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Thursday, August 7th – FIRST APPOINTMENT FOR VISA! Total chaos this morning!! We stayed outside until midnight and I stayed up until I think around 1 organizing things and going over stuff which we ended up not needing lol then even after hubby was asleep I got in bed but something was telling me “get up if you want your visa” and it wouldn’t stop.. It was telling me “put the photos CD in the computer just test it out and go back to bed if you want your visa” LOL!! So I did and then I kept getting gut feelings to do other things and I ended up going to sleep sometime after 2am. So in the morning we were supposed to meet at 6am to take the shuttle to the consulate. Around 6 we get a call from Cherokee and Mr. Cherokee and hubby is freaking out and I’m still asleep and confused as to why he was freaking out and then I remembered the shuttle leaves at 6! What happened is that our alarm lets you set 2 alarms so we always set one for buzzer and one for the radio. Well we picked a bad station or something and it was just a guy talking and since we are used to having the TV on and had the TV on in the hotel it did not wake us up! And the buzzer did not go off at least not that I can remember! So he was getting dressed super fast and Cherokee called me back to say that it was leaving and did I want Mr. C to tell it to wait and I said yes. Then as hubby left still buttoning his shirt she called again and said that it had left!! But that several others had missed it and that it was coming back. Hubby ended up getting on with MMGCA and her hubby and a few other people. He was upset and still sleepy and I felt soo terrible. He didn’t think the shuttle was going to come back and wanted to take a cab because it was getting to be 6:20ish. Finally it came and I didn’t want to say goodbye and he waved goodbye and I was soo sad...
I went back to the room and tried to go back to sleep. I felt so bad that it happened with so much chaos. We weren’t nervous anymore after the pre-interview and wanted to be happy and ready and positive. So I prayed for hubby several times over and over in my head and eventually I went to sleep but it was not a good sleep. I kept hearing footsteps and voices and things from outside my door and thinking people were in my room. Then one time I saw my hubby standing over the bed and talking to me but I couldn’t speak or move and I forced myself to wake up finally only to realize he was not there! Another time I thought I saw a ghost or something moving in the room. Then after about 1 hour of terrible sleep I heard a loud knock at the door and there he was!! I did not have my glasses and so when I looked out the peephole I couldn’t see anybody just a maid cart so when I opened it and there he was it was such a surprise!! It was only 8:30... He was smiling but I still asked him if it went ok because it was soo early! And he said yeah I guess kind of..! And I said what do you mean?? And he said “Well they said I wasn’t eligible for the visa but……… I am eligible for the waiver! (Big stupid grin)” Well duh! Lol! I kicked his butt after that... I had made him swear before ever leaving to CDJ no fake outs!!!! Lol I was still in shock and I was so relieved it didn’t really hit me that everything was ok now... In fact each day is such a whirlwind and we haven’t really had much time alone that it STILL hasn’t hit me...
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
His appointment was at 8:45 originally but got changed to 6:30. He got there around 6:25 and was let in almost right away and was waiting inside for 2 hours. He said they are not even open at this hour and they waited a long time while people came around and cleaned and were told to move several times so the cleaning people could clean there. It was like a DMV with no one at the windows. Finally they started opening windows, first 1 then 2 and finally about 6 or 7 windows. Hubby got the same guy as Mr. C. He said the guy was American and very nice although he did ask a ton of questions. The guy talked to him automatically in English (is it that obvious that my hubby is that Americanized LOL) and they did the whole interview in English only. They did not need ANYTHING from all the paperwork he had brought – not one single thing not even the passport pictures. If anything they gave us papers back, they gave us back a birth and marriage certificate. It was sorta disappointing after all that hard work and making extra copies of everything! But we are of course happy and relieved.
Questions Asked:
Then he said ‘Sorry you are not eligible for the visa today but you are eligible for a waiver. Do you already have your appointment?” Hubby said yes and the officer said ok great, and gave him the paper, and that was it! He didn’t have to go and get instructions on the waiver or anything.
This is the paper they give you!!
