Immigration and Thanksgiving

Hello all.  I hope you had a nice holiday.  I enjoyed the holidays by sitting in class with lectures and more lectures on endocrinology and nutrition.  I assure you that your holiday was a lot better than mine.  But before I get to that, let me explain immigration.

When I first got to the island, they stamped my passport for 6 months because that's what they did with the students before us.  The school sent an email notification of a new immigration requirement about 2 weeks before starting classes about this new requirement.  So the policy is now we, the students,  are required to pay for a student visa in which the students before us did not have to pay.  The cost of the student visa that last 3 years is in total, $600.  $100 for the application fee and $500 for the stamp.  Yes, that is a lot of money that one would have to budget for and it is consistent with my statement that your first semester is your most expensive semester.

Last semester, the immigration department was supposed to come to the school to process our paperwork but they failed to do so until this semester.  They came to the school last week to collect money from the students.  I gave them my passport and the money to receive a certificate valid for one year and a stamp in my passport.  I am no longer an illegal alien but yes I did just state that I received a certificate that last a year.  Apparently, I need to use my time to retrieve another.  But who knows?! Sometimes things change and processes change.  I am just complying.

I would like to also point out that the way of life in Anguilla is not similar to that of the United States.  In the United States, we are accustomed to getting everything very quickly and efficiently.  In Anguilla, it is not apart of their culture to be so.  I do like that if I need something that people will cater to you but in other things, it may be some things that move at a slower process than what we may be used to.  It is apart of the experience in another country.  So schools, grocery stores and salutations are all different.  But it may be what works for their country opposed to what we are used to.  It is just like we learn in ethics class, their (Anguillians) quality of life may be different than ours.

So to move away from that and talk about an American tradition which kind of contradicts what I just said.  A lot of students were really missing home so it would only be right to have potluck Thanksgiving dinners together.  I must say that I reaped the benefits of having a full belly but not a full mind.  I will have to make this up in my studying for certain.

Thanksgiving potluck in Anguilla

Thanksgiving was filled with dishes that included a little taste of home.  Now more than ever, we miss our families cooking and gatherings that we would have.  And just to think that we will be home in less than 3 weeks.  The only thing in my way is 3 presentations, 1 assignment and 5 exams.  You know, that now sounds like a lot.  I'm going to go study now.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

-Genesis 3:1-13, KJV