Well, some news finally, I don't yet know whether it will be good or bad. I went for a walk around the farm on Wednesday evening about 6 pm, but came home early because a thunderstorm was starting to drop some lightning and I didn't want to be stuck out on a hill top.
When I got home, my Mum was frantically waving at me to come to the phone. There was a woman from the consulate on the phone, it seems that she had the fax which the International Office had sent on my behalf (it had arrived 13th January) and was trying to find out what was happening with that. I explained what had happened (i.e. lots of waiting) and how I was trying to get back to the US as soon as possible. The consulate is closed on Thursday, but she promised to look into it and phone me back on Friday morning. She said there might be a good chance of processing my visa on Friday if all my documentation was there and in order.
Monday just gone was a holiday for the consulate (MLK Day), but hopefully that meant that the stuff I sent last Thursday and Friday arrived close together on Tuesday. It's still a matter of hoping that my passport hasn't been mailed back to me, because they need it on hand to put the new visa in it.
Well, it was a relief to hear from an actually human being, and although she didn't know what was happening exactly, she did promise to look into it and call me back. So things are definitely happening. Monday is another public holiday (Australia Day), so we're wondering if I could pick up my passport and papers in person on Tuesday if everything goes ok. The current worst case scenario is that I'd have to go in for the interview anyway. I also received word from the International Office at MSU that they could send me a new DS-2019 form if I needed one, so that was good news. When the interview would be if I needed one, I don't know. Once I talk with the woman from the consulate on Friday morning, I'll have more information and I'll send out a general email. I'm trying to think of worst case scenarios to stop me from being let down if that happens.
The thunderstorm which had been building turned out to be really quite good. There was quite a bit of lightning and then about half an inch of rain which took the temperature right down which was nice.
I didn't do very much on Thursday, although I did go with Mum to church. I figure I could do with all the assistance I can get. I came home and read some more books, and the I recorded the cricket so my friends in the US could see what a day/night match is like.