We went down to breakfast which was just cereal and some bread and orange juice, coffee, and milk and we were looking at options where to go after this. Then we went upstairs and went back to sleep. The Cherokees woke us up a couple of hours later (lol this is becoming an every day occurrence :P) to see if we were down for another adventure! So we went to El Centro.. oooh my goodness don’t go there at least not the first part. Only go to where the Cathedral is and there is a MUCH calmer Mercado there. The first part where we got off, which is about 6-7 blocks before the Cathedral we got attacked! The cab hadn’t even stopped yet and a guy came up to my window and a guy came up to hubbys window and were saying things like “Welcome to Mexico!” and opening the doors for us while the cab was still moving. They kept harassing my hubby and following us all the way past the entrance.. I asked him what it was exactly they wanted and he said they each wanted us to go to their restaurant but it sounded like more than that because they kept saying oh I know of another entrance another place let’s go.. very shady !! We walked through the whole marketplace in like 2 minutes because people just jump out at you and surround you from all sides. You can’t look at anything because you will end up having to buy it. I saw soo many things we would have loved to buy but it was just way too high pressure. We almost literally ran through. Then as soon as we stepped outside people were in our face and shoving menus in our faces lol so we were pretty much stuck eating there. There were flies everywhere!! At least 20 vendors approached us as we were eating and we couldn’t fully relax. We saw a guy running and I looked up to see where he was running too… and we saw 3 blond white guys about 18-20 leaving in a cab and the guy somehow got the cab to stop and got the guys to get out..! They looked really confused and he led them inside... I felt so bad for them! I never saw them come out.. uh hope they were ok more blondies !!!
After that we walked to the Cathedral I was a bit nervous it was a downtown type area it looked like Downtown L.A. there was just a lot of people and hubby was sort of steering me around. The Mercado at the Cathedral is really nice at least compared to the other one and you can shop in peace like the ones here in L.A. Nobody is in your face or following you around like the other one. The Cherokees ended up getting a puppy after all! It’s the cutest pit-bull puppy ever. Hubby and I are jealous because we wanted it after that we went to the movie theatre that is in San Lorenzo (?) it was a nice looking mall and the movie theatre was nice and it is cheap only about 160 pesos for 4 tickets.. They had all kinds of food not like here in the U.S. where it is only popcorn and hot dogs. Here they had cheesecake, smoothies, ice cream, pizzas, Paninis, crepes, etc. wow... We wished that the ones in Cali were like this! We saw Dark Knight it was awesome.. I expected it to be voiced over in Spanish and possibly with English subtitles but it was all in English with Spanish subtitles! Try to go there if you get a chance its very close to Los Cedros but far enough that I wouldn't walk it take a cab.
Random Observations/Tips
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There are only 4 things that remind me I am here in Mexico. The first time I saw a Chihuahua license plate (and I thought what/where is that?? Lol here!) And when I start to see everything in Pesos, and when you see the big army vehicles, or the cops, or the private armored car thingys they have here. And at the Pharmacy where it had a sign with a little picture graphic of a guy with a mask and gun with a line through it saying No Robas! We have cameras here. And at the Viva Mexico where it says we don’t serve armed people here no exceptions.. lol what the heck?? Other than that it does not feel too different from L.A. !!
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Thursday, August 7th – FIRST APPOINTMENT FOR VISA! Total chaos this morning!! We stayed outside until midnight and I stayed up until I think around 1 organizing things and going over stuff which we ended up not needing lol then even after hubby was asleep I got in bed but something was telling me “get up if you want your visa” and it wouldn’t stop.. It was telling me “put the photos CD in the computer just test it out and go back to bed if you want your visa” LOL!! So I did and then I kept getting gut feelings to do other things and I ended up going to sleep sometime after 2am. So in the morning we were supposed to meet at 6am to take the shuttle to the consulate. Around 6 we get a call from Cherokee and Mr. Cherokee and hubby is freaking out and I’m still asleep and confused as to why he was freaking out and then I remembered the shuttle leaves at 6! What happened is that our alarm lets you set 2 alarms so we always set one for buzzer and one for the radio. Well we picked a bad station or something and it was just a guy talking and since we are used to having the TV on and had the TV on in the hotel it did not wake us up! And the buzzer did not go off at least not that I can remember! So he was getting dressed super fast and Cherokee called me back to say that it was leaving and did I want Mr. C to tell it to wait and I said yes. Then as hubby left still buttoning his shirt she called again and said that it had left!! But that several others had missed it and that it was coming back. Hubby ended up getting on with MMGCA and her hubby and a few other people. He was upset and still sleepy and I felt soo terrible. He didn’t think the shuttle was going to come back and wanted to take a cab because it was getting to be 6:20ish. Finally it came and I didn’t want to say goodbye and he waved goodbye and I was soo sad...
