I am amazed

at the fact that I have my student visa.

:D

Rated I

--- for International students without a REAL full scholarsip only :P

Well... international or not, you do not want to read this. Just skip over to the last part :) !!

In the middle of June, I received a letter from Harvard telling me I had not returned a certain form yet, and that they needed it in order to issue an I-20 (the I-20 is the document that proves you have been accepted to a US private school and have proven your financial ability to cover the living and tuition expenses. All prospective international students need it, along with their passport, to get a student visa from the US Immigration office).

Ah well. I have two months to do it. It took a week to get my I-20 for undergrad.

The form had supposedly been sent through the mail (I should have gotten it in May!) but it never got here, so I had to ask for it again. It got here at the very end of June. I was filling it out when I realized that Alas! there is another problem. A year’s worth of living expenses has to be in my bank account ahead of time. Since I had a full scholarship for college, I didn’t even know it. Well, it turned out I have to prove I have 18 grand before they give me my I-20. Uh, I don’t have that. So I start calling banks, sending emails… blah blah blah… and finally find a few banks I like. I apply for a couple student loans. It´s taken me two weeks and suddenly it’s the middle of July.

That was my first mistake. I should have made my choice sooner. I shouldn’t have waited around to see if my church would continue to give me a scholarship… or if I could get a scholarship somewhere else…

But I did make my choice. I applied. A week or so later the banks tell me I need a co-signer. Another one. It has to be an American citizen. Oh gosh. I should have known that. Dad calls his Mom. Grandma gladly accepts to co-sign it. We were going to see her in San Antonio the week after, so instead of mailing the paperwork to her, I wait till I get there to have her sign. Second big mistake. I should have just faxed it to her. But we get to San Antonio she signs the stuff, and my cousin faxes the form to Harvard (now that I have SOME bank info) and the applications (the second set already!!) to the banks…. And he takes his time too… and he keeps a copy of my information… and of grandma´s. Not cool. Even if he’s my cousin. Aaaaaand it’s already the end of July.

The first week of August is gone… I haven’t heard anything from the banks. I call them. The first three or four calls are completely useless. No one knows anything yet, or my status is still pending… nothing. So I send emails. I send a letter on the mail! I call two or three times more. Finally someone tells me they are waiting for me to send my passport , my visa, and my I-20 so that they can continue with the process. WHAT??? You said I did not have to have a visa if I’m getting the loan so I can get the visa! Oh well. I fax a copy of my passport from Mexico. I get on a plane, and I get to see Quijote and complain to someone. Poor thing heard half of this already… I’m already thinking I might not get the loan.

Maybe I´ll just get a job and follow Quijote around. Or I’ll just run off to Madrid or something. Ah well. Didn’t want to go to Harvard anyways. Rather keep my butt warm.

So on my birthday I call the banks and one of them says they didn’t get the fax. We fax a second copy . By this time I have a conditional letter of approval from one of them. I had to call and have them email it to me. The website wouldn’t work. But Yay. Not doing so bad. They are giving me a horrible interest rate margin, but it’s still a loan. I call Harvard. They say a conditional letter of approval is not enough. Oh gosh. At the end of the week, though, I call the other bank again and they say I’ve been approved, and Harvard has my information. They cannot give me any info. Not even the rate. Grrreat….

I come back home the second week of August. I call Harvard. They don’t have my information. Strange. I call the bank. No info either. What the heck?? One of them tells my I don’t even have an application in there. SHOULD HAVE TWO!!!!! Finally the bank tells me I’m actually not approved. I am pre-approved. Conditionally approved. They too need my I-20.

So I need the loan to get the I-20, and I need my I-20 to get the loan. I call Harvard again (a few times, and I email them as well… I bug them for a week or so) and they tell me they can’t help. The person who is in charge will be out of the office until August 22. I have my Immigration interview on the 29^th.

I am in big, big trouble.

Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out for my birthday, or gone to San Antonio… or maybe I should have stolen back my papers from my cousin’s office, or should have found a co-signer that lived in El Paso… Maybe I should have called more, emailed more or something… maybe I should have not slept or eaten that whole month until I got things done. Ok. Maybe not that. But, uh… how many mistakes is that? …. I lost track already.

