Visa. Takes you everywhere you want to be.

So the wait for the visa is finally over! I saw it yesterday with my own eyes for the first time, when Jonathan gave me back his passport. (I keep it at my apartment, because it is a bit safer here than at his place.) There are instructions with it that tell you to protect it from being stolen, as many people want a visa and will steal a passport with a valid visa in it.

The granting of this visa permits him only to arrive at an entry point to the US. Upon arrival, he will be interviewed again. We were instructed to bring the paperwork we collected, the proof of his return to Chile following our visit and MARRIAGE, with us in travel, to show if asked at the US Immigration Control. He will be fingerprinted and photographed as well.

I find myself trying to be calm and not outraged by this process. Our nation prides itself on being the land of the free, perhaps that's why so many want to go.

We are looking forward to our visit. We are almost sure of the day we will travel, but I will not post it yet, as we are still deciding a few things. It is so wonderful to know that in just a bit, the waiting will be over, and we can begin life completely together. We are looking forward to turning back to others some of the time we use for just us right now. We only have certain hours of the week to spend together, but we look forward to not having to say goodbye when we say goodnight, and to having some morning time as well. We look forward to being able to invite people to our home and know that Jonathan doesn't have to rush out the door with them as they leave!

I particularly like the wording on the visa. It is another small bite that shows me how permanent this commitment is. Some of my friends here have asked me if I am nervous, that in just a month, I will be married to Jonathan. I find it tremendously calming, as we have decided not to go BIG on the weddings, but simple. I find it tremendously inviting, as we have repeated to each other many times over these last five months or so that we want to marry each other, spend our lives together, that he is my preferred iron (mi hierro preferido, from the verse about how iron sharpens another...). We are delighted for the adventure of getting to know each other better each day.

Sickness

So Jonathan started getting sick on Monday morning.  On Tuesday evening, he went to urgent care at the hospital, and they gave him an injection to break his almost 40 degree fever.  They told him to stay at his house for 7 days, and to wear a mask when he came out of his room or talked directly with his family.  His fever broke that night, thanks to the most painful shot he's ever had (as he puts it).  

He is now nearing the end of day 2.  He is bored.  And although we long ago began to hate the malls where we meet up to spend time together (I was never a mallrat!), we would be very grateful to spend a few hours together in a food court somewhere.  

He is feeling much better, with a bit of a cough still, but that is making him restless.  He is now cleaning his room.  

We are planning to teach together, invited by the young adult ministry that I have been apart of for the last two years.  It is my first time teaching in Spanish, my first time teaching with someone, and my first time having that someone be my fiance!  That's a lot of firsts.  That is next Saturday night, June 20.  We are supposed to meet now by skype to do some thinking together about that.  

I guess 7 days aren't as long as 3 months that we were apart over the summer (winter).  But today, they seem pretty long.  

Another first

Jonathan told me yesterday that I have a gray hair.  He was sitting up higher than me, looking down at my head, while we were talking with a friend in the park, and he saw it. 

He didn't tell me until later.  What a good guy.  Although, the breaking news was still not a great joy for me to know!  Bueno, that's life.  

I'm grateful the rest of them are still blonde.  Hopefully this loner won't stand out too much. And, luckily, I'm taller than Jonathan, so he won't see it that often!  

Just so thankful today.