Yallah Middle East 2.0

[amal 4]

Thanks honeyblonde.. Its always nice to know that someone is or was in the same boat and may be able to give some advice. My sons birthday was awesome! 7 kids came (4 girls and 3 boys) and my goodness they can get loud!! He thanked me for letting him finally have friends at our house. There aren't many kids in my neighborhood so this was the first time he had anybody to play with! He is very happy that Noor is home. He told me that he missed him so so much. He said that he likes the way things are when Noor is here. That makes me feel a lot better about the whole situation.

AMR DIAB!!!!! I'M SO JEALOUS!!! HE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES (him and hisham abbas!!) over american music any day!!!

We got Noors drivers permit just with his passport/visa , and state ID. He could then take the actual driving test whenever he was ready. It should not be much of an issue if you have his passport. I still carry Noors everywhere with me and I have needed it on quite a few occasions. I would keep it on hand for a while.

amal

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Well my husband seems to be upset. He was really hoping for an earlier interview. Now that you guys settled me down, here he comes with, "I can't stand it to be without my wife, I don't like Jordan, I want out, I can't stand my job, etc. etc. etc." Argh

[jordanianprincess 0]

Andrea - It's really hard on them too, it's so hard to be away from the one you love. Tell him to come VJ and we will give him the same support we give to everyone else Would it be possible to visit? That may take the edge off.

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Yeah JP, working on the visit but right now I can't. Just moved, so much going on. Maybe in the summer. Hope my husband isn't crabby later. I know his attitude is because of the 5 month wait. Told him Kelly's husband got his visa and will pick it up on Thursday and he was happy for him but grumpy about the 5 month wait. I reassured him that Kelly had been in Jordan for at least 9 months or so before this happening today. Oh well.

Go Kelly! We will be welcoming your husband in the States on Saturday! Also, welcoming him to CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jordanianprincess 0]

LOL, I wonder if your husband and my fiance know each other since they are both in Zarqa. How old is your husband?

[amal 4]

During our year + wait, there were weeks where we were crabby and there were weeks where we were ok. It will settle down soon for you both soon inshallah. Try to remember that at least you have an end to your limbo whereas you could still be waiting. That is what I had to do when we were waiting for ours. It is so hard to wait when you know it is so far off (kind of like a child waiting for Christmas or their birthdays) but really it will fly by for you and before you know it the time will be here and past. Chin up hon, we're all here to support you thru this

amal

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Thanks Amal. Appreciate so much. Well, received email from embassy, and yes, the interview is august 23, 2006 at 8 am.

I spoke with an attorney in Jordan this morning and he also said that yes, the interviews were delayed, and for what reason, I have no clue. He is trying to work with my husband now and see if the interview date can be pushed up, but I highly doubt it.

So now moving forward, looking forward to the interview date 5 months away!

Andrea

Hi JP! Yes my hubby lives in Zarqa. He is 28 and his name is Faisal. Of course, there are plenty of Faisal's so I know that didn't tell you a lot. LOL

[MaryandMian 1]

Andrea hang in there girl. I know the CR1 in Pakistan are also running interview roughly 6 months from the date it arrives at the embassy. Make you a nice little ticker to count down the days. And sorry your having to wait so long.

Mary

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

Yeah, well my husbands interview date is only on the K3, we are about 3 weeks away from being approved on the CR1. But at least he has a date. Had a talk with him this morning. Of course, we fought a bit but told him to change his attitude, not my fault, not the fault of our attorney here in the USA, but the embassy's fault, take it out with them, lol Anyway, he promised to change his attitude. What can we do? Nothing.

Just waiting--your interview is tomorrow. Wishing you the best in Egypt! Good luck. I started a post for you, to root you on girl! Hope others join.

Andrea

[jordanianprincess 0]

Andrea you can always look at it this way....OMG I only have 5 months left! So much to do! So little time!

[honeyblonde 0]

Andrea you can always look at it this way....OMG I only have 5 months left! So much to do! So little time!

What a great idea!

