And now, Switzerland!

Bonjour!

We are back in a french speaking place- but not in France this time. We traveled on Monday to Switzerland and are near Geneva- the french speaking part of Switzerland.

Our plans to stay in Germany for only two weeks and then move on to the Netherlands changed, and we ended up staying at a friends farm in Germany for a bit and doing a Workaway-like exchange with them. It worked out really nice – a win-win for everyone. They have lots of projects and work that needs to get done, and we could stay a bit longer in Germany to see friends and help them out. It felt really good to be with people we knew (one of their daughters was our daughters classmate last year and they've been friends since kindergarten) and help them for a bit.

Plus they have horses.

Our daughter in horse-heaven...

We (well, me, because I mostly am the one who searches for potential new farms and hosts on WWOOFing and Workaway) have been looking for a place with horses since we started this journey and hadn't found one yet. The kids said they wanted to work with and learn more about how to take care of animals- especially cats, dogs and horses. Now, finally, in Germany, with friends, we got to.

So our daughter was happy. She LOVES horses and was in heaven. The kitchen we used to cook and eat dinner in was above the hall where the owners would work with and ride their horses- she would often just grab her plate or bowl and want to sit at the huge windows looking down into the hall. She could watch for hours what people did with their horses and how they rode them. And every morning she went with my husband to do the rounds in the stalls.

So after a really nice month, helping out friends and enjoying nice work and even nicer conversations- we headed south. To Switzerland.

Our idea was to stay relatively close to Germany because we heard this last step of the Green Card could go quickly. We wouldn't have to do a two day drive back from Spain like last time to suddenly get to Germany if we stayed close, right? We were told it would now take just a „couple months“ by someone who helps people file the extra form we had to file. Now we've learned that that might not be the case- it could take much longer. But we'll get to that in a moment.

Left: work projects in Germany, Right: outing to Lake Geneva

First of all: Switzerland. We found, through Workaway, a small community that sounded really nice and has permaculture gardens- something we want to learn more about. After a brief phone call we decided to head their way to learn more about their project.

We've been here for almost a week and its really gorgeous. A really special place with mountains in the distance, beautiful plants and gardens all around it, and about 6-7 people (and a couple kids) who have joined together to form a small community based on shared ideals.

We made a little trip on a day off to Lake Geneva (only 20 minutes away) and are really loving the work attitude and jobs we've been getting. It's a smaller location than we've been at in the past- so we're always pretty close to each other and my husband finally isn't just busy building/constructing things the whole time.

The only thing that's really annoying. Like really really annoying, is that the boys are having horrible reactions to their grass pollen allergies. Like, to the point where we had to find a pharmacy and got some new anti-histamine stuff for them in a desperate attempt to give them just some relief. If it continues to be as bad as the first days were here we might have to consider heading somewhere else. We're just surrounded by fields. And as beautiful as this place is, we can't stay if two to three of us are just suffering the whole time with burning swollen eyes, itching throat and stuffy noses.

Our spot: under beautiful trees, next to the potato field.

So there's that.

Then there's the whole Green Card thing. So, as I mentioned we were told basically that the department that works on this last form we had to file finally has their stuff together and it's only been taking a couple months to process them. Seeing as this person seems to know their stuff we really believed what they said and got excited (like in our last post).

Now we've heard- from a different person (the representative that has been checking in on our case occasionally for us) that the average wait time for this form, at the Nebraska Center, is... drum roll please....

….

….

24.5 months.

THAT'S TWO YEARS PEOPLE!

TWO. YEARS!

Yes I'm yelling. Like, really loudly too.

And I'm also in shock, disbelief and full of thoughts and breathing through all sorts of emotions. Who do we believe? And in the end, it doesn't matter who we believe- we just don't know. We have no idea if we'll get an email in 1-2 months saying, ok, we're done- here's your Green Card. Or if we'll be waiting and waiting for a much longer time.

So. What do we now!? Certainly waiting doesn't sound nice. Although we have already been waiting for 17 months technically- we're kind of sick of feeling like we're waiting. We're traveling already now. We're exploring and doing really cool stuff- now. If America doesn't want us - or rather, takes forever for us to be allowed to go there- then we'll go somewhere else. But where?

So. That's where we are. Physically and mentally.

Staying in the moment: making dinner and having fun doing it!

No more count down to Green Card. Or updates to give. Just waiting....no. Not waiting any more. Instead, re-organizing ourselves for a bit and making plans for the next few months and looking at all the alternatives and possibilities out there.

I'll keep everyone updated, and I'm honestly really curious where this all leads us and what the update will be next time.

Life's an adventure- and we're livin' it to the fullest right now!