no ... I haven't stopped blogging. but after you read this one entry, you prolly will understand why I've been absent .

this past month, I've been having multiple anxiety attacks ... thanks to my U.S green card application process. and if you think US government bureaucracy is any better than the Indonesian one, well, that's where you're wrong.

skitar awal Juni, my immigration lawyer notified me that my labor certification has been approved. the next step was now to formally apply for permanent residency. biasanya, saya tuh bukan tipe org yg suka menunda2, apalagi kalo urusan imigrasi kayak gini. but I did procrastinate, trying to file my greencard application at the last minute.

knapa? well, gara-gara it requires a medical exam!

I'm gonna let you on a secret now: I'm absolutely terrified of needles. the last time I was vaccinated was God knows when. I'd rather donate a million bux than donate blood (since they hafta stick a needle in me).  so when I saw that the medical exam requirement lists 11 (yes, eleven!) vaccinations, you can bet your ass I'm pushing it out till the last minute.

yup, I know it doesn't make sense. it's just a tiny prick, right? you won't feel it after 30 seconds. my friends are completely flabbergasted, since they know that I can calmly get monthly Brazillian wax, and yet I cower in fear in face of vaccinations. maybe I do have a serious phobia.

skitar akhir bulan Juni, tiba2 the US Immigration dept (USCIS)  ngluarin memo bhw all greencard applications have to be submitted by early July, or they may run out of visa numbers.

the scramble has begun.

kepanikan sosial ensued, setiap org di Amrik yg mau apply langsung pada sibuk nyari appointment sama civil surgeon (dokter khusus yg boleh ngluarin med report). Grace, Yuli & I were constantly on the phone everyday calling all the nearby surgeons to see if they have a cancellation. and when one of us succeded in securing an appt, we tried to squeeze the 2 other ones - girl power!

all of a sudden I had to race to get my vaccinations done. I had to brace myself and pscyhe myself up to get vaccinated. thanks to everyone who try to comfort me by saying that the needle won't hurt, including si mas yg iseng nyubit2 gw by surprise: "it doesn't hurt, right? it's just gonna feel like that!". huh.

yea, right.

my 1st shot was for tetanus. before the doc started the injection, she gave me a pamphlet to read about the possible side effects. I timidly asked if it was gonna hurt. She said no, it may feel "sore" a little (also confirmed by Yuli: "pegel dikit kok 'Nne, tp ga sakit"). hah! lies ......! I pretty much couldn't move my arm for 3 days. not only that: IT HURT .....! apa mungkin karna gw manja bangedd kali ya, sampe mau sholat aja males, telling God: well, if You hadn't made it hurt, I would've done my prayer!

yg lucunya pas mau bobok. si mas was being so nice: "I'll hug you the entire night, ok? the pain will go away". well, tapi skrg pertanyaannya: which side should I face on??? I always sleep on my side, ga bisa tengkurep, ga bisa terlentang. obviously I couldn't sleep on the vaccinated arm. tp resikonya gede jg if I sleep on the other arm, since I may shift sides during the night. halahhhhh ... mau tidur susah benerrr!

the good thing is that my regular doctor made me get some bloodwork, utk di-tes udah ada immunization for all the 11 required vacs. it turned out in the end that I only had to take 2 shots instead of 11. phewww. I still had to have blood drawn, so yes, still 1 more needle exposure. I feel like a pin cushion!

now for the actual civil surgeon's medical exam.

Yuli managed to secure appt for all 3 of us with a surgeon in Dorchester. for non-Bostonians, Dorchester is an area in Boston that you should really stay away from when possible - in short: the ultimate ghetto. tp karna ga ada pilihan lain, ya sudahlah.

I got to the place first, Yuli was driving from 2 hrs away & Grace was still trying to retrieve some of her vaccinations record. as soon as I parked my car, I looked around the area and ealahh .... ga cuma ghetto doang, it's an Asian ghetto! (Betsy: itu di daerah Fields Corner, Bets, serem ga sih???). kebayang deh, 3 gorgeous chicks in the middle of Southeast Asian ghetto - sepanjang jalan banyak cowok2 nongkrong ga jelas gitu, siap nyuit-nyuitin (no, ga ge-er, sumpah!). males ajahhh! serasa jalan di terminal Pasar Rumput!

once I got to the clinic, another blow: tempatnya tuh bener2 kayak puskesmas. am I being a snob? probably. but you have to think that after all, this is Boston, and I'm expecting a (much) higher standard. instead papers were strewn everywhere, there was no AC (it was 33 deg C!), lantai kliniknya jorok, and ewwww ... I think I saw bugs crawling on the delapidated waiting room chairs! cepet2 gw laporan pandangan mata ke Yuli & Grace.

I waited for ~20 mins when all of a sudden my phone rang, it was Yuli. I picked up and all I could hear that she was laughing hysterically on the other line, saying "ABORT, ABORT". wtf??? tnyata lawyernya Yuli telpon, USCIS issued another bulletin, saying don't bother submitting applications, since they have run out of visa numbers & will reject all applications therewith until October when the new set of visa numbers are available.

HALAHHHHHH!!!!!!

buang2 waktu, duit, bensin, all in order to finish this crazy goose chase.
but at least I thought we could finally take a break.

again, I was wrong.

skitar 2 minggu yg lalu, another USCIS bulletin was issued. this time, they decided to accept applications, altho visa numbers have run out.

back to the scramble, here we go doing the round robins trying to secure civil surgeon appt.

so today I just got back from my civil surgeon exam, and guess what: they did a Tuberculosis test and my test came out positive (=bad)! #$@$#@$#@ I had to get xray done, and I don't even know what's gonna happen if I do have TBC.

it's even annoying that my mother thinks it's hilariously funny that I've been diagnosed with possible TBC: "Mbak, hmmmwakakakak, hhmmm, bukannya TBC itu penyakitnya orang kampung?" DASARRRRRRR! not funny, Mother!

so after $200 for the med exam, ~$150 spent on gas for driving back & forth from work to doctor's office, ~$600 in lost productivity @ work (secara dikantor bukannya kerja tp malah nelpon2 dokter minta appointment), 20 hours worth of vacation time sacrificed to go to the docs, my paperwork is still not done yet.

I'm exhausted. was supposed to catch up on some work tonight, but heck, I'm too tired, better be blogging . not to mention that I just reviewed the immigration paperwork sent by my lawyers and noticed that they wanted me to write a cheque worth of ~$900 for processing fees? what the hell? I thought my company is paying for this (since they're sponsoring my green card)!

auugghhhh! on top of everything, now I gotta deal with the HR dept on the lawyers' charges.

that's my story so far. for those of you wondering about the progress of my wedding plans: what wedding? SO not a priority at the moment - blah!

I'm telling you, as soon as Grace, Yuli & I obtain the receipt of our greencard application filing: WE ARE GOING TO GET WASTED!

cheers from Boston - xoxo.