unpegged

Tonight, I am sleeping at my in-laws in Chiah, across the green line (see photo) from the Christian neighborhood we usually call home. Three people from both sides of the Christian-Muslim line have warned us that something is supposed to happen in Ain er Remmeneh tonight. I have twittered it (which means it’s also on my Facebook page) and told friends. I don’t know how much safer we are here. The Cole is off-shore and though I don’t know much about Navy destroyers, I’m pretty sure it’s not here to evacuate American citizens the way General Aoun told us today at 4:55 p.m. In fact, according to the US embassy, if we want to leave—they advise we consider carefully the risk of staying—we’re pretty much on our own. We should investigate the possiblity of chartering private watercraft to Cyprus, they said.

So here we are waiting.

Meanwhile, I just read about another kind of army that reminded me of my fantasy of an Airstream equipped with audio/visual/internet gear that I could drive around the country (Lebanon, the US, wherever) and use to give mobile multimedia workshops. In Gujarat, a state in western India that I had until five minutes ago never heard of, an NGO will follow up on its success with a program called RTI on Wheels by creating an RTI army. RTI stands is short for right to information and, according to Wikipedia, refers to refers to legislation that was passed in Indian parliament three years ago.

The RTI on Wheels, promoting awareness about the Act, has so far visited eight districts. The organisation was launched in March this year. Over 50,000 people have visited the RTI on Wheels, a modified jeep equipped with audio-visual equipment, Internet, multimedia projector, viewing screen and trained volunteers.

“The vehicle opens up completely and can be converted into a moving theatre. It also has illuminated screens on the sides with punchy slogans scrolled down,” Jog said, adding, “It was designed by a group of students from Duke University, UK.

The Right to Information Act provides for public access to all central and state government records as well as for the digitization of those records for easier access. When a citizen makes a request, the government has to respond in thirty days. I wish this was the case for my husband’s visa to the U.S. We submitted all our paperwork six months ago. It was accepted and is now supposedly passing through a Security Advisory Opinion process. I say supposedly because really there’s no way to know. The process is classified. Every time I write the embassy to ask about the status of things, I just get back a one-line email like this:

Unfortunately, we don’t know how much time the completion of the security clearance might take.

ME: Please, is there anyone I can talk to to get a better idea about whether or not we are talking about weeks or months? It is impossible to plan around this kind of uncertainty. Can you tell me where the visa is in the security clearance process as well as what is entailed in the security clearance process itself? Can’t someone give me an estimate of how long it will take based on past experience?

THEM: You need to contact the Visa Office at the Department of State in Washington regarding this issue.

I vainly searched for a phone number at State. Then, I pushed a little harder:

ME: The lack of assistance your office is providing me with regard to my situation is disturbing. Can you please provide me with the appropriate contact information. Also, can you please tell me when, i.e., on what date, the security clearance process was initiated? And by appropriate contact information, I mean within the visa office at the state department, since it seems to be nearly impossible to determine which office handles the additional security clearances, a search for which turned up a four-year-old press release.

THEM: The clearance was sent on November 20, 2007. We do not have the contact information (for public use) for the Visa Office the Security Advisory Opinion department.

Someone in the know, who had worked at an American embassy, told me could get the visa tomorrow or it could be another year. He also explained the immense amount of pressure embassy employees are under, and how if they make bad decisions, they’re held accountable for them.

I said, but we’re married. He said, you would not believe the things couples find out about each other in those interviews. On several occasions, he said, I’ve had to tell applicants that I’m a consular officer not a marriage counselor.

I gave the inquiries a rest until April. Then:

ME: I am just checking in to make sure that the security clearance process is still ongoing. Also, we have moved (within Beirut) and I wanted to see if we needed to update our address.

THEM:

Dear Mrs Dheere.
Thank you for your message concerning your husband’s immigrant visa case. The clearance is still ongoing, but unfortunately, we have not yet received any feedback pertaining to your husband’s case.

Thank you.
We hope this is helpful.

At least this time, I got a salutation. I guess we’ll just wait for the phone to ring. Who knows where we’ll be sleeping then.