Good Pandemic Week
Bob Marcacci
by
3y ago
A momentous week which, on Wednesday, marked the start of another school year, this one beginning online. I am teaching my lessons via Zoom, and, so far, they have occurred without too many irreparable difficulties. Online lessons will continue through the end of the semester, and may extend into the spring semester depending on what happens with the coronavirus outbreaks around the states. Even more exciting, today I received an exciting e-mail from the National Visa Center today, informing me that Angela now has an Immigrant Visa Interview Appointment scheduled for next month at the US Consu ..read more
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Be My Quarantine (Doesn't Rhyme with Valentine)
Bob Marcacci
by
3y ago
Still quarantining. California cases and deaths seemed to reach a new high today, so things do not appear to be improving. Other places around the country are experiencing even more difficulties. Bad weather on the East Coast due to hurricane Isaias is compounding the problems. Who knows when this pandemic will subside, but without a more concerted effort by the majority of the population, this situation may linger for a long time... Life goes on in its ramshackle manner, however; and school is beginning to start around the nation. Some schools are allowing students to attend classes, some ar ..read more
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#Quarantease
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
I don't look forward to Saturdays. No one is working. E-mail is quiet. Still under quarantine. Some states started loosening restrictions a few weeks ago, but cases are surging in various places (including California), and states are re-imposing restrictions. Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is compulsory, although, it is easy to see that not everyone abides. Travel out of the country is impossible for Americans, and it is even prohibited to travel to and from some states. I am not sure when I will be reunited with my wife and son. I probably mentioned it before, but we haven't seen e ..read more
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Pandemic Recapitulation
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
Hooray! Our application for a spouse visa for Angela was approved, or, to use their language, "documentarily qualified," last week. I write "our," because both of us file jointly—I am the petitioner and Angela is the applicant. We have both been notified at each stage in the process. Now, Angela has to wait to receive an appointment at the US Consulate in Naples, which, we read somewhere, could take anywhere from 60 to 90 days. Who knows, after that span of time, when the appointment will be scheduled... We are hoping it will happen sooner rather than later, obviously, but, with no help from ..read more
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2019 Thanksgiving Poem
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
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It's Still Quar-n-tine to Me (Think Billy Joel)
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
Still here, plunking away at whatever. Trying to stay centered amid all of the coronavirus hullabaloo and the rioting that is happening in many places around the world in response to the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis... What's new since my last post? We're still working on submitting our application for Angela's spouse visa, a process that we started in August of last year by filing the Petition for an Alien Relative; never mind that she had a green card once upon a time. Anyway, the petition was approved at the beginning of March, and we were informed that we cou ..read more
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Quarantine Life Goes On
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
At first, it was nice not having to set my alarm every day, and for three weeks, I went without it, even bragged to friends about how nice it was to do without, but, because I was losing track of the hours of the day and the days of the week, it became a habit that I had to change, if only to impose a bit of order upon my otherwise disorderly existence. It's hard to muster the motivation to do much when there's no expectation to be anywhere, and, at least for the time being, no possibility of traveling to Italy to be with Angela and Vito, but I still want to be more productive. Some states ar ..read more
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A Day in the Quarantine Life
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
Another week in quarantine, this one off to a bad start with a phone that needed reformatting; I lost contacts, photos, poems, and other stuff I probably haven't noticed, yet. Blech. Who knew my backup file needed its own password? While Vito was practicing piano, I talked with Angela via WhatsApp. Learned that she was finally able to set in motion a request to get a police clearance document from the Italian authorities. When its available, she will have to get it translated before we can submit it as the final document in our application for a spouse visa, the approval of which, as Presiden ..read more
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Quarantining High School: the New Normal
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
Spring break started four weeks ago. The "shelter in place"--the strong suggestion to stay at home and the closing of non-essential businesses--started that day or the day after. Then, the break was extended another week so that the school district in which I am employed could devise a plan of action, the outcome of which was to resume classes the following week in a distance learning format. I met my English department mates once during that week for an online meeting during which all of the plans for the distance learning activities were presented. That plan went into effect last week. We ha ..read more
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Bygones
Bob Marcacci
by
4y ago
Vito wrote me a letter. He wrote one to his grandparents, too. It started as a project in his school a few weeks ago--weeks before the coronavirus closed down those institutions all over the world now until who-knows-when. I am supposed to reciprocate, but here I am writing one to myself on my blog. I haven't been to the school in which I work in two weeks, so I don't even have any letter-writing materials to return the gesture. Embarrassingly, I don't even have any paper upon which to write--sticky notes galore, yes, in various sizes and colors, the disposable fodder and bedrock of the teachi ..read more
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