Spre America / To America

Romanian:

Hello lume!

Am creat acest blog atat pentru cei care vor sa vina in US dar si pentru cei care vor sa stie care au fost primii nostri pasi pe pamant american.

In octombrie 2012 aflu de loteria vizelor si-mi reamintesc ca aplicau si parintii mei cand eram eu mai mica, asa ca zic...Cata hai sa ne incercam norocul. Daca iese inseamna ca asa a fost sa fie si asta e drumul nostru! Trag de Cata in fiecare weekend din octombrie sa stea la pozat, tot amanam pe urmatorul weekend pana in ultima clipa cand intr-o duminica seara ne punem la pozat unul pe celalalt. Eu ma ofer sa editez fotografiile la dimensiunile cerute si uite asa se face ora 1 dimineata si eu tot lucrez la el in timp ce Cata dormea ca un prunc langa mine. Trece momentul octombrie, ma mai gandesc eu la America pe parcursul anului, dar nimic special. Vine 1 mai 2013, zi de sarbatoare in Romania, asa ca asteptand sa se faca ora 19.00 in Romania ca sa putem verifica, avem musafiri acasa si uite asa ne intindem la distractie si povesti pana pe la 3-4 dimineata. N-am mai verificat la ora aia ca eram rupti de somn. A doua zi ne invartim, ne sucim prin casa ca trebuia sa plecam din oras pana a doua zi si iarasi uitam sa verificam. Noroc ca a trebuit sa stam 10 minute inainte de plecare asa ca ma pun in fata laptopului si sunt gata de verificare. Intai numarul meu....has not been selected:(. Verifica si Cata si ii apare frumoasa scrisoare in care ne anunta ca a fost selectat:). Mare bucurie mare pe mine, Cata care nu prea stia ce presupune loteria vizelor nu intelegea de ce ma bucur asa tare....el credea ca trebuie sa castigam amandoi si acum ce faceam daca a castigat doar el:). Daca nu a stat ca mine pana a 1 noaptea sa aplice, nu stia ce presupune. Anuntam familia, prietenii, mare bucurie mare si de aici incepe munca de cercetare. Trebuia sa trimitem formularele la KCC (in Kentucky la consulat), trebuia sa dam o adresa unde sa ne vina Green Cardul, asa ca am inceput sa ne gandim ce facem? Eram hotarati ca mergem mai departe cu actele, ca ne incercam sansa asa ca a vorbit Cata cu un vechi prieten din facultate de-a lui plecat in State de 12 ani caruia i-am cerut adresa ca sa o putem trimite la KCC. Adi si Anca au fost foarte draguti de la inceput si s-au oferit sa ne ajute cu casa si masa, asa ca pentru inceput stiam ca vom veni in Philadelphia la ei. Completam actele, le punem la posta prin TNT in 13 mai si plecam in vacanta cu nasii in Italia pentru ca aveam bilete cumparate pentru un city break in Bologna.

Venim din vacanta relaxati si plini de energie pentru a incepe cautarile pe forumuri/site-uri despre ce inseamna America si mai precis Loteria Vizelor. Incepem sa ne facem calcule, sa ne gandim serios daca plecam sau nu pentru ca plecarea o vedeam din primul moment ca una definitiva si pe termen lung. Parerile prietenilor erau impartite: De ce plecati din Romania ca va descurcati bine aici? Pai si plecati asa departe? Si va asigura acolo cineva job sau casa? Nu! Pai si plecati? Adica o luati de la zero??? sau Bravo! Plecati acum ca sunteti tineri si aveti forta sa va descurcati! Nu aveti copii, rata la casa in Romania, asa ca incercati ca nu aveti ce pierde mai mult de niste job-uri!

Aveam niste bani stransi, dar ne mai trebuiau cel putin inca pe atata pentru a ne prezenta la interviu asa ca incepem sa facem un plan de economisire, neavand case, masini, nimic pe numele nostru. Colac peste pupaza, de Rusalii, Cata castiga 5 numere la Loto 6/49, suma fiind exact restul de bani care ne mai trebuiau. Am zis este al doilea semn ca trebuie sa incercam asa ca ne-am hotarat 100% ca plecam in US.

Timp de un an de zile am citit tot ce mi-a iesit in cale, am invatat multe despre mentalitatea si stilul american asa ca in 9 iulie 2014 eram pregatiti de marele nostru interviu. Nu a fost deloc greu, am avut toate actele in regula, am avut suport financiar de la Adi, bani in banca cat pentru un an de zile aici asa ca fara probleme am trecut de interviu.