I went back to the room and tried to go back to sleep. I felt so bad that it happened with so much chaos. We weren’t nervous anymore after the pre-interview and wanted to be happy and ready and positive. So I prayed for hubby several times over and over in my head and eventually I went to sleep but it was not a good sleep. I kept hearing footsteps and voices and things from outside my door and thinking people were in my room. Then one time I saw my hubby standing over the bed and talking to me but I couldn’t speak or move and I forced myself to wake up finally only to realize he was not there! Another time I thought I saw a ghost or something moving in the room. Then after about 1 hour of terrible sleep I heard a loud knock at the door and there he was!! I did not have my glasses and so when I looked out the peephole I couldn’t see anybody just a maid cart so when I opened it and there he was it was such a surprise!! It was only 8:30... He was smiling but I still asked him if it went ok because it was soo early! And he said yeah I guess kind of..! And I said what do you mean?? And he said “Well they said I wasn’t eligible for the visa but……… I am eligible for the waiver! (Big stupid grin)” Well duh! Lol! I kicked his butt after that... I had made him swear before ever leaving to CDJ no fake outs!!!! Lol I was still in shock and I was so relieved it didn’t really hit me that everything was ok now... In fact each day is such a whirlwind and we haven’t really had much time alone that it STILL hasn’t hit me...
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
His appointment was at 8:45 originally but got changed to 6:30. He got there around 6:25 and was let in almost right away and was waiting inside for 2 hours. He said they are not even open at this hour and they waited a long time while people came around and cleaned and were told to move several times so the cleaning people could clean there. It was like a DMV with no one at the windows. Finally they started opening windows, first 1 then 2 and finally about 6 or 7 windows. Hubby got the same guy as Mr. C. He said the guy was American and very nice although he did ask a ton of questions. The guy talked to him automatically in English (is it that obvious that my hubby is that Americanized LOL) and they did the whole interview in English only. They did not need ANYTHING from all the paperwork he had brought – not one single thing not even the passport pictures. If anything they gave us papers back, they gave us back a birth and marriage certificate. It was sorta disappointing after all that hard work and making extra copies of everything! But we are of course happy and relieved.
Questions Asked:
- I see your vandalism charge but do you have any other arrests? No
- No problems with immigration? No
- Were you ever involved in any gangs? No
- Does your wife speak Spanish? Yes she understands most of it but she can’t really speak it
- Do you speak Spanish? Yes
- How long have you been together? / How did you meet? We met online and talked for 3 years then she lived with me and my parents for 3 years until we moved out to our own place
- When did you come to the U.S.? Approx 1987 or 1988
- How did you come to the U.S.? A coyote
- Where did you cross? I’m not sure in the desert
- Yes, but where? Somewhere around TJ
Then he said ‘Sorry you are not eligible for the visa today but you are eligible for a waiver. Do you already have your appointment?” Hubby said yes and the officer said ok great, and gave him the paper, and that was it! He didn’t have to go and get instructions on the waiver or anything.
This is the paper they give you!!