Andrea,

You're in a new place right? Maybe if you write out a decorating plan, or start some project of some kind, the time will fly. School helped for me, but I've also used renovation projects, hobbies or "getting organized" projects, to help me wait for long periods of time. If nothing else, I would use "getting in shape and losing weight" if it was applicable. That's my latest one and Abdel and I are working hard on it. We try to walk or play tennis every night. If you're already in great shape, maybe you could take some kind of dance class or gardening or something. Hewlitt Packard has free computer classes of all kinds on their website too, so that's another option.

JP is so right, if you keep busy for the next 5 months he will be here before you know it.

[Together4ever 1]

Yeah, well my husbands interview date is only on the K3, we are about 3 weeks away from being approved on the CR1. But at least he has a date. Had a talk with him this morning. Of course, we fought a bit but told him to change his attitude, not my fault, not the fault of our attorney here in the USA, but the embassy's fault, take it out with them, lol Anyway, he promised to change his attitude. What can we do? Nothing.

Just waiting--your interview is tomorrow. Wishing you the best in Egypt! Good luck. I started a post for you, to root you on girl! Hope others join.

Andrea

Oh Andrea, thank you so much. You have no idea how much it is helping me remain positive. Congratulations that you have a date scheduled even though it's a bit far off at the moment. You mentioned fighting... wow, yes, this stress will definitely bring it out. We've had some doozies, but I've noticed during these 10 months now we have learned so much about each other and how we really value supporting each other instead of sniping. Yeah, we still do it sometimes, but rarely does it go over the edge. We are all lucky in one sense then all those folks who never have to deal with something like this. We learn how to cope with trust and stress issues in our relationships to the nth degree. WE ROCK!!! (I'm have a rare "stable" moment today. Woot.)

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

JP, I'm relaxed, it's my husband who is really in irritation mode. He says he accepts it now but he was really looking forward to 3 months like most here instead of 5 months. I just don't pay attention to it, saying well, I can do so much to prepare this, even fly out to him at interview time. But, he's a bit on the raggy side, not putting pressure on me but he's crabby coz his job sucks and misses me. So now he saying , oh honey, i need to see u again here. Before, he was waiting for the interview date thinking he would be here the latest mid summer, not end of summer, lol

Honeyblonde, well no decorating for me, it's done. LOL But I'm hanging in there girl, just trying to tame my arabian stallion, LOL

Andrea

Three more days, Kelly! Whewwwwwwwwwwww! YOu will be on ur way girl to the USA!

[jordanianprincess 0]

Taming the arabian stallion ain't easy! My honey and I go through our moods as well, there are points where he opens his webcam for me and i just start crying. You should tell Faisel to come to VJ, thats what I did with my sweetie. He comes online every now and then to read the posts.

I remember when I met my habibi, the hardest part was all the conflicting info that he was getting from people in jordan. There might be someone on the other side gettting him all riled up too! The good news for Faisel is that he can now say..I'm gonna quit my job on this day. Another thing he can do is start preparing for his trip here. Send him a Driver's handbook so he can start studying it or any kind of info related to living in the usa. It may make him see that the end of the tunnel is coming. I know exactly how he feels. 5 months seems so far away. I met my honey in November of 2004 and was planning to go to Jordan in May of 2005. That got postponed to Sept of 2005. I remember how frustrating it was, but when I started planning, buying things, reading about the places I wanted to visit, the customs, etc, the time just flew by!

Keep him busy, busy, busy. I'm gonna ask my fiance if he knows a Faisel that is 28. LOL.

[LebaneseMama 1]

I just called NVC "Your husband does not have an interview scheduled for April, sorry"

And no, this is not typical for Lebanon. As far as I know. I heard through the grapevines that Lebanon did not have enough immigrant visas the last six months ... but now they do ? This does not make sense to me .. but the person that told me swears that it's true.

Tomorrow is our two year anniversary since our NOA1. I wonder if I will be sitting here another year from now. Thank God, I am not breaking down and straight up loosing it. I am soo busy with school and work that I don't have the time or energy to loose it. My husband too. We cry and help each other stay strong. We like to think it's God's will and there's a reason this is all happening. What this reason is .. I don't know.