Urmatorul pas era biletul de avion. Trebuia sa intram in US pana in decembrie asa ca ne-am cumparat bilet de avion pentru 27 septembrie si in sambata cu pricina aterizam in New York dupa o cursa Bucuresti-Varsovia-New York (in total vreo 13 ore de zbor). Totul a fost ok, fara peripetii, dar foarte obositor, eu nu am putut sa dorm deloc in avion. Am ajuns la ora 21.00 ora New York-ului si indrumati oarecum de personalul din aeroport ajungem la biroul de imigrari sa facem formalitatile de intrare. Urmeaza amprentarea, semnarea unor declaratii, poze si apoi mult asteptatul : Bun venit in America! Totul a durat maxim 15 minute, am avut noroc ca nu era coada si totul a decurs bine. Ajungem in Philadelphia dupa un drum de aproape 2 ore cu masina, mancam ceva si direct in pat cu noi ca eram foarte foarte obositi.

Am ajuns in America si de azi incepem o alta viata!

Somn usor!

English:

Hello world!

We created this blog for the people who want come to US but also for those who wannna know the details of our first steps on American land.

In October 2012 I come across Visa lottery for US and remember that my parents used to apply when I was just a kid. So I say…Cata let’s try our luck. If we win maybe it’s a sign that this is actually our path in life. I kept asking Cata every weekend in October to take the picture, we keep postponing it from one weekend to another until the last moment, when on a Sunday evening we take pictures of each other. After that I start editing the pictures to fit them to the standards and without realizing it’s 1 o’clock in the night and I was still editing. Meanwhile Cata sleeps like a baby next to me. October passes, I sometimes think about America during the year but nothing special. 1^st  of May 2013 arrives, a holiday in Romania, we were waiting for 7 o’clock in the evening so we can check our status. Meanwhile we were having guests in our house, talking and partying, until 3-4 in the morning. We didn’t check anything at that time being extremely tired. The next day we again forget to check it and we were suppose to leave the city for a day. Luckily just before leaving we had to wait an extra 10 minutes and I decided to check it.  Open the laptop, enter my number…has not been selected L. I check Cata’s number and the beautiful letter announcing he is a winner appears on the screen. J. I am of course extremely happy, Cata didn’t know too much about this lottery so he didn’t understood why I am so happy. He thought that both of us had to win in order to leave together to the US. Well if he didn’t spent nights until 1 o’clock. We make the announcement to family and friends, everybody is very happy but from now on the research work starts. We had to sent the documents to KCC ( in Kentucky to the consulate), we had to provide an address where Green Card should be sent, so we started to think about what we had to do. We were determinate to continue with all the paper works so Cata spoke with an old friend from college who was in US for 12 years and we asked him for his address so we can send it to the Consulate. Adrian and Anca were really nice from the beginning and they even offered to help us with accommodation. It became clear that we will start our life in US in Philadelphia. We filled in all the documents, sent them to Kentucky in 13^th of May and we leave for a short holiday in Bologna, Italy.

We come from the holiday relaxed and full of energy to start the search on different forums/sites on what America means, more specific DV Lottery. We start to think about leaving even more serious than before because we saw this as a long term plan if not for good.  Our friends opinions were split: Why you wanna leave, you’re doing great here? America is so far away. Will anybody assure you a home or  a job?  Will you have to start from zero? or the opposite thinking: Good for you. Leave now while you’re still young.

We had some money saved but we still needed at least that amount in order to be prepared at the interview. We didn’t have cars or houses on our name so we prepared a saving plan to raise the necessary money. But our luck was not over yet because shortly after Cata wins the lottery, not the big prize but still enough…. exactly the amount we needed. We thought this must be a signJ.

After this for about one year I read everything I put my hands on about US, I learnt about their mentalilty and life style so on 9^th of July 2014 we were ready for our big interview. It wasn’t hard at all, we had all the documents in order, we had financial support from Adrian, money in the bank so we passed the interview easily.

Next step was the airplane ticket. We had to enter US until December so we bought a ticket for 27^th of September and on that Saturday we land in New York after a flight via Warsaw ( a total of 13 hours of flying). Everything was ok, no special events but kind of tiring ( of course I couldn’t sleep the whole way there). We arrived at 21.00 New York time and guided by the airport staff we reached the immigration bureau for the necessary paper works. Next we had our fingerprints taken, signed some documents, pictures taken and we heard the beautiful ,,Welcome to America’’! It all lasted about 15 minutes because there was no queue. We arrived in Philadelphia after a 2 hour drive, grab something to eat and we went to bed because we were very tired from the road.

We are in America and starting a new different life!

Good Night!