Well, I’ve moved into my new house. The bottom floor is all mine, just a couple of rooms, not to much space to rattle around in, It’s small, but it’s mine.
I’m glad for the independance, just wish it didn’t feel so empty.
Just been to see Indiana Jones and was quite surprised, I was expecting to be blogging today about how George Lucas had finally killed my inner child (which he did batter to within an inch of its life with star wars *shudder) but I really enjoyed this latest incarnation of Dr Jones. Yes, Harrison Ford is getting old, but it didn’t show. The plot stretches things just a little, but no more than any previous movie. Wouldn’t mind watching it again to be honest.
In other news, we’re about a week away from going up to Washington, really looking forward to getting out of the desert. I just don’t understand why anyone would live in Phoenix by choice, suppose some people just like being trapped indoors / roasted alive on a daily basis.
The letting agency (VS Webb) I rented my old house from are refusing to return the deposit claiming the house was left in an appalling state because we left a couple of bits of furniture. The house wasn’t clean when we moved in, the kitchen fell apart as soon as we looked at it (and we were even told we needed a new one several times!!) and on and on and on. Have to wonder what they expect from a damp vintage Victorian terrace. The deposit is only £350 so it’s not worth the effort fight and get it back, I would spend more than that just getting a few legal letters sent.
Missing everyone back in the UK loads, hope you’re all ok. We’re in a terrible routine here at the moment, tend to sleep most of the day away and get up mid to late afternoon as it starts to cool down. Going to try and stay up and make some phone calls in the morning. Love to everyone :x
Oh, and if you ever wondered why teaspoons vanish from communal kitchens, there has been a study…
We arrived very smoothly at Phoenix airport and were very quickly off the plane and meeting up with miya’s sister and brother in law who had kindly come to pick us up. Nipped out for a quick smoke while we waited for our baggage to come down and went from feeling ok to drained in a few seconds upon leaving the air conditioned building.
It’s hot here, very hot, very very very wall-of-heat hot. The temperature outside is in the low 90′s at times so you spend your day running from one air conditioned oasis to the next. But I digress…
We just about managed to fit the 5 of us and luggage in the car and drove to miya’s parents house where we’re staying for the next month, the only thing that stuck with me from the journey was how cold the air conditioning was and how big all the cars and trucks are.
I was a little aprehensive meeting miya’s parents and very aware that after 25 hours on the move how frazzled we all were. miya’s mother is wonderful and I just hugged her as soon as I walked in the door. After some introductions we dumped our bags and all went out to Dennys for some proper solid food.
The next couple of days are a bit of a blur, between not sleeping much and traveling round shopping I’m not sure what happened. We’ve eaten out quite a bit, drove miles between shops and bought a car. Jet lag sucks.
Phoenix is mostly beige and consists mainly of cacti, scrub and rocks. Mornings and evenings are cool, during the day you just bake. Everything is a lot cheaper than in England.
It’s great :)
Landing in Atlanta was bouncy on the way in, but there is nothing like the feeling when the plane stops on solid ground. The plane is running late but we have a few hours before our connecting flight.
The next two hours were probably the worst of my life. Because of the length of my visit without a visa (89 days, right up to the very limit) and not doing the usual tourist thing – my passport was placed in an orange folder and I was taken for an interview. There were about 20 people waiting for their entry to be cleared when I arrived, a single desk with two immigration officers and voices that carry.
An hour later my turn came up and I ended up with officer Garcia, who, having watched knew to be a slime ball. He wanted to know why I didnt have my return plane tickets (that you don’t get till you check in on the day your’re about to fly), what I was doing in the US, why I didn’t have enough cash in my purse to last 3 months, who I was staying with and on and on and on.
He decided to rummage in my bag and look through all the photo’s on my digital camera. Not good. I had foolishly not deleted all the pictures before I flew (some of which were VERY personal). He took the camera to the back room, ten mins later he invited a collegue to come in and have a look, ten mins later he came out still looking!
Decided to look through my laptop but thankfully I don’t think computers were his thing.
Then he found my change of name documents and birth certificate and his attitude went from bad to downright sour. Eventully after a lot of typing he said..
“Against my better judgement and as its your first time here, I’m going to let you enter the US”
OMG – SInce when did entering the US depend on a clerc’s better judgement!! I really hope all the shit he has typed on my file doesn’t impact future visa requests.
I was in shock. I took my stuff and got out of there as quicly as I could to meet up with miya and Sarah. It felt like my world had just split in two and half of me was going back to the UK.
I never never never ever want to find my life in the hands of some random guy again.
The rest of the journey I was drained, on the flight to Phoenix was next to the emergency exit and it was drafty, spent the whole trip with miya curled up in my lap dozing. Next stop Arizona.
To be continued…