Sheltering in Oysterville
“Oh, good. You’re home!” came Cate’s voice over the wire. “Aida and I are on a walk in Oysterville and it just started to pour. Can we come by?”
Over cups of tea we spent an hour talking, talking, talking – mostly, of course about Aida’s Willapa Bay AiR residency. Much to her delight, it has given her the opportunity to complete the second draft of her second novel. The manuscript is ready for translation from Farsi to English, the first step on the road to publication. It’s a love story – an immigrant and a U.S. citizen and their struggle to overcome ‘the cultural divide.’ A topical subject, for sure.
Aida told us, too, of the difficulties Iranian citizens have in getting a U.S. visa. Since we have no embassy in Tehran, it is necessary to take the expensive flight to Dubai to be interviewed by U.S. immigration authorities. The wait for an appointment is incredibly long. Had it not been for intervention by Willapa Bay AiR’s founder, Cyndy Hayward, Aida’s March residency would not have occurred. As it turned out, she arrived two weeks early after quickly making her travel arrangements as soon as Trump’s first immigration/travel ban was blocked by court order.
I was a bit taken aback to learn that yesterday was the final day of her Residency. Where did the time go? She leaves today for a month of travel – seeing friends across the United States and revisiting New York where she spent time several years ago. While there, she hopes to make some useful contacts that will ultimately lead to the perfect translation of her book.
Our hour went too quickly. Aida was delightful – warm, enthusiastic, incredibly chatty. I thought back to my first knowledge of her – back in the fall of 2016 when she had been accepted to the Residency. I think it was my February 1st blog that ‘broke’ the news that she might not be able to come because of Trump’s travel ban — the first of the headlines that caused a stir far beyond Oysterville.
It was heartening to learn that Aida had “met so many wonderful people” while she was here and I greatly regret that it never worked out for us to get to know her earlier — despite the possibilities of Friday Night Gatherings or dinner or even a House Concert. Who’d a thunk it would be the blankety-blank rain that would bring a visitor from clear across the world into our house? Thanks, Cate, for knowing that there’s always shelter here!
“Come in, she said
I’ll give ya shelter from the storm”
Thanks, Sydney and Nyel. Your house is always warm, rain or shine…
That’s a lovely picture of you, Sydney!
Really? Glad you think so. I thought it especially bad but used it anyway because Aida more than made up for it! Anyway, I appreciate your thought!