So the person at Harvard´s Registrar’s office gets there on the 22^nd, and reads the 30-something emails she got from me. Sends me an email saying I should send the Conditional Approval letter from the bank. I call the bank of my choice (the one that had said they had no info) and get them to send it to my uncle’s fax. Then she says I need a bank statement so she can count my savings. I go to El Paso, get the bank statement, and I send the fax.

She sends me an email saying she will talk to their liaison in the International office, and the next day she tells me they have accepted my papers. It’s a miracle. They will send my I-20 the next day. I have a few days left before my interview. There is hope!!

So on Thursday I get an email from the person in the International Office giving me a tracking number. He has FedEx-ed it and it should get there on Friday. It’s not there on Friday, so I try to track it… the number doesn’t work!! No reply to my emails. The Harvard man is out for the weekend.

My address in El Paso is not my address really. It’s the address of Mexam, a company that receives mail and then crosses it over to Juarez for us. It’s a great option for businessmen (and PASTORS) who have no time to cross the border every time they need to pick up a package. So, needless to say, I spent the entire weekend waiting for the office of Mexam to open so I could find out about my I-20.

This morning Dad and I went to El Paso, straight to the office of Mexam. But while we looked for it, Mom called Dad-- told him she was close to the Mexam offices in Juarez and asked if she should go in and ask about it. Dad immediately said yes.

The I-20 was there. Wooohoo!!

So Dad and I crossed the border and met up with Mom for breakfast. I am the happiest girl on earth.

I went back home afterwards, made the visa payment online; then I found my passport, went to Banamex, and made the payment in the bank. I am done.

I have my immigration interview tomorrow at 8am.

And then I will be done. It will be up to the US embassy after that. After tomorrow around 2 o’clock or so, I’ll just have some waiting to do. Takes them 3 or 4 days to decide.

But heck. I feel so much better now. I can get my airplane ticket now. And pay my long distance calls. LoL.

w00t w00t

So yesterday they told me that they'd accept my papers... w00t w00t! The I-20 has been or will be sent, and now I'm just waiting around, hoping to God I'll get the document in the mail before the 29th. So yeah... say a prayer for me if you pray (good grief, even if you don't!) cuz I really need this to work out so I can get my student visa and get to Harvard on time....

uff...


well... other from that... no news really...

oh.. Janie... uh... is it my server that isnt working or is it the webpage to your blog? It won't let me go in...

Abi's birthday is today!!!

..........aaaaaaaaaand she has already celebrated... but now it is time to make a cake... yup... good idea... lets make a cake... :-D

The lost will be found...

So Mom came back home bearing great news! You should have seen her face...

Three Mexican fishermen survived 9 months in the open sea... they were found close to Australia... just a few days ago... but they ALL survived! Can you imagine what a rough journey that was? they travelled across the Pacific Ocean, from Nayarit Mexico all the way to Taiwan in a small fishing boat... with no rations. they drank rain water and ate duck and fish. and they survived. for freakin 9 months!!
But they did have a Bible and their faith... and even their sense of humor :) ...which I have not been able to translate.. sorry... no word for "arrimarse" that would get the joke across...

Such great news... I love to hear about stories like this... I think we often forget that miracles still happen. Just imagine what amazing news this was for their families. They had probably already accepted their deaths... and then they had their brother, their husband, their dad.. come back to life! How happy I would be to see hope coming back ... God returning to me someone I love. hehe... how happy I'd be for God to return ME back to those I love..


So... for those who can read a part of the article:

Los pescadores fueron rescatados el 9 de agosto por un barco pesquero de Taiwán, declaró Eugene Muller, director de la compañía propietaria del pesquero taiwanés, con sede en la capital de las Islas Marshall, Majuro.

“Estaban flacos y hambrientos pero sanos”, explicó Muller al señalar que los mexicanos lograron sobrevivir en su embarcación capturando peces voladores y bebiendo agua de lluvia.

Muller identificó a los pescadores rescatados como Salvador Ordóñez Vásquez, Jesús Eduardo Vidaña López y Lucio Randon Bacerra.

