Like several women in my family, including my mother, my fingerprints are not easy to recognize. I’ve been told that it's due to our skin type. This was the reason for the delay in my process of applying to be a resident and an American citizen. Fingerprinting is one of the several requirements every time these kinds of requests are made. I repeated this process several times because the FBI, the organization that is in charge of the background check, could not recognize my fingerprints. Therefore I could not be properly identified.
I have been recreating my fingerprints through embroidered tapestries. I embroider my fingerprint and the FBI immigration letter that required me to repeat this process, on a cloth napkin that my mother kept as a relic for many years and that we only use on special occasions in Bogotá. The napkin is sewn on a dark blue velvet canvas that is very similar to the fabric that draped the podium during the acceptance of my citizenship.