seven eight 78

A momentous day.  Filled with mixed emotions. Brimming with feeling.  A long, full day.

We travelled close to 100 miles (160km), all the way to Gardner, where my Naturalization ceremony was held at Wachusett Community College.

For some reason I was chosen to go there, on today's date, and Tim and Nick will go to a different venue, together, next week.  I was initially distressed about that, but it is virtually impossible to change your appointment, you actually have to go in to the USCIS (US citizen and immigration services) building in Lawrence, which is a fair way to go, and try to see someone there who could change it for you.  There is nothing to be done online or over the phone.  Bureaucracy. 

I am also not really one for ceremonies, which is the reason why Tim and I just went one day and were married in the registry office.

So I wasn't really looking forward to this day.  It seemed like something I was just forced to do, and by myself.  Tim of course refused to let me go on my own and he accompanied me, which was lovely, but I wish we could have stood together, next to one another, for this milestone, just as we have for all the others in our lives. 

There were 222 people becoming new Americans. All the USCIS officers were incredibly kind and sweet to everyone.  It was as though they genuinely cared about us all.  It seemed as though they wanted this day to be really special.  

The director of the Lawrence branch of USCIS seemed very genuine too. I was really impressed by how cheering and pleasant they all were.  They must do this so many times, you could understand if they did not have much enthusiasm left for the task, but no, they joked with people, helped put everyone at ease, and smiled and smiled, as if they were so happy that we had finally arrived!

The director told us that he understood how immigrants feel because he is himself a naturalized citizen.  He is Portuguese, and arrived when he was ten years old.  At school, his teacher welcomed him through an interpreter, talking about America being a melting pot.  He had no idea what she could mean, all he could think of was a pot being forgotten on the stove and boiling over maybe.

Some of the examples I found.

She said to him, 'Well, does your mother make soup?"
He thought, "Lady, we're Portuguese, we live on soup!"
"Well, what goes into the soup?" she asked.
"Er... potatoes, carrots.... onions, celery... herbs..."
"Exactly, and all those ingredients together make the soup taste good, don't they?"

It was a sweet albeit clichéd story, which for some inexplicable reason made me weep, and when he was finished talking, he welcomed us, saying "And now today there are 222 new ingredients!"  He also urged us not to give up our cultures, our traditions, our languages, and especially not our foods!  America would be a very boring place if we all became the same, he said.  (Which is a nice theory.)

Eventually, after two hours, a judge from the Supreme court of Massachusetts arrived, a sweet old man with a pink shirt, tan-coloured trousers, white socks and funny brown pull-on shoes. There was some official legal language, and then we all stood to say "I pledge allegiance to the flag of...."
It is weird, this thing with flags, but I will leave that for another day.  And then a woman sang the National Anthem while we all held our hands on our hearts and looked at said flag.  And then there was a televised message from Barack Obama, and we were given our certificates.  The man called my name which was apparently "Anna", which made my heart sink because we had been told to check them for mistakes and if there was something wrong they would have to be redone then and there, which would mean more waiting!  But luckily he had just pronounced the "e" for some reason.    

Afterwards we wanted to have a celebratory lunch, but decided that we would all have one when Matthew goes for his ceremony, hopefully in July sometime, when he is back from Senegal.

Also, I had to get back to school.  I had thought that I would be back in time to teach Stop-motion Animation to my Student Exploration Project (SEP) group, but the ceremony took until 1 o'clock!  So my director had to look after my little class, and when I finally got there they had apparently been practicing for my arrival, and broke into a spirited version of the Star-spangled Banner!  It was so sweet of them that I stood there overflowing with delight, and pride, and love, really.

What a long way I have journeyed today.  Altogether, 219 miles (352km), which is almost the same as driving from Grahamstown to Knysna!

And what a long way we have journeyed to this point in time.  I am happy to be able to vote, and I am sure there are other benefits to being a citizen, but of course my soul looks back at my roots, and there they are, in the sandy soil of Cape Town, reaching into the salty spray of the Indian ocean, deep under the Pecan-nut tree in the garden of that old Settler house, beloved number 16 Cross street, where we all grew.

16 Cross Street, Grahamstown, our very fine house.