It's Always Been My Dream

I've recently had another Sydney visitor come through: Elham! Elham lives with Yael & Andy in my old house in Sydney, so every time I go back to Sydney, I stay with her. Now I get to return the favour and have her stay with me.

Elham was supposed to come to the US for a conference. Unfortunately, she was awarded her visa the day after the conference started, and so missed it. She asked the embassy if she could just go anyways, though, as a tourist. As an Iranian, I guess it's difficult to get a visa to the US. They told her she could try, it was legal with the visa she had, but she risked getting turned away at the border if the US border services guard was having a bad day.

Since it's a big deal to get a US visa for her, she decided to give it a shot anyways. When she landed in LA, the border guard asked what her purpose of travel to the US was. She explained about missing her conference, but then went on to say: "But I came anyways. It's always been my dream to travel to America!" Boom, passport stamped! Have a great time in America!

We had a lovely time in the Bay Area together - hiking at Point Reyes, Yosemite, checked out Pier 39, she did Alcatraz and the double-decker bus tour of the city. Then she flew out to NYC just in time for Hurricane Sandy. She had a couple days of loveliness in NY and fell in love with the City, then was holed up in her hostel for a few days, and got to experience all the craziness that ensued with the storm (she was in Queens too...). Yesterday she successfully flew on to Washington D.C., where she can immerse herself in the American election insanity for a few days. Holy crazy trip batman! She's getting all the essence that is America distilled into about 3 weeks.