The Score 0-2

The visa office: 2
R + S: 0

We spent last Thursday waiting at the visa office for 6 hours, at least we received an appointment this week. It was an adventure, not unsimilar to the moments in school while you are sitting in class anticipating the presentation that you are about to give in front of everyone. Excitement and anxiety, but the stakes were higher.

We ran into a girl from S's German language class and waited in line with her for the duration of our application period. She was 19 and was born in the USSR and had grown up in Israel. She hadn't come entirely prepared but we lent her an extra application and helped her figure out how to convert her $100 to € for the application fee while we waited in line (exchange with a taxi driver). My suburban upbringing seemed to pale in comparison to the fictional stories I was imagining about her life. But we shared very few insights about our pasts, focusing on the significance of the present situation. She did mention that she was avoiding the mandatory military service and that no one would ever wait in line for 6 hours in Israel, "people would start killing each other" (she attributed this to the heat). In the end she received a 2 year visa, congratulations A.

We met with a middle-aged woman for the interview, in an office that she shared with a male clerk. Essentially she grilled me, even though our translator said she was optimistic about my responses. She still required us to obtain 3 additional documents to clarify the documents that we had provided. I think this will be possible and the next round is set for January 31st.