Well, we received notice on Monday, February 4th that Felipe's first interview at the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico will be on March 4th at 7:45 am. We had planned on leaving about 8 days in advance to take a leisurely drive south, visit friends near Omaha, see a few things in New Mexico and get to El Paso 2 days before crossing the border to get our heads on straight. However, we discovered he has to have a medical exam in Mexico 2 days before his interview so we actually have to cross into Mexico on the 28th of February so he can go stand in line at the doctor's office starting at 5:30am. They do NOT take appointments so he basically has to go and hope he gets in sometime from 6am to 11am. Unfortunately, due to the short notice we really can't leave any sooner than the 24th or 25th so we will be busting our butts to drive the 1500 miles from Minneapolis to El Paso in about 2 days, leaving us far from refreshed when we arrive.
The good thing is, I think my parents are going to drive with us down to El Paso and then hop over to Phoenix for the weekend to visit some of my mom's aunts and uncles. They may stay in the area until Felipe's interview on March 4th when he will find out the date of his 2nd interview (the one where they give a final decision to grant his "permanent" spouse green card or not). I am very excited because I found out that if they do grant it, he will qualify for US citizenship within only 3 years. If they don't grant it he will have to stay with his family in Mexico while we try again. Only positive thoughts for our journey though.
Between his first and second interviews we hope to go down to take a train ride through Copper Canyon. I had never even heard of this gem before we started looking into our trip. It is in northern Mexico and is 3 times the size of the much publicized US Grand Canyon. It sounds very beautiful and is one of the "1000 Places to See Before You Die." check! After his second interview we will drive the 1200 miles down to his town of Tetelilla, Morelos, Mexico. It is a trip we could normally make in 2 days but all the travel guides warn against driving at night because there are still bandits and animals wandering the highways in some areas and cars don't always drive with headlights on. Why? I have no idea but I'm not interested in finding out! We have a few places we want to stop on the way down like Zacatecas check! and San Miguel de Allende check! and see the sights of the country. Then we will spend about 2 weeks with his family before driving back.
In total we plan on being gone for about 6 to 8 weeks depending on the length of time between his first and second interviews. It should be an exciting adventure but it is very stressful to pack and prepare for that long of a trip, especially with such short notice. We did buy some clothes this weekend and hope to still go shopping today and buy all the toiletries we need and some gifts for his family. However, yesterday I came down with some sickness and have a fever and terrible pain all over my body and can't breath deeply. Well-timed "death sickness" for all the Oles reading this. Oh well. Maybe a cold will help me sleep better over the next 2 weeks.
Well, that's about it for today. I just wanted to post an update about what is happening since when I send out the link to this blog many people will have no idea what's going on because I had no time to notify them. I will be posting regularly to this blog and including photos during our trip so please check back if you are interested. I will also be available to check my email almost daily so that will be a great way to communicate with me. Well, adios for now!
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