With exactly five weeks remaining before our departure, only three of which I have left in my adoptive Georgia, items on the grand to-do list are being checked off each day. After completing the simple online application form for UK visas we fell down the proverbial rabbit hole, completing paper work, jumping through hoops, and making arrangements. Like Alice, we too wonder if it will ever end. But eventually the winding, turning, and sudden dips and drops will open up to a new and exciting "land of wonder."
Two weeks ago, amidst a strong downpour and an even stronger curiosity, we journeyed to a little-known part of Atlanta. So mysterious in fact was the immigration station that I would not be surprised if those living and working in the neighborhood of the nondescript warehouse-structure did not know of its presence. There, we were finger printed, photographed, and generally creeped out. Our reward at the end of the experience was a soaking-wet greeting from the storm outside and a you-wouldn't-believe-it-if-I-told-you luau at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Since the fateful day at the immigration center we have purchased plane tickets, sent our new landlords a drafted check for our deposit, taken passport photos (complete with uncomfortable passport photo-taker guy; read: 14 inch-long pony tale), filled out application appendices, begged Sallie Mae to send us supporting documentation, received said documentation, endlessly copied important items, and sent away both of our visa application packets. As part of the application, for obvious reasons, the applicant must send their passport. Although neither of us is planning on skipping the country any time soon, sliding my passport into the sad manila envelope was like putting an old friend into the security of a paper clip and it still leaves me feeling each day like I'm forgetting something or something is lost.
Besides crossing our fingers and trying not to think of the thousand little things that could go wrong with our visa applications (timely approval being the foremost disastrous prospect), we busy ourselves with thoughts concerning packing and travel arrangements. With our Florida trip behind us there are no more weekend getaways on the horizon and thus copious amounts of time (in theory) to prepare and enjoy our last month of summer in Georgia.
