized gloves. Seriously maximum effort. The place looked mega.
Seven hours later I had fallen asleep slumped across a bed after fixing the base of it (I had taken travel sickness tablets and they always make me uncontrollably drowsy) and the place looked like utter carnage. Eilidh was lucky enough to get everyone to leave or move the party to another house at 3, after her neighbours were totally banging on the door at 2:30. It was crazy. There was bass guitar players playing and singing, and people falling in the bath, and much laughter and hilarity.
I ended up sleeping until noon. I woke up super early but eilidh came into the room I had fallen asleep in and she shut the curtains and I was asleep again in seconds.
At noon I helped her clean and tidy, she'd been up from 8am tidying.
We were scrubbing the walls and stuff because there was face paint and red wine all over them. It was insane.
From the photos though it looked like everyone had an amazing time. I spent most of the time just walking about because I knew no one, and being tired. It was crazy intimidating and daunting, but utterly awesome, Eilidh's amigas are an amazingly fun bunch of people. I also ended up doing a 'my mother' and started washing dishes because Eilidh was getting stressed about the mess and the noise and stuff, I started helping, yeah for heping.
After we cleaned on Sunday we went for birthday dinnering at pizza express then went to Eilidh's friend Naj Bueno's house, where we watched Maid in Manhattan and rolled around the floor, or at least I did :)
We headed back to Eilidh's and reviewed some of the pictures from the night before and then I went to bed because I had the embassy at 9:30am the next morning.
I left Eilidh's at 8:15am and boy was I nervous. She gave me a banana and a scone to eat on the way to the underground. It took 10 minutes or something to walk to the station and the weight of the paperwork I had with me was 6lb seriously heavy stuff.
I got to the area of the embassy and stalled because I had to find a toilet I was that nervous. I then made it to the embassy about 9:20am and went through three security and identity checks before getting inside. The inside was nothing like I thought it would be. I imagined it to be smaller, but there were about 200 people in this long room all staring at screens with numbers on them. There were eight screens, four back to back, and like 100 people on each side facing each other. If that makes sense. The screens had numbers on 2 and images of america and london on the other two, which looked like a really bad power point presentation. I sat and waited and waited.
Loads and loads of people were getting called up for their 'first' interview bit that involved finger print scanning and handing over passport, forms and other things.
I was number I-925 which meant immigrant visa and everyone else there (barr another 25 people) were on N visas meaning non-immigrant.
The pattern seemed to be 15-30 non immigrant visas to an I visa.
So it took me three hours to be seen for the first stage. three hours. We had no phones, ipods, computers or anything like that, all electronics were banned from the embassy, so it was just a big room of bored people. I actually started counting things, like chairs, and people, and the number of N-visas called before an I visa.
I wasn't actually that bored, which was quite the blessing.
There was an indian girl sitting next to me at one point and she asked my number and before I could answer a South African (white) guy turned around and started talking to her telling us his appointment was at 8:30 and he thought they were running three hours behind. While he was telling us everything about him (he was one of those guys that no matter what you ask him or what you start to say he has to interupt you with a story about him — which I think I do sometimes, and gosh I am/he was annoying). He was amusing thought. his number was called and I had to point it out to him. He was married to an american and she was living in LA and he was waiting on getting his visa. So he was an I as well I-917.
I estimated that if he was due in at 8:30 and me at 9:30 I should be called exactly one hour after him. And I was. It was wicked.
The first part of the interview process was me getting finger prints taken and handing over any documents they asked for. Forms, birth certificate, passport, police record stuff like that. I also had to pay the $350 for the visa, which, I must say, was only $120 4 months ago. LAME.
He then told me to go sit down again and wait. So I waited. And I watched numbers and counted things. Earlier in the day I estimated I would be leaving about 2:30, just as a guess, and I was right. I ended up in there for 5 hours. Crazy. I didn't even feel the time pass, perhaps it was because every number called could be your number, so there was total anticipation and excitement. Weird.
I watched for 917 to get called and sure enough around an hour later I was called up.
The consular man was amazing. he was a cute little oldish american man. He asked me to raise my right hand and swear on all my documentation that it was all true to my knowledge, and when I say all I mean all. He had 4 inches worth of paper that Jon and I had sent them in September. So it had travelled from Scotland, to Northern California, to Southern California, to the National visa center somewhere, and then to London. So I was swearing on all that information that it was true. Which it is. Can't fake a photo or an email right?
He asked me pretty flippant questions like where did you meet your fiance, how long have you been together and where are you going to live.
That was it.
He asked first how long we'd been together and I was like '18 months' and he was like. Okay.
Then he asked how we'd met and I told him the story of Maddy miller the chihuahua and going to salt lake. And he was like 'And that's how you met him?'
To which I replied, 'Oh no no, we met at church, sorry.' And he accepted my apology, it was kind of funny.
and then he asked where we would live and I named the three possible cities, but mentioned the address I'd given on all the paperwork as a hub, and he was happy with that.
He then told me I had to provide two pieces of further information, and once they received those my visa was as good as got.
I must have been with him less than 10 minutes, and that was it, over.
The amount of information I must have sent in September was so full proof there was no other hinderence, that's the only thing I can imagine.
They didn't ask to see any updated relationship stuff, no evidence we were still together, I had 5 plastic folders of things, and I used half of one. Seriously. But had I not had it, I know they would have asked for it or something.
The consular man's face lit up when I mentioned Salt Lake City. It was odd, and I remembered that two years ago when Toni went for her interview she mentioned an awesome old guy that when she said she got engaged at Adamondiamon he didn't even blink or ask what it was, but gave her a 'knowing' look and she suspected he was a member of the church. So I think from my experience, if it was the same wee man, that he must be. His face gave it away. :)
I actually had to ask twice if I was able to leave, and if things were fine. I didn't believe I finally able to leave the building.
I emerged just before 2:30 and called Eilidh from a payphone to make sure she was still at home.
I actually felt like an enormous weight, and 11 months of utter stress had been lifted off my chest. I mean, we're not done yet, but we're almost there. Just a couple of things I need to get couriered down there with my passport and then that's it. Fingers crossed.
I got back to Eilidh's about 3:30 and packed up my stuff and then we went to wagamamamamamamamamas for some scran and then I had to run and catch my train. I just about caught it, without having to run or stress, it was perfect timing.
The train on the way home was odd. I knitted, I sitted, I moved seats three times, I listened to Bat out of Hell 3 times in a row (that's almost 30 minutes killed) and yet the journey home was the same amount of time I was in the embassy but it didn't feel like the same amount. It dragged a little, but it was fine. Beats the bus that's for sure.
My mum came to pick me up as well so I didn't have to hang around Glasgow waiting to get home. Thanks awesome mum, and I ate some cake and a huge lump of cheese and that's around the time I started feeling really sick. Yeah. Not so good.
Gosh, I'm so relieved seriously. And now I can be excited for Jon coming next Tuesday. less than a week, Less than a week. Yeah!!!!
