Citizen Cabal

Last Thursday (and apparently ever since seeing as I'm still thinking about it hard enough to blog about it), the Cabal family had a HUGE reason to celebrate. Alvaro went to his scheduled United States citizenship exam and passed with a grade of 100%. He and I were under the impression that we would have to wait until March for the next swearing in ceremony. But lo and behold, he was told there would be a ceremony that afternoon and would he like to attend. So he calls me to see if I can leave work at 1:30 to go with him. His concern was that we have a list of about 25 people who have been telling us for two years that a big highlight in their life would be if they could attend Alvaro's citizenship ceremony. But since most of Alvaro's family are still in Colombia, we decided to attend the ceremony immediately so he could leave the country with his US passport if he needed to make an emergency trip to Colombia.

I figured it would be like running cattle through a line to get your certificate and then while everyone's children were running around Alvaro would say his oath of citizenship and then we'd all herd out. But boy was I wrong! It was an hour long ceremony in which I exhausted at least 6 tissues. A lady sitting in front of us, probably in her 80s, was so touched by the experience that I decided to shed a few tears of joy for her too.

Alvaro has been waiting to realize this dream since he was a young boy. He told his parents early on that he would be a United States citizen and he hasn't stopped his patient waiting through all the fingerprinting, documents and interviews since that time. Congratulations to my sweet husband and his love for both cultures making him who he is. We are richer because of our adoption of each other's countries and cultures.

Playful!!

Before I met Alvaro's parents in Colombia, I met his brother Ciro. When his parents asked, "What is she like?" he said, "Rachel is a female Alvaro". And I think he was right. We are both pretty goofy and we play off each other's silliness . Does that mean soul mate? I don't know but I do know that Alvaro and I have tons of fun together! Here is a video from our recent vacation to California. The reason I stop filming was because Alvaro started getting really nervous about how close I was to the edge of the cliff where we were standing.

Laughing, having fun and not being afraid of being silly is a huge part of our relationship. It's so freeing to have someone who won't ever think I'm strange or immature...actually I guess we both embrace our inner child. And that's true for arguments too. Sometimes adults are childish in our rants, selfishness and sense of entitlement.

I recently saw a blog post talking about letting go of ego so that we can blurt more building up language than tearing down language. Seeing other people participate in behavior that I often take part in helps me to just accept that we are all human and imperfect...and more able to forgive and overlook hurts and perceived emotional injuries more readily. We all have 'things' we are working on and personal paths to betterment...I think we should all be a little more patient and allow the people around us a environment to grow without us always pointing out the wrongs and flaws. The growth will take place much more quickly for everyone. hmmmm......

I DO NOT RUN!!!!

Yesterday I asked Alvaro what has been his favorite part of our vacation so far. I was expecting maybe one of the many wonderful meals we've enjoyed, or maybe the shopping. Perhaps he was in love with a particular landmark or building. As I waited for his answer I became more excited to hear what he had to say. He finally decided that his favorite part of the vacation so far were the words of an tiny older woman to her dear husband as they crossed an intersection..."I DO NOT RUN!!!" We both got the giggles to hear this demur looking little lady telling her husband how it was gonna go. I realized though that her stress was my stress. San Francisco has those crosswalk signals that have the little blue/white neon person making for the other side of the street. But the minute he blinks on...the countdown to impact begins. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16.....and so it goes. So this little lady, being pulled onward by her husband just wasn't having it and took her sweet time getting across the busy intersection. Good boundaries I say!! Good for you lady.
I guess the people we've encountered this week have been a big part of my experience as well. Yesterday, we drove from San Francisco along Hwy 1 south to Carmel. I especially loved Santa Cruz where we found Emily's Bakery. Emily has a very Austinish establishment where she serves all things coffee and chai as well as fresh sandwiches, salads and all natural ready to heat snacks and stuff.
Not a big post today. I'm feeling tired and to be honest kinda ready for my real life to start again. I'm missing my regular surroundings, my morning routine, my church and the familiar faces of friends and family. A little later today, we'll head back down to Fisherman's Wharf for the crab I didn't eat the other day and then tomorrow, before we go the airport, we'll take one last trip through Chinatown. Peace to everyone and I look forward to seeing you all soon.