[This message has been edited by Starman]
All,
My fiancée arrived last Tuesday in Tallahassee. I was able to save about $600 dollars by getting tickets from Caracas to Miami and then to Tallahassee the next day.
Everything is going well...the biggest issues have been applying for social security cards, registering her son in school, etc. It has been very aggravating because of the red tape.
She is very happy so far and is very busy "nesting". She wants everything spotless at home. Of course, my house was in bad need of a woman’s touch.
Her son is adapting very well. Even though he speaks no English, he plays with the other children just fine. Fortunately there is a child that is from Guatemala in his class that helps a lot and a teacher comes an hour or so each day to make sure he is on the right track. Also, he is not held to the same standards yet until he can get a good grasp of English. Another student is speaking good English after only two and a half months. The children and their interaction are amazing. My daughter and her cousins love him and he seems like he is part of the family already.
My fiancée feels like a fish out of water but overall she is doing very well. She is highly motivated and I believe that her English will be nearly fluent within a few months. She already speaks good English, but it is still difficult and she still has some problems that keep her somewhat isolated and reserved. It has only been a week and they have already made some adjustments. Thankfully, I have unlimited international calls after nine at night and all weekend so she can call home at anytime.
I believe she will become homesick on a few more weeks because it has really just been like a vacation so far. She is aware of that and I think she will do just fine. The key here is she is really motivated and hard working.
We are getting closer and closer everyday...she is very affectionate and loving. The love making has been great. I feel very proud of her and enjoy doing just the simple things together.
I will have some tough days ahead, but as long as well love and respect each other and are honest, I believe we will be successful. At least we have gotten off to a good start.
One thing I have really enjoyed is seeing her experiencing things for the first time. For example, she has never used a dish washer...she thought it was a storage unit for dishes and asked me why I was putting dirty dishes in there. She was looking for the clothes line instead of the dryer, she does not flush the toilet every time and throws the toilet tissue into the garbage can instead of the toilet (the water pressure and water source for the plumbing in El Tigre was bad), she was surprised at the water pressure for the shower, the hot water, etc. She and her son think that it is very cold (65 - 70 decrees). Once she asked, "where is the drinking water?" I said "You can drink the water here, no problem!" I find much of this very amusing. She gets a kick out of it also.
Anyway, things are going great; I expect some difficulties in the next few months, but nothing we cannot overcome.
God bless all,
Tim.
