Woooo hoooo! Leena got her U.S. visa from the consulate in Mumbai this morning... She had a bit of a wait with other applications, all wishing each other good luck, then went in for her interview, and while the interviewer was skeptical at first, when she saw several albums of family photos of both of our families together, she agreed to the visa...
It's been a lot of work for both of us, doing paperwork and writing back and forth with the National Visa Center. She's had to run all over Pune to get various legal papers and certified copies of things.
Leena plans to join me here in New York City in about a month. She might put it off another week or so if she can get a good price on a Lufthansa ticket on the same flight as her nephew, who's coming to the U.S. for medical school. If she does that she'll have some company for two of the three airports and one of the two flights (and she hasn't flown since before 9/11 and isn't familiar with all the changes to airport security, so a trusted traveling companion would be good for her).
In the meantime, we both have a lot of stuff to do to prepare...
She has to get our flat in Kalyani Nagar in a state to be vacant for a while. That means things like getting the electricity turned off, but not the account closed, so no one taps into our lines and steals it. Lots of stuff along those lines...
I need to get this apartment in Manhattan ready for her to move in... I need to buy a bed tall enough to slide our suitcases under (the bedroom is too small for a bed and suitcases). I need to buy some shades for the windows as a previous occupant left their blinds in, but they were cut to allow a window air conditioner, which means there's no privacy inside...
I need to buy a coffee maker that Leena asked for, plus I need to get some microwave safe dishes and bowls that I know she'll use (and probably hasn't considered that I don't have yet).
And I need to clean up the jumble and clutter in the apartment before she sees it...
Lots to get done...
It's been a lot of work for both of us, doing paperwork and writing back and forth with the National Visa Center. She's had to run all over Pune to get various legal papers and certified copies of things.
Leena plans to join me here in New York City in about a month. She might put it off another week or so if she can get a good price on a Lufthansa ticket on the same flight as her nephew, who's coming to the U.S. for medical school. If she does that she'll have some company for two of the three airports and one of the two flights (and she hasn't flown since before 9/11 and isn't familiar with all the changes to airport security, so a trusted traveling companion would be good for her).
In the meantime, we both have a lot of stuff to do to prepare...
She has to get our flat in Kalyani Nagar in a state to be vacant for a while. That means things like getting the electricity turned off, but not the account closed, so no one taps into our lines and steals it. Lots of stuff along those lines...
I need to get this apartment in Manhattan ready for her to move in... I need to buy a bed tall enough to slide our suitcases under (the bedroom is too small for a bed and suitcases). I need to buy some shades for the windows as a previous occupant left their blinds in, but they were cut to allow a window air conditioner, which means there's no privacy inside...
I need to buy a coffee maker that Leena asked for, plus I need to get some microwave safe dishes and bowls that I know she'll use (and probably hasn't considered that I don't have yet).
And I need to clean up the jumble and clutter in the apartment before she sees it...
Lots to get done...
