heros

through no one's fault but my own, one of our big challenge has been obtaining permission to remain for the year. my papers weren't all in order when we arrived. i had been given some incomplete information. to be honest, i had not realized that northern ireland was a different legal entity than southern ireland. i was originally affiliated with a university in belfast, but living in dublin -- this posed a problem. on sabbatical, you've got to be flexible and roll with the punches! i have since been granted a visiting professor position at trinity college in dublin (yeah!).

we've now been waiting for five weeks for a response as to whether we can stay in the country for the year. the hardest part has not been the waiting as much as the lack of information. helplines have been closed for all this time in order to respond efficiently to the upsurge in visa demands. the problem for us is that we don't know if we can travel to europe while we are waiting for our file to be considered. it would be nice to travel because the kids are not allowed in school until our status is confirmed. i also would like to make travel arrangements for a conference in washington in november, but i can't book my tickets or register until my status is sorted out.

yesterday we were at the local community festival. for the occasion, the police station was open to visitors. i noticed a policeman wearing a big coat written immigration on it. so, i jumped on the opportunity to finally get an answer to whether i was allowed to travel out of the country while my file was under consideration. he was so kind. he took my telephone number and said he'd call me in the next couple of days and have us come down to his office where we could sort out the paperwork and get our passports stamped so that i could travel.

heros can be found in the most unlikely places... even neighborhood festivals!