June 14th - June 19th
The start of the trip was a little confusing. I planned to go camping in the Delaware Water Gap area with my family and then head down to Richmond, VA where Juhi (a friend from HotJobs) was going to meet me. The Wednesday before I was leaving, I came back from moving all my stuff into storage and got a letter from the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) notifying me that my final interview was the following Tuesday. I knew that the interview was coming up,but didn't expect it this soon. Needless to say I had to come back to the city.
Thursday, June 14th, Delaware Water Gap
Thursday morning, Raeford (my brother) and I drove up, just north of Fort Jervis. After driving around for a couple of hours we found a nice campsite right on the river. We had a wonderful evening except when he almost sliced his hand off with my new Martha Stewart knife! Go Martha - I can't say her products sucks.
The next day we had wanted to go canoeing or something but with his hand, we didn't want to risk it. So we lounged around and went to the local 'bar' for some lunch. Some young kid enthusiastically told us that it was the only bar in the Delaware Water Gap area but it seemed kinda seedy to us. The outside terrace was quite nice though - it looked right onto the rapids.
When we came back from lunch, Shash, Tanya and James had arrived. A friend of Tanya's, Caroline got there just after that. Another dinner cooked on the fire and I was really starting to get into the camping vibe.
The next day we went canoeing down the river - 11 miles down river. My arms were definitely killing me in parts, but we took our time so it was very enjoyable.
We got back to the campsite, I took a shower and started dinner. Then it started to rain. We had hung up a tarp from one of the trees to some sticks balanced in the ground. The rain kept on collecting in it so it wasn't working too well. I carried on cooking while the others held up the tarp to prevent the water from collapsing the whole structure. We laughed hysterically as it was poured down. We all got soaked.
We finally ate (in the rain), packed up our stuff and went to the bar for a drink. The bar was interesting, full of local youngsters (says me) that obviously work at the campsites and rafting places in the area. We sat outside, had a couple of drinks and went back to sleep peacefully in our tents.
Sunday, we packed up, went to that same place for lunch and head home - wait, I don't have a home anymore - went back to the city.
Tuesday, June 19th, INS Interview
After spending the whole of Monday running around gathering paperwork for the INS interview, it went quite well. Only had to wait half an hour and then the interview was only about 20 minutes. And yes all was successful. The guy asked me a few simple questions, which I answered calmly but I think it was the photos that sealed the deal. Now I am officially a permanent resident of the United States of America!