It took forever for all the clearance processes to be
complete. Some branches of the governments involved took so long to do their
checks other papers that we had acquired had expired and we had to get them
over again. This happened to us twice with our papers in the Philippines and in
Thailand waiting on the States to get their part finished. That caused a lot of
problems for us and a huge financial strain on the entire process. Not only did
it make our wait longer she would have to worry about trying to take off from
work over and over again for the trips not to mention the loss in her salary. Narissa
lived in southern Thailand and had to travel back and forth to Bangkok about
four times maybe five before we got our final approval. When the papers we got
from the Philippines and Thailand expired she would have to travel to Bangkok
and re apply and we had the travel expense and also the application fees all
over again.
When she went for her final interview at the embassy they
were really hard on her as expected coming in from a foreign country. I think
some of the things said were overboard but that is just me. After the interview
and when we were finally granted our “official” K-1 visa she called me on the
phone and it was very emotional. By this time we had been waiting on the papers
for almost 1 ½ years since meeting each other online and around a year since we
met in person in Bangkok.
I was so worried about her and the entire process she faced
in preparing to travel to the States for first and last time (except for future
visits back). Just imagine picking up and leaving your very existence to move
half way round the world and to put all your precious belongings in three
suitcases. What would you bring with you?? What would you leave behind? Narissa
went on several shopping sprees buying new stuff to bring with her replacing clothes
and buying stuff for my apartment. One of her good friends let her know about a
shipping company that would ship her things to the Philippines for a decent
price. All of the things she knew her family would need and appreciate she
boxed up for shipment with her instructions on how everything would be divided
among her family members. All of her household stuff that she didn’t leave with
her friends she shipped. She sent her laptop and camera as the big items so she
could better keep in touch with her family in the Philippines. The shipment
date was going to be after she had to leave for the States so she left the box
with her friend for shipment.
She spent the next few days before her flight spending time
with friends and saying her goodbyes. Narissa is a very kind person and helps
everyone so it was no surprise she had a lot of friends and also being a school
teacher for eleven years. I know saying goodbye to super great friends had to
be hard and I couldn’t imagine having to say goodbye to students that she had
taught for years watching them grow up into little people before her eyes. I am
sure that had to be hard to do.
Little did she know that her friends were planning a going
away/bridal shower for her before she left them. The party is called a “despedida”
and I didn’t know about it either.