We went down to breakfast which was just cereal and some bread and orange juice, coffee, and milk and we were looking at options where to go after this. Then we went upstairs and went back to sleep. The Cherokees woke us up a couple of hours later (lol this is becoming an every day occurrence :P) to see if we were down for another adventure! So we went to El Centro.. oooh my goodness don’t go there at least not the first part. Only go to where the Cathedral is and there is a MUCH calmer Mercado there. The first part where we got off, which is about 6-7 blocks before the Cathedral we got attacked! The cab hadn’t even stopped yet and a guy came up to my window and a guy came up to hubbys window and were saying things like “Welcome to Mexico!” and opening the doors for us while the cab was still moving. They kept harassing my hubby and following us all the way past the entrance.. I asked him what it was exactly they wanted and he said they each wanted us to go to their restaurant but it sounded like more than that because they kept saying oh I know of another entrance another place let’s go.. very shady !! We walked through the whole marketplace in like 2 minutes because people just jump out at you and surround you from all sides. You can’t look at anything because you will end up having to buy it. I saw soo many things we would have loved to buy but it was just way too high pressure. We almost literally ran through. Then as soon as we stepped outside people were in our face and shoving menus in our faces lol so we were pretty much stuck eating there. There were flies everywhere!! At least 20 vendors approached us as we were eating and we couldn’t fully relax. We saw a guy running and I looked up to see where he was running too… and we saw 3 blond white guys about 18-20 leaving in a cab and the guy somehow got the cab to stop and got the guys to get out..! They looked really confused and he led them inside... I felt so bad for them! I never saw them come out.. uh hope they were ok more blondies !!!
After that we walked to the Cathedral I was a bit nervous it was a downtown type area it looked like Downtown L.A. there was just a lot of people and hubby was sort of steering me around. The Mercado at the Cathedral is really nice at least compared to the other one and you can shop in peace like the ones here in L.A. Nobody is in your face or following you around like the other one. The Cherokees ended up getting a puppy after all! It’s the cutest pit-bull puppy ever. Hubby and I are jealous because we wanted it after that we went to the movie theatre that is in San Lorenzo (?) it was a nice looking mall and the movie theatre was nice and it is cheap only about 160 pesos for 4 tickets.. They had all kinds of food not like here in the U.S. where it is only popcorn and hot dogs. Here they had cheesecake, smoothies, ice cream, pizzas, Paninis, crepes, etc. wow... We wished that the ones in Cali were like this! We saw Dark Knight it was awesome.. I expected it to be voiced over in Spanish and possibly with English subtitles but it was all in English with Spanish subtitles! Try to go there if you get a chance its very close to Los Cedros but far enough that I wouldn't walk it take a cab.
Random Observations/Tips
- - TIME GOES SOOOO SLOW HERE. Seriously after 2 days it feels like a week and after a week it feels like a month. Even the times when you are having fun go slow!!
- - The drivers are as crazy as everyone says (I did not believe lol)
- - A lot of places look like they are closed when they are NOT!!
- - The taxis will usually take the long way and (sometimes) rip you off but this happens anywhere and in the U.S. too and it can still be the safest and/or best and/or most comfortable option...
- - Obviously do NOT watch the news here... Hubby had it on accidentally for like 20 seconds the other day and it was talking about a body found I think in a dumpster and I was yelling at him to change it lol but that stuck in my head dude!! Later when we were out I just kept thinking about that lol
- - The things that people say take them with a grain of salt. Some things that people tell you will be true, and if it is a direct experience, but other things are just absolutely untrue.
- - People here suck at giving directions/give bad directions. The cabs also go the long way or they go some weird way. I don’t know if it just because the streets are all desmadre or what but we got some bad directions that day when we were lost lol
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There are only 4 things that remind me I am here in Mexico. The first time I saw a Chihuahua license plate (and I thought what/where is that?? Lol here!) And when I start to see everything in Pesos, and when you see the big army vehicles, or the cops, or the private armored car thingys they have here. And at the Pharmacy where it had a sign with a little picture graphic of a guy with a mask and gun with a line through it saying No Robas! We have cameras here. And at the Viva Mexico where it says we don’t serve armed people here no exceptions.. lol what the heck?? Other than that it does not feel too different from L.A. !!
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