Seeking Free Legal Advice about UK Visas

Today, we waited at a drop-in session for free legal advice about Darrick's visa. We were directed there by the Citizens Advice Bureau the day before. We walked two miles through the 'East LA of Leeds' to an unassuming brick building across from the Grill Inn and the Salon Fryjerski. We waited fourth in line behind individuals and groups of asylum seekers and immigrants facing deportation. We waited and waited, sweating together with 12 other uneasy people squeezed together in a room the size of a closet with windows stubbornly painted shut. We listened to a woman continuously answering the phone - asking for interpretors, sharing pieces of stories we all wondered if we should be hearing. At least three distinct languages were spoken closely within the confines of our jam packed limbo. Our worries about Darrick getting deported three weeks before planned seemed trivial as we were surrounding by the mounting tension and stifling heat of the waiting room. Everyone kept their eyes focused on their phones or their hands crossed in their laps as they waited for their names to be called...once in a while, we shuffled around the limited space to allow room for yet another person awaiting free legal advice... the movement helped keep the ants from climbing inside our shoes. I doubt I will ever see any of those people again, but I hope they all got what they needed - especially the man with the walker and the saddest eyes I have ever met with a passing glance.

We were given no concrete advice or words of encouragement before we left, but the level of worry wrinkled into each person's brow in that waiting room sent us off with a new perspective on our own minor visa problem.

Working, Traveling and Stumbling Upon Castles

I haven’t written in a while…. mostly, because I scheduled the end of three projects at three different schools around the same time, so I was working on three exhibitions in three different cities for the same week. Note to self: Never do that again ;-) Definitely living and learning over here in Leeds. I have two more Exhibitions to go in the next few weeks (which is much better than three at once).

Darrick and I just got back from the most amazing exploration of Scotland this past weekend. Scotland is breath-taking at every turn. The landscape is striking and varied, and so are the people. We began our adventures in Glasgow straight up from a Newcastle work trip. While in the Newcastle area, we stayed in Cramlington (a small, secluded town known for a sculpture of a woman in farmland). We heard about a Glaswegian biting off a man’s ear in Newcastle when we were exploring downtown, and we began to question our next move up to Glasgow. But we went for it!

We weren’t in Glasgow long, and we had a strange experience of the city. First of all, we stayed in a cheap hotel across the street from a strip club, which kind of set the tone for the visit. We saw a man collapsed on the street and loaded into an ambulance, and we turned the corner to avoid getting in the way, only to see a crowd gathered around a car with police officers. We were pretty relieved to get on a train to Oban the next day, and we felt better and better about the journey as we basically kept our eyes and camera glued to the train windows for three hours. The highlands of Scotland after heavy snow are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. On the news, we’ve heard about them because of the deadly avalanches that have been crushing hikers, but from the train, they looked so majestic and peaceful. Our train journey ended at Oban, a coastal town known as the gateway to the Scottish Isles. We went on a walk in the evening and discovered a castle at sunset, and the whole time we were there was pretty much like that. There was beauty and surprises everywhere.

At one point, I was speed-walking to the boat docks in the morning (mainly because it was below freezing, and it’s hard for me not to walk fast or run everywhere at these temperatures). A man waiting to pick someone up in a taxi said out his window laughing, “Wuh meen eh nuh miss he un.” He laughed and said it again and again when I smiled back with a confused look. I finally deciphered what he said to be “woman on a mission” when I made my way to pick up boat tickets to explore the Scottish Isles that day (cheaper to hop on a boat than taking a bus in Scotland.. pretty rad). I tried to walk more slowly back to our hotel to relax and take life a little more slowly (as slow as possible while rubbing my hands together to keep warm).  This year and this job are an interesting combination of a crazy-busy schedule mixed in with fun, care-free traveling adventures.  Sometimes, I forget to switch gears. One day, I was meeting a new group of school leaders and teachers and leading a critique session in front of a group of 11^th graders I just met, a professor of education, a principal and a group of teachers…. and the next day, I was hanging over the side of a boat taking pictures of a lighthouse on an island off of Scotland. Both days were so very outside of my comfort zone… but I didn’t start panicking while presenting in front of a big group that I didn’t know and I didn’t get seasick.  I hope I’m getting braver and stronger, although I’m still a nervous Nelly and apparently a “woman on a mission” even when I’m on vacation. It’s definitely getting brighter here, now that the time has changed. It’s no longer pitch black when I get home after work, and that makes my heart smile.

Our last stop before catching our train back to Leeds was stopping off at Balloch (outside of Glasgow) for Easter night. Again, we stumbled on another surprise castle while out on a walk (so awesome!). We stayed in a really friendly family’s home/ bed&breakfast and then caught a train “home” to Leeds, the next morning. It’s crazy that Leeds is “home” now, for another four months. I think the longer light shining on each day will make this whole experience feel lighter from now on… and apparently, next week, we may get to lows above freezing… wahoo!

P.S- British television is AMAZING! The weather is really, genuinely interesting every day (unlike San Diego, whose weather I sincerely miss) – Carol is my favorite weather lady by far on BBC breakfast. I enjoy our time together before I head to work and she really seems to take responsibility and apologize profusely for bad weather. You can watch an Agatha Christie mystery, at least three shows about British history, an episode of The Big Bang Theory/ How I Met Your Mother/ Top Gear/ Myth Busters at any given time on any day. Tonight, we watched Hagrid driving on B-roads (not the main A highways here) and talking about harvesting asparagus, watching stunt women on airplanes, visiting a Frisbee golf course, checking out the Cambridge tiddely-winks society (seriously), etc…. so great!