So, we met with the lawyer and you would not believe how much paperwork is involved in trying to become a US citizen. I am SO thankful my grandparents got on the boat to go to "THE new country" and not "A new country". There's BIG difference between the two. Yet, becoming a US citizen when your spouse is already American is not as easy as you think. There are things you need to know - like every address you've lived at from the time you were 16 AND you need to know from what month and year to what month and year you lived there. Yikes. Lucky for Craig, he was basically raised in one house. Not so lucky me moved around quite a bit.
So, the US doesn't make it easy but it's worth it in the end. I'm going to equate getting a green card to being pregnant. It's a pain in the ass while you go through the process but with every new accomplishment (be it passing phase I or feeling your baby kick), you breathe a sigh of relief and count it as a victory. The end result - as long as it's positive, is worth all the pain, sweat, tears, and frustration.
No one said life is easy. And I am proof that G-d has a sense of humor.
Succot starts tomorrow night. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the holiday, it's pronounced soo-coat or suh-kahs if you're my grandfather. It's also called "Feast of the Tabernacles"... whatever that means. It's another one of the high holy days that is not really observed in most of the world but everything shuts down here in Israel for the first day. Basically, you're supposed to dine in a hut-like structure. There's a lot to this holiday so I'll let you read up on it yourselves if you're interested.
I used to LOVE succot in Michigan - mostly because it was during the fall and eating in a sukkah meant the air was crisp and cool. I miss fall. Right now, I'm not really digging' Succot. Why? Because we're having a heat wave and I don't like anything during a heat wave... except maybe fallafel. Perhaps this year we'll try to find a restaurant that has eating in a sukkah as an option... you can find that here! No joke! If you've never dined in a sukkah, make friends with a Jew who observes this holiday - then go eat at their house. My first year in Israel, I ate at my cousin Gil's house. He lives in the Negev on a Kibbutz about 5 miles from Gaza. Thankfully, it was a quiet day. The food was great and I got to chill with the fam' - what could be better? Oh yeah, not being that close to Gaza.
Anyway, last year we celebrated succot in Prague (we were on our honeymoon). It was the anti-succot. It rained the whole time and there was not a sukkah to be found. This year we're home in Israel. Next year - DETROIT!
Next year, we'll really have a green card, a baby, and (possibly) a sukkah.
0 comments:
Post a Comment