Baba's US visa!
I’ve just completed my 4th trip to Dakar, this time on my own terms - and with Baba in tow. We spent about 10 days there and had a great time. The main purpose was to go and have our interview for the immigrant visa to go to the US. I was so nervous about it, but in the end it turned out wonderfully! We arrived at the Embassy at 7 AM only to be told that the photos we brought were the incorrect dimensions, and therefore we would have to go find a photo shop open to take new photos. At 7 AM nothing was open and the first place didn’t open until 8. I was discouraged. 7 AM and problems already? Despite having a perfect set of documents to hand over to the Embassy officials, I felt that the photo issue was a foreboding warning.
We arrived back at the Embassy around 8:30 and were finally allowed to enter. Unlike the US Embassy in Bamako, I wasn’t harassed about why I wanted to enter my own Embassy, but things went rather smoothly. Then came the waiting. After three and a half hours of sitting and waiting they finally called Baba’s name. This was it: he was going to be interviewed and we were going to get our visa (insh’allah). He was asked to swear to the accuracy of the documents that we gave them and then the questions started. “Where did you meet Sara?” “How long has she lived in Mali?” “What are your plans when you go to America?” “What are Sara’s plans?” “Where are you living?” “Does Sara have any siblings? If so, where do they live?” “Have you met members of Sara’s family yet?” The questions were amazingly simple, especially compared to the questions that other Africans seeking their visas were being asked. While I could hear all of the questions being asked of Baba, we couldn’t see each other – which was probably for the best. Each time he would get an answer just a little bit wrong (ie, saying that I moved to Mali in August 2006 instead of July), I would cringe and I was sure that that was the end of our visa searching. After about 10 minutes of me cringing, I heard the interviewer say, “Okay, come back on Tuesday on 2.” Come back on Tuesday at 2? What does that even mean? So I immediately shot up from my chair and went to the window asking, “Tuesday? 2? What does it all mean? Do we find out Tuesday if we got it or?!?!” I was like a frantic animal, it was pretty embarrassing. She looked at me, very sympathetically and said, “You’ve passed the interview, don’t worry.” The proverbial 100 lbs were lifted off of my shoulders. We passed? Are you serious? I wasn’t sure I believe it all. We spent $800 on the visa alone and waited for almost 4 hours and we passed. Baba and I just looked at each other and smiled.
Once we excited the Embassy, I was practically jumping up and down with excitement and Baba was just as smooth and cool as ever. I kept asking him, “Are you excited? Are you excited?” “Yes, Fatoumata, I’m very excited!” was his response. I didn’t quite believe him at first, but I know that he’s stoked. I called my Mom and Sister and said, “Baba’s coming to America!” They’re excitement was awesome too.
We arrived back at the Embassy around 8:30 and were finally allowed to enter. Unlike the US Embassy in Bamako, I wasn’t harassed about why I wanted to enter my own Embassy, but things went rather smoothly. Then came the waiting. After three and a half hours of sitting and waiting they finally called Baba’s name. This was it: he was going to be interviewed and we were going to get our visa (insh’allah). He was asked to swear to the accuracy of the documents that we gave them and then the questions started. “Where did you meet Sara?” “How long has she lived in Mali?” “What are your plans when you go to America?” “What are Sara’s plans?” “Where are you living?” “Does Sara have any siblings? If so, where do they live?” “Have you met members of Sara’s family yet?” The questions were amazingly simple, especially compared to the questions that other Africans seeking their visas were being asked. While I could hear all of the questions being asked of Baba, we couldn’t see each other – which was probably for the best. Each time he would get an answer just a little bit wrong (ie, saying that I moved to Mali in August 2006 instead of July), I would cringe and I was sure that that was the end of our visa searching. After about 10 minutes of me cringing, I heard the interviewer say, “Okay, come back on Tuesday on 2.” Come back on Tuesday at 2? What does that even mean? So I immediately shot up from my chair and went to the window asking, “Tuesday? 2? What does it all mean? Do we find out Tuesday if we got it or?!?!” I was like a frantic animal, it was pretty embarrassing. She looked at me, very sympathetically and said, “You’ve passed the interview, don’t worry.” The proverbial 100 lbs were lifted off of my shoulders. We passed? Are you serious? I wasn’t sure I believe it all. We spent $800 on the visa alone and waited for almost 4 hours and we passed. Baba and I just looked at each other and smiled.
Once we excited the Embassy, I was practically jumping up and down with excitement and Baba was just as smooth and cool as ever. I kept asking him, “Are you excited? Are you excited?” “Yes, Fatoumata, I’m very excited!” was his response. I didn’t quite believe him at first, but I know that he’s stoked. I called my Mom and Sister and said, “Baba’s coming to America!” They’re excitement was awesome too.
I tried teaching Baba the art of the jumping photo - not too shabby! Visa in hand, it would have been better infront of the Embassy, but this is a start!So, in a few months, we’ll be in North Carolina – now it’s for sure!
