ALL NIGERIANS IN VISA JOURNEY .

[Asante Maroon 0]

You are right ZiZi, people back home no matter where "home" is, has a distorted view of America. I tried to explain to some friends in Ghana that the very people they see coming to Ghana flashing money and expensive jewelry are many times dead broke in the US! Their airline ticket are probably not paid for (being that they bought it on credit) or they saved their very last dollar to buy their ticket. They may look good, healthy and rich in clothing, but many of us bargain hunt for clothes months in advance because we just don't have it.

There are so many people who have not been back home in years (sometimes more than 10!) because money is tight and they would not be able to give money to family members who expect them to be doing well here.

The truth of the matter is foreigners most times have at least 2 or more jobs just to get by. Some are living in poor neighborhoods just so that they can send money home to their families, all the while trying to maintain themselves as well as other family members here.

My step father who is Nigerian lived with about 5 or 6 other Africans in a 1 bedroom apartment when he came here on a student visa. He lived in a crowded apartment for years, barely able to eat. Many of his friends had servants back home and they came to the US and suffered for a long time before getting on their feet. Although my step father faced hard times here, his family expected him to be doing well and he did not want to disappoint or worry them. I remember him stressing about buying Fendi cologne for his brothers so that he had something expensive to give to them....all in the name of keeping up appearances.

Of course giving the appearance of doing well in the US does not help to demolish the view of instantaneous wealth upon merely touching US soil.

The bottom line is that things are not all roses her in the US. Most times it takes years and years just to make it. We probably could all live better back home than here. If people with middle class wages can have a big house with boys quarters and a gate man, what less of the people here in one of the richest countries in the world? This is how people think.

If its hard on those who enter this country legitimately, what of the people who enter illegally? People who are here illegally have a very hard time! They in no way can fully enjoy the opportunities here.

If we are to offer advice on how to legally come to this country, I say go for it. But I also say that we need to start having honest discourse on the true experiences of foreigners in this country.

When the amount of illegal entries into the US decreases, maybe more doors and opportunities will open for others.

This actually needs to be printed on the back of some sort of welcome to America phamplets. We say the exact same thing in the Jamaican threads. My husband's family and friends continue to frustrate him.

Girl, my family is from JA and I know all about it...from both perspectives (African & Jamaican)

When my family members would get here they would say: America nuh easy....It hard, buddy!

No matter how much you tell people back home that life can be difficult here, its hard to compete with their lifelong perception of money falling off of trees in the US. I had many family members who came here legally and overstayed their visa just so that they can work and send money down to JA to build homes and take care of family. They would buy clothes and things here just do that they can send it down to family to sell for a living.

Life here is hard for the average legal residents.... And I'm afraid it can be even harder on those who are here illegally. Can't vote, Can't drive, Can't travel out of the US, Afraid to to speak up to see that their children are entered into the right grade (and not be held back a couple of years when they should be accelerated), Afraid to get help from the authorities when needed due to fear of being deported....the list goes on....