One of my friends and neighbor is from Sicily, she moved here about 8 years ago after marrying her husband who was stationed in the navy at NAS Sigonella, Sicily.
5 months ago they had their first child, a robust bouncing baby boy, who has more spare tires then the Michelin Man. Therefore when talking about him on this blog he will be forever known as "Big Baby" .
I got asked to baby sit him today for a couple of hours so she could go to the immigration office to do her interview and test to become a citizen. Not sure what they would ask she went over everything from the pilgrims all the way to current events.
Her husband had the day off originally, but was told he had to work, So I sent her out the door this morning with the big bundle of joy in my arms. She was very nervous but excited at the prospect of finally becoming a U.S Citizen.
Big Baby was a joy. All he wanted to do was be held,and I obliged. It has been seven years since I had a baby, so of course I was rusty on certain things-like some of these new advanced bottles they have out. Senior called a few times to check on how I was doing but told me in no way was I to bring Big Baby home.... : (
After about two hours, his mom called happy and excited that she had passed and was on her way to being a citizen, she brought back lunch and as we ate, she told me about the test taking :
FYI To become a citizen of the USA, a person gets asked one written question..hers was: " What month do we celebrate Presidents Day"?
Then, a person is asked 10 out of 100 possible verbal questions. They have to answer six correctly. Ones that she was asked today are these:
"When is the 4th of July"? ( no kidding)
" Who is the current President" ?
"Who is the current Vice President"?
"Where is the White House"?
"What ocean is on the east side of the United States"?
"What country is to the north of the United States"?
If you answer the first six questions correctly they do not ask the other four.
I sat there, eating with Cheshire cat kind of grin on my face, her sarcasm expressed my thoughts. So much for all the studying..next she is to wait for a piece of mail to tell her when the ceremony is.
After lunch, and getting the inner knowledge of becoming a Citizen, I collected my things, gave the mom a hug, and squeezed Big Baby's overly chubby cheeks..he in turn said his "goodbye" with slobber.
-JUGM
