Hello lovers of the Black Migrant Girl Blog.
I know, I know, it seems like ages since I last penned my thoughts on here. I’m not going to offer up any excuses as to why I haven’t been able to write here as frequently. I’ll instead focus on doing better next time by creating a regular cadence to write on here. If you’ve got any suggestions to keep me forthright and on task, do feel free to comment underneath.
Anywho, the last time I wrote on here, I was planning a trip back to Lagos to visit my boyfriend, my mother, my father, rest of my family and friends (in that order…hahahaha). I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Lagos (Naija is sweet when you don’t live there, and you have to visit periodically), and after 5 weeks, I returned to Canada.
Let me share what happened to me as I landed back in Toronto from Lagos in May. As I walked through arrivals to clear through immigration and border control, there were two separate queues- one was for travellers with Canadian/US passports, and the other for visitors to Canada. As I approached the queues, I became slightly confused because as a Permanent Resident (PR) in Canada, I knew I wasn’t a visitor here, so that line didn’t apply, but I also do not have a Canadian passport yet, as that would happen only after living for three years here. So I got to the crossroad of both queues and paused, not sure how to proceed. This very kind lady on the queue reading the confusion on my face asked me if I needed any help. I explained to her that I had a Nigerian passport, but I am a PR in Canada, so I wasn’t sure what queue to proceed on. My dear friendly-faced lady looked at me, smiled and said, “of course, you should be on the Canadian passport line. If you are a PR holder, it’s means essentially the same thing as a passport holder”. People of God, my inner joy knew no bounds. In my mind I was like, “so na me be this? I don become dual citizen laidis :)” It was a beautiful reminder that the last 18 months of uncertainty, faith, courage, and the decision to relocate to a brand new country is beginning to pay off.
Since I’ve been back, I decided to head back into the labor market. I got a really sweet deal back in HR working for a really cool company, and the way my account balance was set up; I was like, I better take this job righ’ now or else… I know I had previously said I wanted to start a business here, and that dream is evergreen. I’m still researching; and gathering information on setting up a business and creating multiple streams of income in Canada. Since I have also wrapped up my postgraduate diploma from last year, I’m working on finding flexible career opportunities the weekends, while I work my 9-5 on the weekdays.
This life isn’t figureouttable all at once! It’s a put-one-leg-in-front-of-you-every-day kinda life, and when one knows better, one does better.
Happy, Happy Summer folks.
