Landing in America

In this series, I’ll be writing about my
experience, traveling to the US, and 
my stay in graduate school. 
This series is a continuation of the first 
series I wrote titled “my journey to the America”. 
If you haven’t read it, you should
In addition to providing information on 
how to successfully apply to grad schools 
and ace visa interviews, the good people of 
Nairaland had also provided information 
on the cheapest means of getting to the 
US and the necessary items you needed 
to take with you. 
I took a few clothes I hadn’t given out, 
and also took a lot of dry foods like 
egusi, plantain chips, ogbono, dry pepper, etc. 
The cheapest airlines they suggested 
were Turkish air and Royal Air Maroc. 
I booked a flight on Royal Air Maroc 
via a travel agent and let just say 
that whatever you do in this life, DO NOT 
EVER FLY WITH ROYAL AIR MAROC – 
It will end in tears. 
My sister was going to New York (NY), 
while I was going to College Park, 
Maryland (MD) and because she was 
a minor, I decided to fly to NY with her, 
then take a bus to MD which is only 
5 hours away by road. 
The night I was to leave, I was a little 
afraid but mostly excited. 
I felt the same way I felt on my first 
day in the boarding house when I 
asked my dad to leave shortly after 
dropping me off. 
I can’t remember who dropped me off 
at the airport now but I went to my 
dad’s room to say goodbye and 
with tears in his eyes (because favorite 
child and look alike laugh),  he prayed 
for me and told me to ensure I ate 
because I looked like “eran ori iresi” 
(the meat on a plate of rice). 
It might sound like a weird advice but 
I weighed 50kg at the time and was 
a size zero yet, I thought I was fat and 
hardly used to eat.
A friend had advised I wrap every 
food item in several newspapers and 
put them under layers of clothing so 
they weren’t discovered by immigration 
officers. 
But as I got to the airport and queued 
to go through immigration, the smell 
of my ogbono and crayfish hit my 
nostrils strongly and I suspected 
everyone around me could smell it too. 
When I got to the immigration desk 
and was asked to open my box for 
them to search, I opened the one 
that didn’t contain food and hoped 
no one would ask me to open my 
box of food. 
Luckily for me, the officer that searched 
me just said: “you are a student, ehn 
find something for us”. 
I told him I didn’t have anything and 
he let me go. 
I passed through security with no issues 
and finally boarded the plane. 
That was my first trip outside Nigeria and 
if it wasn’t for NYSC posting to Adamawa 
and a work assignment in Abuja, it 
would also have been my first time 
on a plane. 
Thank God I didn’t disgrace my generation 
on international waters.
The food was horrible but I ate every 
single thing because my ticket money 
must not waste. 
I was too excited to sleep and stayed 
awake throughout the flight. 
We had a 3-4 hour layover at Casablanca 
and when the boarding gate for our 
flight was open, everyone on the flight 
including me stood up to queue for 
boarding. 
I observed a weird thing while queuing. 
Although Morocco is an African country, 
its people are fair-skinned like Arabs. 
The woman checking passports and 
boarding passes let all the non-African 
people go after checking their documents. 
But for the black people, after letting 
them go, she would run after them and 
ask them to go back as if she just found 
out something shady in their documents.
I did not have accommodation yet so 
I put my uncle’s house address in NY 
as my destination. 
Seeing the attendant ask black people 
to come back made me fear that I 
would be turned back because the 
address I put down was different 
from the city where my school is located. 
Until I passed through security at New York, 
this fear of being turned back never 
left me. 
Eventually, it was my turn and I gave my 
documents to the attendant and 
answered her questions. 
She returned them to me and said I 
could go. I had barely started walking 
when she ran after me and asked me 
to come back. 
I was so upset but kept calm. 
I can't remember the flimsy reason 
she gave for flagging me but she 
eventually let me through.
We arrived at NY in the night and I 
took my boxes to the immigration 
officer at the point of entry. 
I didn’t declare my food items so I 
was afraid they would get seized by 
the immigration officers. 
My whole body was shaking as I 
struggled to stay still to get my 
picture taken and give my fingerprints. 
I answered the officer’s questions 
and eventually he smiled and said 
“you plan to get a 4.0 GPA eh” 
Me too I smiled and said yes. 
He welcomed me to America and 
said I could go. 
Come and see happiness. 
I logged onto the airport wifi and 
informed my uncle I had arrived 
but he couldn’t pick me up and I 
had to take a cab. 
You people think Lagos cab drivers 
are scammers - New York cab drivers 
are the worst. 
The cab driver charged me $45 for a 
20-minute trip. 
He convinced me that a fixed fare was 
cheaper than a metered fare and 
me too I fell for it. 
I arrived at my uncle’s house, ate, slept 
and woke up early the following 
morning to catch my 7 am bus to 
Maryland in Manhattan. 
My aunt went with me to catch the bus. 
Unfortunately, my box was damaged 
on the plane and my cousin, May God 
forever bless his heart, carried it on 
his head from the train station to 
the Bus station. 
I arrived say 5 minutes before the bus 
was to leave but they refused to let 
me get on despite all my aunty’s pleas. 
I waited for the next bus and when it 
arrived, I was told I was entitled to 
only one luggage. 
My aunt took the second box back 
and that meant I had to return to NY 
whenever I settled to pick it up. 
I did not mind going back though because 
NY city was breathtaking! 
It looked exactly how it was portrayed 
in movies and I was eager to explore it.
We were told there was wifi on the bus 
and my jaw nearly dropped. 
That was my first taste of American 
wonder. Kia! I logged on to whatsapp 
and started chatting with all my friends 
and family, and surfing the web. 
It had been so long since I had access 
to free and fast wifi that I got carried 
away. 
We eventually got to my stop, 5 hours later, 
and I got off the bus with my box. 
I was quite disappointed with my 
surroundings cuz I expected the whole 
of America to look like New York but 
my environment was just bleh. 
In less than 5 minutes after I got off 
the bus, I realized I left my laptop 
on the bus. 
I called the customer care number listed 
at the bus station and was asked to 
call back after they had spoken with 
the bus driver. 
I called back and they told me my laptop 
was not on the bus and someone must 
have taken it!
 I got my first of many shocking findings 
about America –
They also steal in the Almighty US of A!

To be continued…
 
Firecracker Toyeen