US Citizenship Granted

Today, Ophine and I together with thousands of immigrants had our oath taking at the Miami Beach Convention Center and are now considered naturalized US citizens. We have been here for some time now and have intended to stay for good so why not? We get the right to vote and travel if we need to to most countries without a need for a visa among others.

We left home at 10:20 am. The schedule was at 12 noon and we got to the site around 11:20 because of traffic but it almost took us 30 minutes to find a parking spot. No wonder, there were 3006 of us immigrants who were there for the oath taking. Immigrants from 89 countries we were told. But from the total, 2000 were Cubans. So basically it was 1006 people from 88 countries.

There were a lot of lines inside the convention center but it was very organized. After getting all the people seated at there predetermined section and gate, the ceremony started around 12:50pm. After the usual introduction, speeches and some formalities, we raised our right hand to take the oath. It was exactly 1:30pm (my cellphone's alarm was set to go off at that time and it did even in silent mode, now I know). After that, they gave us our 'certificates'. Of course, most people if not all were proud and happy after that. Without any doubt, some for sure took a long and difficult path to citizenship.

Me, I don't want to incriminate myself but I'm also happy but at the same time I have mixed feelings. Being Filipino is not just a label but it is in my blood and will always be proud of my heritage. I know that's not being taken away and there's really no need to feel sad about it. Perhaps we're just fortunate to have the best of both worlds, we're still Filipinos at heart and we get to enjoy certain rights and privileges accorded to American citizens. I can never run for the presidency (right given to natural born US citizens only) but I can vote for one.

When we travel back to the Philippines, there will never be that feeling I'm not one of them anymore but exactly the opposite will happen and I will be as home as any Filipino who lives there. The Philippines will always be considered home to me even when both countries we represent are basically worlds apart in a lot of ways.

Citizenship Interview/Test

Ophine and I went to our scheduled citizenship interview/test this morning. Our schedule was at 8:30 am and knowing we have to be there early so as not to be caught in the rush hour traffic, we left home before 6:30 am and brought the kids to a friends' house who also have kids in Somerset Academy so David and Missy can ride with them to school. The Miami Citizenship Center is in Downtown Miami and we don't usually go there regularly. Even with the GPS, we still missed our turn especially that the street going to the building was kind of nondescript, it was just a narrow service road next to a bridge and after a few more turns, and circling around we finally reached the place.

Parking was expensive at $20, a sure way to make money since a lot of people go there but what the heck. We can park off-site for a slightly lower fee but there were a lot of constructions going around and the road was muddy so we just parked in their own site.

Anyway, we waited for a little more than 30 minutes before our names were called. I was called first and the test/interview was like 15 minutes. After all the usual formalities, standard questions, etc., etc. I passed. I went back to the waiting room and Ophine was still there. She was getting stressed that her name hadn't been called yet but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise and I was able to tell her what questions were asked about 'US history' and give her the answers. She was not able to review well and that surely helped her, she was given the same set of questions as mine. She even overheard another person being asked a different set of questions, questions she didn't know how to answer. Well, the Lord is very good! She passed too and now we just need to wait for our schedule of oath taking.