The Postponement

As I explained in a previous post, this year we applied to be citizens of the United States. For some unknown reason Alegna was approved for her oath ceremony a month before I was. I described my experiences as a spectator on that post, but today it was my turn to become a citizen.

The ceremony was mostly the same as the one I saw with Alegna. You could see that they have a script on how things should move. First they sit everyone on some predefined sections so when the time comes to hand you your certificate they know where to find you. This takes a long time. Today, there were 954 people getting their certificates. We got there at 10:30 AM and they were finally done with this process at 12 PM. The main difference between our ceremonies at this stage was the soundtrack. Someone put some effort in setting up the playlist for my ceremony. You could hear Don McLean's American Pie, Neil Diamond's Coming to America, Simon and Garfunkel's America many renditions of America the Beautiful and God Bless America and my personal favorite was the Animaniacs nations of the world song.

After that we heard some short speeches from the USCIS, Homeland Security and League of Women Voters representatives. Finally, the judge came in and we prepared for the oath. I cannot deny that saying the oath out loud is very different than just listening to it. I think the words are designed to evoke the seriousness of what you are doing. You are becoming a citizen of another country, this is a big deal. It was an emotional moment. Then we sat down and we heard a speech from the judge welcoming us as new citizens. I have to say that the only two times I have seen a judge in this country (both ceremonies), I have been very impressed by them. They have been charismatic and human, but you can also sense some sort of respectable aura that humbles you. This judge appropriately quoted one of my favorite thinkers, Alexis de Tocqueville about how the strength of the democratic institutions comes from the people from the bottom up. Unfortunately, I could not find the exact quote on Google to post it here.

Finally we did the pledge of allegiance, national anthem and all of a sudden I have a paper in my hands that says I am a citizen of the United States of America. The country of my children, the country that has given me plenty of opportunities to have a much better life than the one I would have been condemned to had I stayed in my own. Am I living the American dream? Every time I am mowing my lawn I somehow seem to think that I am.

I decided to register to vote so I filled the form and gave it to the nice women who were working there as volunteers. I also applied for my US passport. It was a little unnerving that they keep the original certificate. They said the would mail it in with my passport. Now I suddenly find myself without any kind of documentation that proves that I am a legal resident of this country. But then again, so does every American citizen.

The Visa

This year both Alegna and I were eligible to become US citizens. We filled out all our forms together, got our fingerprints taken and went through the interviews at the same time. But, for some strange reason, we received our invitation to take the oath of allegiance on different days. Today Alegna became an American citizen while I have to wait until probably September.

We woke up this morning and debated on whether Lucas should attend the ceremony or not. Luckily we decided against it and dropped him off at daycare on our way to Worcester, where today's ceremony was scheduled to happen. We got there at 10:30 AM and Alegna went through all the process while I was sitting in the guest section with Matias. It was a long ceremony that consisted of mostly waiting for everyone to come into the room. Lucas would have lost it. It finally started at 12 and it lasted about an hour. During this whole time I was sitting with Matias on a very crowded theater with not much wiggle room, but he was great as always. He didn't cry once. He kind of complained a little bit when it was time to eat, but once I fed him his bottle he was OK again.

The ceremony was very nice. They did their oath, then recited the pledge of allegiance and listened to the national anthem. There were some nice moments like when they started calling country names and anyone originally born there would stand up. It was a very festive environment designed to make the new citizens feel welcome. The oath of allegiance is interesting in that you are renouncing allegiance to your own country. I think it is kind of a bittersweet feeling. On the one hand you are becoming a citizen of the most important country in the world, in my opinion as significant as being a citizen of Rome during the Roman Empire. But on the other hand you are renouncing the country that made you who you are. These bittersweet taste quickly went away with some very wise and moving words from the judge presiding the ceremony. "You are renouncing allegiance to you government, not to your country or culture". That's when it hit me, I have already renounced to the Venezuelan government, probably about 17 years ago, renouncing to my "Venezuelaness" is probably impossible because it is part of who I am. I am always going to enjoy an Arepa and celebrate goals by the Vinotinto. But, I'm sure going to be proud to also become an American. The country where both my sons were born, where I had the opportunity to get a job, buy a house and live in peace. I most certainly will enjoy my rights to live, be free and be happy.

What did I Watch?
Kong: Skull Island: The best word I could come up to describe this movie is "Blah". Apparently they are setting up this whole "Monsterverse" where they will have Kong fighting Godzilla, Mothra, etc. in future movies.