“Comíamos gaviotas crudas, comíamos patos crudos, comíamos pescado. Comíamos todo crudo (...) pescado que se arrimaba, pescado que agarrábamos para comer”, relató Vidaña desde el barco pesquero que les rescató para explicar cómo lograron sobrevivir todo ese tiempo.

Por momentos tenían comida para dos o tres días seguidos y en otros no probaban bocado durante varias jornadas consecutivas.

“Nunca perdimos la esperanza porque arriba hay un Dios todopoderoso y tengo mucha fe en él y yo sabía que Él nos iba a ayudar”, dijo Vidaña.

from El Diario website http://www.diario.com.mx/servicios/hemeroteca/nota.asp?notaid=670a34830dae08fe78ee236fec8ad940

.....back from Dallas....

So I am back home... yuju.... it does feel good to be back... despite all the strange little feelings I get from having spent to much time with the boy and then being back on my own most of the time. This long distance thing is very scary for me, and having been able to see him almost once a month did help me ease into it. I realize it wont be as easy for us to travel when school starts. but it is SO amazingly great to just see him. Makes me happy :) jeje...

But... Im home... and its nice to sleep in my own bed. Hehe. I always miss it when I stay over at someone elses' place. Aleks was an amazing host though... as always. I loved being her roommate again, despite having to wake up at 8am again.jiji. she made a little cake... from scratch...!! on my birthday... and we all had cake and talked for a good while and I sort of forgot about the movie we were supposed to see that night... hehehe... but we saw it the next day... jiji... and it wasnt as great as I thought itd be... but it was good... it was good...

I spent a whole day with Janie... we ate wings... and we shopped around... and drove around... and saw her parents... and took Dunking Doughnuts to her boyfriend... and had a lot of fun just talking about things... it was amazing. I love girls days out... fun, fun times. I missed her so much!

Fernando is doing well... he's still in love with his bike... I think its sooooo cute.... hehehe.... and he's working hard... and I think he might be back with Aleks? you never know with them. I have stopped asking...

The A-Psi peeps are all doing well too... not much to say about them really... other than we had a little dinner on friday and we had a good time. I think I was expecting more people to show up... so it did affect me a little bit that only two alumni showed up... and no one from the AA Line. a little sad. but well.. we did change locations last minute... and like 3 times before that... so its not just their fault... hehe... and we still had an amazing time... all of us... eating away and just talking... just being there... good times... good times.

I had a small airport tragedy... hehhe...
My sister forgot I was coming in yesterday. And she got her purse stolen... with her passport in it... so she couldnt have picked me up anyways. I took a cab to the border and my uncle Pancho picked me up from there. LoL... ah... it is always fun to travel.

Still trying to get my I 20 from Harvard. grr... this will never be over....

We're OK :)

Hi everyone....
So Ive been getting emails from people worrying about the rain here at home... and I just wanted to let you all know that we're doing great : ) Most of the rain fell a few days ago, and we are now pretty much dry ...
As with any unexpected rain, some destruction did happen (not my house.. hehe.. this one's pretty well built) but it is very minimal. No major drawbacks for what I've heard. Just.. huh.. lots of water out of place. But as I said, most unwanted water is gone. The good news is we'll have water (for sure, if average water usage doesnt go up) at least until 2012... we have an extra three years worth of water! Isn't that amazing? It is if you live in the desert :P
.......... so... yup... we're doing pretty darn well... woo hoo for rain! : P

Sad news

Skwiki is no longer with us.

We're afraid he's been stolen away... we looked for him, still, for hours..

Abi is not doing very well... I'm very, very mad.

They better take good care of him. I really do hope they will.

Recontando...

Ok... tal vez Dios esta inconsolablemente triste despues de todo. No deja de llover!! Tres dias van ya! La lluvia tal vez no sea tan buena en estas cantidades. Estan evacuando Anapra. !Esto es un pequeño diluvio! Estamos medio inundados... parece que existe la posibilidad de que corten los servicios... han cerrado varias calles... pronto prenderemos las velas con un poco de temblor...
Esto es tan extraño... ¿Que demonios esta pasando?