A whole year?

Sure, I got nothin else to do

Did some exciting stuff for A’s first full day in the Untied States of America. We went to the hardware store and the bank, Chloe got a manicure and pedicure (her first, a birthday present from Aunt Michele), and ate lunch with my mom. We weren’t gone more than twenty minutes when A commented on the number of American flags everywhere. Then they spent the rest of the day – with a break to walk the puppy to the beach – getting Chloe packed, unpacked, and repacked. I think she just about has her suitcases pared down to travel weight. I asked A if Chloe was bringing too much: “Yes.” She gave Chloe a brief Spanish lesson, Chloe learned more about how school there works (I think Chloe’s going to have a much more difficult time with a foreign school than A will), and they did a lot of talking. A’s mom called and A called her sister in Kansas.

Ordinarily my time is flexible – I can work just about anything in at the last minute. But this week is different because we have orientation at school tomorrow, the next day is Chloe’s birthday and her last day at home, and we leave here Thursday morning for the airport. So what happens this morning? I get a call for a job interview that has to be tomorrow because someone on the interview panel is going on vacation. I submitted an application months ago (didn’t get the job) and I’ve been looking for a job since before there was dirt. This time they actually did go through the applications on file for future positions. I thought they all lied about that part and used the applications to sop up the spilled coffee before the applicants have time to make it back out to their cars. After performing circus tricks to get visas, integrating a stranger into our family and our country, and preparing to say goodbye to my daughter for a year, a job interview is going to seem like so much fluff.

She's finally here

And she’s lovely. She arrived on schedule and there was no hint in her appearance or demeanor that it had been nearly 24 hours since she’d left home. When we got home she called her home to let them know that she was here (2:30 AM there, but I’m sure they were happy to be woken up). Then Chloe showed her around, took her next door to meet the relatives, we ate dinner (I don’t think she’s used seeing the dad cook), and then she went to bed. She speaks English enough that we can communicate, but it’s obvious that she’s a quick learner. She said she speaks much better French than English. Many years ago someone in charge here should have looked at the European model of foreign-language instruction and then copied it.

These next few days will be a big help to Chloe, and it will help A to have Chloe here for the school introductions. I’m wondering if they were allowed only one suitcase because she said later she’ll have to buy a coat because she didn’t have room to pack hers in the single suitcase she brought. I wonder if Chloe and A2’s luggage will even fit in her parents’ car.

I thought that there’d be a huge sense of relief to finally have her here, but I’m not feeling that. I’m very happy that she is, but it feels like she’s supposed to be here and that the visa nightmare is an unimportant fading memory.

It sucks

A few months ago I bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner that can suck the fillings out of your molars. Our carpet is only six months old and the amount of dirt (in addition to the new-carpet fuzz) it picks up is astounding and not a little disgusting. It’s so amazing that I am compelled to show someone each time before I empty the clear canister (which I do two-three times every vacuuming session--that's how much stuff it picks up). This summer Chloe’s been the chosen one because she’s usually here. I told her brother that he’s going to have to come home from work or school early now so I’ll have someone to show the dirt to, because I’m afraid that A may not appreciate my excitement at a small collection of dirt.

A final vacuuming, clean the kitchen floor, and we’re outta here to pick up A.

Oh, that's right – a stranger will be living here

Now that the big picnic is past, it’s all getting so real. This summer has been spent trying to get A here, trying to get Chloe there, gearing up for the picnic, and making Chloe a surprise quilt (more on that later). Ordinarily, having a stranger from another country come to live in our home would be right near the top of the list of stuff to do. We’ve never even had an out-of-town guest stay here (most everyone we know lives here – another reason for Chloe to do this exchange). But after everything we’ve gone through this summer and especially the last few weeks, the fact that we will be picking up A at 4:15 PM today is almost an afterthought.

Chloe had cleaned her room very nearly spotless, but now all of her packing stuff is everywhere: piles of yes, no, and maybe things scattered inside and outside of the suitcases. We’ll try to get most of it consolidated, but I’m sure that A will understand the chaos of the few days before leaving home for many months. And if she doesn't, too bad. And there is a small problem with sleeping arrangements. We had an extra bed, but someone is borrowing it now. Whenever Chloe’s friends spend the night they all sleep in Chloe’s bed together, but that might be a bit awkward with a stranger, and it would be nice if Chloe could sleep in her own bed on her last night at home. I’m not sure what we’ll do – maybe she’ll sleep with us.

Now that A’s arrival is so close, Chloe feels like her last three days here are gone because she feels like she has to entertain A the entire time. I told her not to worry because that’s not the case – she can spend time with her friends alone. But she’s really excited to take A to orientation and the first day of school. She’s even excited about riding the school bus that day.

All this makes me wonder how A did leaving home because she left relatively quickly. Knowing (or hoping, in this case) that you’re leaving for a foreign land is a far cry from actually doing it. She was probably somewhat prepared, but her final travel arrangements were made only a day or so before she left, making her departure somewhat hectic. She might not have had time to fully comprehend that she was really leaving, which could make the first few days here a bit harder.

This is what happens

I come home and Chloe has left crumbs all over the chopping block in the middle of the kitchen. Because of the configuration, I don’t want the chopping block used as a sandwich-making station because it’s impossible to clean it off without getting stuff all over the floor. I’m about to tell her to clean it up when I realize that, in a few days, crumbs on the chopping block will cease to be an annoyance. Does that make me happy? No.

