on monday, we went to the british consulate to apply for my spouse visa. as requested, we brought a binder full of personal information: passports, marriage certificate, financial statements, mortgage info, photos and cards to show that we have not entered into a sham marriage, letters of support from friends and family, print-outs of emails and blog entries. we discovered, however, that they only wanted the bare essentials (read: ridiculously expensive application fee) and it only took about an hour and a half from start to finish. HOORAY!
so, with a genuine spouse visa stamped in my passport (HOORAY!), we headed to the statue of liberty and ellis island.
after a rainy weekend, it was lovely to see the statue of liberty in all her dignified glory standing tall against the blue sky.
i love her foot. the gentle curve, the casual stance, breaking free from the chains of oppression, ready to stride out on her own path.
i found it particularly poignant to visit ellis island after my own battles with visas and immigration in the past few months.
we didn't have time to look up my grandma's name in the database, but we enjoyed walking through the museum.
tuesday morning we went to the top of the empire state building. everything looks so small from up there...
no signs of king kong, though.
here is a confession: i have never particularly liked new york. it is crowded, noisy, stressful, claustrophobic with all those tall buildings surrounding you. but i had a very different experience there this time. i think that living in london for the past two years has changed my perception. i am used to walking everywhere and taking the tube to get across town. i am used to weaving through the human traffic and dodging groups and tourists. london has a population of 7 million; new york has 8 million. that one million does make a difference, especially since manhattan is more condensed than london, but i didn't find it as initimidating as before.
in fact, i enjoyed noticing the patterns from above.
now that i read so many craft blogs, i was thinking in terms of quilt patterns. too bad i don't sew!
and how could i resist all the delicious treats? we stopped for cakes on bleeker street.
and i enjoyed a cupcake in central park one afternoon.
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we are now settling into life as mr. and mrs. d (!) by rights, i should change the name of this blog, but i still like the subtle pun on FCUK using my initials.
people keep asking how it feels to be married. we are having a good time so far!
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