Oh, well - haven’t posted in almost two weeks.

Been busy, not with the festivities here in the city, but with my daughter’s scheduled trip to Milpitas, California this month.

So many requirements to prepare, parents’ meetings to attend, some shopping on the side…

The student delegation in which my daughter belongs, is composed of 12 incoming fourth year students from public and private schools in Dagupan City: Dominican School, La Salette, Dagupan City National High School, Pangasinan Universal Institute, Mother Goose Special Science High school and University of Pangasinan.

The delegates have been having orientations, rehearsals, personality development sessions in preparation for their group study visit in schools in Milpitas. During their trip, they are expected to observe and to a certain extent assimilate  with American educational system and culture -  and which experiences they will  share and sort of re-echo to their classmates and peers when they come back on June 9. The primary purpose for this trip is for cultural and academic exchange between the youth in our country with the youth in the United States, as part of the sisterhood pact between Milpitas City and Dagupan City.

During their stay in the U.S., the delegates will be accompanied by City Schools Superintedent Aurora Domingo, Dagupan Heritage Commission head Carmen Prieto, Councilor Danilo Torio, Councilor Charise Perez and Councilor Librada Reyna. They will be staying with foster families during the study tour for two weeks, and after which they will be given one week to  stay with their relatives before they fly back home to the Philippines.

Alas, everything is almost already laid out for the trip, except for one thing: VISA!

I cannot imagine how the students and some of the chaperones will be able to secure their visas from the U.S. embassy in time for their scheduled departure on May 12. I thought at first that in this case, applying for visa would not be a problem anymore as this is an exchange study tour, in which the city of Milpitas, California has sent a letter of invitation to Dagupan City for this particular visit. It seems however, that things are not as simple.

The U.S. embassy is being careful (in fact, over careful, if I may comment) in ensuring that the delegation (15-year old students!) will return to the Philippines, and not stay in the U.S. for good.

Holy cow! I can’t believe the minds of U.S. officials sometimes, when it comes to screening Filipinos wanting to apply for tourist visa. Will they come back to the Philippines! Hellooo! I mean- hey, what will these kids do there anyway if they stay on and not return to their country? They are just kids and minors, and granting they have relatives in the U.S., these relatives may not be willing to take a minor in their care, more so because he/she is a mere tourist.

But the sad truth is that - we cannot question the policies of the U.S. embassy. It is their prerogative to decide when and to whom to grant the much coveted U.S. visa.

I don’t know if the city government will be able to negotiate for the delegates’ visa, but I just fervently hope they will and they can. For the past days, we parents had to literally drop our work to attend to our children’s requirements, not to mention the children’s efforts and of course the time and money spent for the preparations. Oh, I just hope things won’t go to naught. Time, money and efforts are of the essential from which we naturally want to produce positive results. Added to this are the dreams, aspirations, hope and excitement that these youngsters have nurtured from the day they were informed of their participation in the trip. If ever the trip does not push through - oh, what parent’s heart will not go broken?