All my documents finally came together and I received the call on Wednesday afternoon informing me that my exam date was set for the next day at 8:30 am. Earlier that day I'd gotten nervous that I hadn't heard from my contact yet or that they weren't answering the phones, and stopped by the offices to check in person. I was told to hang on, they'd be calling soon. So I did. Sure enough, the call came through around 4-ish.
The next day, we packed ourselves into the truck early, made it over to Secretary of Exterior Relations, where we only waited about 10 minutes before I was called in to submit my documents, take my exam, do my fingerprints, pay, and then we said our goodbyes. Altogether, the process took about 2 hours- not bad considering the electricity went out in the offices while we were there. Now, I wait 4-6 months to hear the official response- was my application for citizenship granted or not.
I'm not telling the entire story because I am, frankly, tired out from the process but more so from the fact that my baby daughter got sick for the first time ever, the day after. She and her dad both started to cough, and try as I might have, I simply could not figure out where she got it from. I think it was a combination of things. But this evening as I was putting her to bed- she almost all better after 48 short hrs- I recalled something that struck me as remarkable this past Thursday. Her and my own adaptability- I'm really not bragging, maybe simply reflecting on how flexible life forces us to be.
From the moment we found out we'd be having her, I knew my life was about to pass through a number of intense changes, not too unlike moving to Mexico. So many things in my pregnancy prepared me for what was to come as a mother. And again, this citizenship seeking process, as difficult as it has been at times, has prepared me for things that lie ahead. The baby has kept up- perhaps even exceeded me- every step of the way in terms of adaptability. To illustrate, when she was a newborn, I felt frightened to take her out anywhere- it made me nervous that places that stress me out, such as long lines, chaotic streets, etc., would in turn be hard places to take her to.
At first, it really was hard- diaper changes or nursing out on the streets, even in my mother in-law's dark bedroom, were often a cause of screams and tears and anxiety for all of us. But how far she has come- in five short months- to being able to get her diaper changed and be nursed, on the floor of the Insurgentes Metro station in the heart of Mexico City, still all smiles- all of us! That's pretty impressive, in my opinion. I, an American, and my husband, a Mexican, brought an American Mexican (how d'you like that flipped script for our daughter) into this world. And now not just my husband, but she too, is ushering me newly into this world as a naturalized Mexican (if all goes well). I think that's a fair, albeit rather unexpected twist on things.
The next day, we packed ourselves into the truck early, made it over to Secretary of Exterior Relations, where we only waited about 10 minutes before I was called in to submit my documents, take my exam, do my fingerprints, pay, and then we said our goodbyes. Altogether, the process took about 2 hours- not bad considering the electricity went out in the offices while we were there. Now, I wait 4-6 months to hear the official response- was my application for citizenship granted or not.
I'm not telling the entire story because I am, frankly, tired out from the process but more so from the fact that my baby daughter got sick for the first time ever, the day after. She and her dad both started to cough, and try as I might have, I simply could not figure out where she got it from. I think it was a combination of things. But this evening as I was putting her to bed- she almost all better after 48 short hrs- I recalled something that struck me as remarkable this past Thursday. Her and my own adaptability- I'm really not bragging, maybe simply reflecting on how flexible life forces us to be.
From the moment we found out we'd be having her, I knew my life was about to pass through a number of intense changes, not too unlike moving to Mexico. So many things in my pregnancy prepared me for what was to come as a mother. And again, this citizenship seeking process, as difficult as it has been at times, has prepared me for things that lie ahead. The baby has kept up- perhaps even exceeded me- every step of the way in terms of adaptability. To illustrate, when she was a newborn, I felt frightened to take her out anywhere- it made me nervous that places that stress me out, such as long lines, chaotic streets, etc., would in turn be hard places to take her to.
At first, it really was hard- diaper changes or nursing out on the streets, even in my mother in-law's dark bedroom, were often a cause of screams and tears and anxiety for all of us. But how far she has come- in five short months- to being able to get her diaper changed and be nursed, on the floor of the Insurgentes Metro station in the heart of Mexico City, still all smiles- all of us! That's pretty impressive, in my opinion. I, an American, and my husband, a Mexican, brought an American Mexican (how d'you like that flipped script for our daughter) into this world. And now not just my husband, but she too, is ushering me newly into this world as a naturalized Mexican (if all goes well). I think that's a fair, albeit rather unexpected twist on things.
