Well I see I've not blogged in awhile. At night when I'm tired I know I have a lot to say but not the mental energy to express it. But now's a good time. Beto's making pizza for dinner :), mom rocked Santi to sleep, and the house is quiet.
Last week we enjoyed a trip to seattle. We flew Beto back to Guatemala to visit his family. He was also able to take a bus over to Honduras where he picked up a lot of our items, like our laptop!, that we left there since we left Guatemala in June unexplectedly. Beto also made a trip up to La Esperanza and got to see all our friends there (i'm a little jealous). He said he is more excited now to go back in June after having such a great time there this trip.
We wanted Beto to fly to Seattle and go through customs there since my cousin works as an officer and could stamp his passport. Even though he has a 10 year visa, the act of living here for five months, leaving only 2.5 weeks and then coming back looks really bad to immigration.
The only planes straight to seattle from close to Guatemala was through Mexico. When we came in June we didn't have a problem flying through Mexico, although we did have to purchase a Mexican transit VISA just to have a layover. I guess the laws have changed and since I wasn't with Beto they said it was impossible for him to fly through Mexico, even though he had all the paperwork and we'd already purchased the tickets. Well, we lost those tickets completely. At the airport they told him to go to the Mexican embassy and at the embassy they said there wasn't anything they could do, that he had to go to the internet and research what he shoudl do. He did find out and had to open a Guatemalan bank account and have proof of having a job there. Of course he didn't have that.
So we had to buy him a new ticket which stopped in Dallas first which means he had to go through customs there, but there wasn't anything else he could do. All this means that he could've flown to LA all along. In Dallas they detained him, treated him bad, called him a liar, and said they were going to send him back to Guatemala. He told them he could call my cousin and that he was married to a citizen, but they didn't want to hear it, saying it didn't matter and it wasn't important. Finally while going through all his bags they found pictures of us when I was pregnant. Then they began to settle down and finally called my cousin and me and let him go. Beto was very mad but my cousin said they think most people like him are lying and treat everyone in his situation like that.
The good thing is that Beto was able to visit with his best friend who's from Guatemala but now lives in Dallas. He came to the airport and went out to lunch. It was a very short visit but high quality.
It was so cold in Seatlle that we all came back sick, except for Beto, and mom has Pneumonia. We are very glad to be back with Seth as well.
Mom still wanted to go out and run errands but we forced her to stay inside like mean people. We have to make sure she stays in and gets better.
Yeah, mean people. Dr. D calls it tough love!!!!! MAKE HER REST that crazy grandma. Santi needs someone to play with . . . make her SIT and hold him!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys are all back together again. Tell your Mom and the LB Church I said hello.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just Beto. I had to deal with customs in LA a couple of months back when we picked up a casket shipped from Africa. They didn't treat me badly, just treated me as if I were a nobody and they were far superior to me. Or anyone else. Robots could have done as good a job, if not better.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Janice being sick. This is not a good time of year to be sick! Tell her next time to be sick in the summer. :)
Laura,
ReplyDeleteYour work in Honduras has really excited my youngest son, Adam. He has a heart for children, and has spent time Mexico, the 'Little Village' community in Chicago, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. I can tell by the questions he's asked me (which I can't answer) that he would love to come help you in Honduras.
Kevin