Now is when all the little details pile up. This is the last time for a long time that I’ll put her clean clothes in her room. In just a few days I won’t be nagging her to clean out the cat box, pick up her ponytail holders, put all her shoes away. In just a few days I won’t be kissing her goodnight and saying I love you, see you in the morning. In just a few days I won’t see her in the morning.

Coming to America

Sunday! A just e-mailed that she received her visa and is probably coming to America on Sunday and could I pick her up about 6:00? I just read that Spain uses a 24-hour clock when written and 12-hour clock when spoken, so whatever that means, we’ll be there. The same site also says: “There is some flexibility when it comes to being punctual in Spain.”

Now Chloe can ask her lots of questions, get an idea of what to take out of her suitcases based on what A brings here and her advice, and go with her to orientation and the first day of school. Hard to believe that this day is actually going to happen, despite the best efforts of both countries to discourage it.

Not good at waiting

No word yet about A’s itinerary. We check our e-mail constantly to find lots of messages interested in helping me satisfy my wife, but I’d be happy to have my curiosity satisfied with a flight number and travel date.

Chloe heard some commotion this morning and half-deliriously cooked up a happy explanation: We’d gotten a call from A in the middle of the night because her flight had come in. So, not wanting to disturb her slumber, we left Chloe home and went over to pick up A and we were just arriving home with our Spanish visitor. Sorry, sweetie – just taking the puppy outside so she could tend to her morning business.

Chloe leaves one week from today.

One down, two to go

Anna Rae has landed (that’s her on the right and Chloe on the left). She’s the first of the three Rotary Vashon students to leave so we’ve all been anxiously waiting for word. It sounds like she coped very well with luggage problems and finding her way around the airport. Apparently the threat of tears came in handy, which was probably pretty easy after that 24-hour journey. Which reminds me of an important point that the travel agent made:

If you’re in a group with other exchange students when you arrive at your final airport and one of the host families isn’t there, don’t leave the family-less student at the airport alone. Insist (or try to) that you can’t leave until that student is taken care of.

In Anna Rae’s case the students in her group couldn’t find any of their families, so they logically assumed that their host families had not decided en masse that the whole hosting-exchange-students thing was not a good idea and had thus abandoned them in a foreign country to fend for themselves with their few bags of microwave popcorn and host-gift chocolates, but that they probably were waiting somewhere else. They were.

All the pieces are here

Being a FedEx or other delivery driver in a residential area would be so much fun. All day long they're making people happy because they're bringing them stuff they want and have been eagerly waiting for. This time the FedEx guy brought the right thing: Chloe’s plane tickets. So now she has all the necessary documentation to leave home and spend the school year in Spain.

A has already sent her documents to Madrid and said that they were looking for plane tickets. I still don’t know the time frame or exactly how she’s getting around the DS2019. Chloe so wants her here before she leaves. It will be so odd: two girls from different parts of the world, living in each other’s homes and sleeping in each other’s beds. Chloe talked to A2 and asked about A’s sister, who’s in Kansas right now. She said she was very nice, talkative, and brought only one small suitcase. How did she do that? Chloe could fit in just one of her suitcases. A2 is not traveling with the group going from Chicago to Copenhagen, and she gets to Madrid in the morning, Chloe arrives at night. But they'll meet up there for the two-day orientation. She and A2 will be on the same floor at school, but A2 starts several days later and gets out several days earlier.

Anna Rae left this morning, which makes it all seem even more real. Her mom said it went well at the airport and thinks she’ll feel even better when she hears from Anna Rae after she arrives. She also had a good idea – bring a few bags of microwave popcorn. Other kids had said it was nice to have something they could make for themselves in the beginning without having to ask the host family where everything was in the kitchen. And Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Having a few familiar foods stashed away would be a nice security blanket.

The big picnic for friends and family is this Saturday and from then it will be only five more days until departure. Who’s bright idea was this?

Overnighting it

In a process like this, FedEx and other overnight delivery systems become important for delivering visas, passports, tickets, and last-minute changes. In our case, the Spanish consulate will only accept a pre-stamped, self-addressed Express Mail envelope from the US postal service. If you have a choice, avoid that because their tracking system is laughable and the mail does not go out express. I know a former mail carrier. If the carrier leaves the post office at 8:06 on Saturday morning and the envelope is discovered at the post office at 8:10, that envelope won’t get delivered until Monday at your regular delivery time. If it’s really important and you want guaranteed delivery with an accurate tracking system, don’t use the US Postal Service. Listen to their ads – they try to convince you that it’s a cheaper but just as reliable a service as other shippers. What they don’t mention is that it’s not guaranteed.

But if you have a question about your package that is not answered by FedEx’s tracking Web page, call them. Their Web page has said that A’s package is still in Madrid (since Friday afternoon), “delayed beyond our control.” On Friday I called and she could find no notes on why it wasn’t delivered, but that it was in Pamplona, and that the system wouldn’t be updated until today, anyway. This morning the message was the same, so I called again. She was able to look through the notes but couldn’t tell me why it hadn’t been delivered. She looked some more and found that the recipient had called and will pick up the package tonight between 6:00 and 9:00. I just checked again. It was delivered at 5:40 PM Pamplona time. The package left Issaquah, Washington, USA at 4:00 PM on September 18 and arrived in Pamplona, Navarra, España at 6:25 PM on September 20. I'm impressed. Now we just have to hope that it actually does contain everything A needs to get her visa.