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Dual citizenship fail

in

Amanda and I were planning to go San Francisco tomorrow for a long weekend. I had actually scheduled this trip in August 2008.

No, this wasn’t because I had some crystal ball that told me that I’d meet Amanda and should take her on some romantic weekend trip in January 2010 (although that would have saved me from some bad dates in between).

I am the last generation eligible for dual citizenship, so I started the process back then to schedule a citizenship appointment with the Italian Consulate in San Francisco, and appointments were two years out from that time.

So here we are, two years later, and it’s game time. (Hopefully you follow that Back to the Future timeline.)

All I have to do is present these original documents:

- Italian grandparents’ birth certificates - Italian grandparents’ marriage certificate - Italian grandparents’ certificates of naturalization (US) - My Italian grandfathers’ death certificate - My parents’ birth certificates - My birth certificate

All of the American-issued documents are required to have an apostille (international certification) by the Secretary of State in the state in which they were issued.

Easy enough, right? NO.

First of all, originals are hard to come by when, say, the documents are decades old.

Fortunately, my Aunt Pam has most of these documents. Unfortunately, Aunt Pam lives in Greece. Fortunately, Aunt Pam is coming to Washington the day before our trip to California.

Unfortunately – and here’s the snag – my grandfather died in Palm Springs, California. I cannot get his death certificate to the Secretary of State in Sacramento to get the apostille before my appointment.

I am one document away from dual citizenship.

So, I cancelled the trip and rescheduled my appointment. I heard back from the consulate and am rescheduled for February 2012 – another two years.

Of course, it’s my fault that I didn’t get all of the paperwork together last year. I’m guessing that the Italian Consulate books citizenship appointments so far out specifically for this reason. Sometimes procrastination works. I don’t start studying for my finals on the first day of class, and while that works out for me at the UW, it didn’t here. Lesson learned.

I’m not in a particular hurry to get dual citizenship, but I think it will be a good resource in case I find some dream academic or work opportunity in the EU. Further, it’s probably a good idea to pass the opportunity on to future generation in case they want to have some extended study abroad opportunity or in case the American economy totally tanks.

Arrivederci, dual citizenship, for now.

Foto Friday: Fabrizio gone wild

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Most of the time Fabrizio is a sweet, gentle cat, but recently he's had some bad mood swings. I don't know if the weather is getting to him or what. I think the alleys of Tacoma have hardened him.

It usually isn't a big deal. He just wants to be left alone. But sometimes he just freaks out.

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He REALLY doesn't like wearing Amanda's leopard-print Snuggie either. Learned that the hard way.

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No Amandas were seriously injured while capturing these images.

Costa Rica bound!

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I have to be honest. The coolest thing about getting married is the honeymoon. It’s the one time in your life when everyone is supportive of your traveling anywhere for any length of time.

Often when you’re planning a trip, half the battle is getting the time off of work or convincing people that it’s the right time to go. Backlash may include:

“That’s too many days off.”

“It’s the wrong time of the year.”

“That’s too expensive.”

“You should go to (fill in the blank) instead.”

“Can I come?”

The honeymoon, by definition, is immune to all of these hurdles. You can take off the maximum number of days off from work; no one questions your destination judgment; and it’s ALWAYS the right time of the year to travel. No one except your spouse expects to go along for the ride (hopefully).

Amanda and I explored traveling literally everywhere – Europe, South America, Australia – and finally found a place that fit our budget and criteria for a beach-heavy destination that we haven’t yet explored. It was probably the toughest decision we’ve had to make related to the wedding (seriously) because the wedding is just one day, but this is two weeks of relaxation, exploration and eating! This is important stuff! So, we're off to...

COSTA RICA, AMIGOS!

1,100 miles of beaches. Under $600 round-trip from Chicago for both of us. Win-win.

I booked our airfare today, so it’s finally official! We still have some accommodation work to do but I don’t expect that to be too difficult. I just need a hammock. OK. We also need baños, so we’ll look at some hotel and beach house rental options.

It’s been more than two years since I’ve been out the country (excluding Canada), and I’ve been itching my eyes out to see another part of the world. Finally, I get some relief. Bonus: I get to travel with my then-wife!

Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the greenest country in the world

Embarking on another quarter at UW

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You might recall my post 4.0 is a perfect number during which I boasted my perfect GPA at the time. Yes, even Muhammad Ali lost boxing matches and even I don't always get straight A's.

Last quarter I received (gasp!) an A-, defeating my cumulative GPA to a 3.95. That class was about Web storytelling, and I produced a fairly nice video and quite possibly the first-ever research paper on Webisodes. Alas, it was not enough for a perfect grade according to the powers that be.

So now I march on with a GPA wound toward my mobile marketing class, which I am really excited about. The future is mobile, people! I'm even more excited about taking my first-ever break in grad school after this quarter. I kinda sorta need to take a four-week vacation around my wedding/honeymoon, and that doesn't jive with academic accountability.

With that carrot dangling in front of my nose, I'm going to work really hard to get another A on the board and get on track to graduate with a 3.99 GPA, so help me God.