Well Allan has been here a little over 2 months now and, we have been married a little over a month! It a lot of ways both events seem like they were a while ago.
Allan is adjusting really well!! He eats pretty much anything I put before him, which is a blessing. I had read horror stories of African spouses who refused to eat pretty much anything in America that wasn't like what they ate at home. Though we do manage to eat African food 2 nights a week, our diet would be really plain if it was purely Ugandan.
I am amazed how well he has adjusted, I know everything is strange and new, but he asks questions and is slowly understanding more of American culture. In some ways I am waiting for the other shoe to drop, because I know culture shock will come. I also know how difficult I was to deal with in the midst of culture shock. Everything around you seem wrong, and you just want to be home! Hopefully my experience with culture shock will help me to be more understanding and knowledgeable when he goes through it.
Our first month of marriage has been great and very easy (does that drip of the naivete of a newlywed?). We have fallen into a pretty mellow routine. I go to work Monday through Friday, and come home to a clean house (I am a very blessed woman!!). Usually on week nights we go to a local park and Allan plays drop-in games of volleyball. I happen to HATE volleyball, so I usually do a couple laps on the parks walking trail, and then get in an hour of reading.
Allan started playing guitar in January, he has amazing talent for it and already knows many songs. He has even started playing on the worship team at church! I think he is enjoying it. He gets lots of practice because he is still at home by himself all day.
As part of the visa Allan came on he has to apply for an "adjustment of status" now that we are married. Once the "adjustment of status" is approved he will have a 2 year green card, a work permit, and be able to travel outside of the country and be readmitted into America. There were several things we had to get in order before we could send in the adjustment forms. We have to prove that our marriage is real and not a marriage for visa purposes. How does one prove this? Well I guess the government sees it as the more you co-mingle your lives, me changing my last name, us having the same bank account, both our names on the lease for our apartment. It amazes me how much time all this takes. We first had to get Allan a SS card, and change my name with SS department. We thought this would be enough to get him on my bank account, but he has to have an American ID, which he does have yet. In Kentucky you can't get you DL (or permit for that matter) with out showing proof of residency, and the only two forms of proof they accept is a current utilities bill or lease. Well all our utilities are paid for in our rent, and I can't seem to get our landlord to come out and give me our lease amendment (showing Allan on the lease). I hope to have all this accomplished with in the next two weeks. Allan is anxious to get working, as I think he is board in the house all day alone.
We are both missing Uganda, though I think at this point I am missing it more than him, but of course I have been away a lot longer.
