Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Problem to get police report from kenya!	the guy at the embassy keeps telling me since 5 month the same and the same.. hes pushing tzhem and pushing them... but, nothing goes on.. they promised me i will ge it within 6 weeks! i dont know anymore what to do. i will have soon my interview and if i dont have it up to then, i guess i wont get the k1 visa! any ideas, what i could do????? My fiancee (now husband) had that same problem. He needed a police report from Holland, but was living in Spain. Spain said they put the request in, but when I called Holland, they said they didn't have the request. After that, I called the embassy EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! Both of them. I admit I got emotional, sometimes I would yell, sometimes I'd cry, sometimes I'd be sugarsweet. You know what they say, the squeaky wheel gets the oil...lol. I don't know if it helped really, but that's what I did.	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-06-23 12:37:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Traveling	hey, thanks everyone for the reply! Sweetee--not worried about crime in Spain, I visited my husband when he was living there 3 times...so he knows his way around. We chose to go through there to visit his brother. Joej---I kind of knew that my husband would need a visa for Spain. Kind of sad, he gave up his Spanish residency for me... Ursi---We will be flying into Lagos, but spending most of our time in Benin City, Edo State. We found airfare for $1,100 (that is after taxes) on Iberia. Cheapest we found, and we wanted our layover to be in Madrid. We fly out of Minneapolis...I'm sure you lucky people flying out of NY or NJ or a more major city could find a better deal. mandolinv---we are leaving middle of january, arriving back beginning of february....on iberia, there was no price difference for january or february. heather &justice--thanks for the tip, but already bought the ticket...lol i appreciate your advice. i'm excited about the trip, i can't wait to meet my husband's parents...so much better than talking on the phone...lol.	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-10 13:20:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Traveling	Hi all! We just bought tickets to go to Nigeria in January! Yay! I'm so excited, because I have not met his parents yet. (He was living in Europe when we met and did the whole visa journey). My husband just recieved his green card. Our flight has a layover in Madrid, and we want to leave the airport and visit his brother. I'm assuming he will need to get a visa, even though he is a U.S. permanent resident? Don't be mean if this is an obvious question, just wanted to ask this knowledgeable group. (Wish I had found this site sooner)... Thanks! *shelly*	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-02 16:32:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	She got the visa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my God	Hooray for you and your loved one! Treasure this feeling---I'm sure you've worked hard to get to this point! And may your wedding be filled with happiness....	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-09-08 22:54:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Nigerian Movies	blood sisters is awesome! my trio of favorite naija actresses are genevieve nnaji, omotola, and chioma chukwa. anything with them, i'll watch! i'm pretty lucky because we always borrow our movies from a friend...so haven't had to spend any money to do it. he's a businessman, lol. he's in afica now...can't wait until he gets back with new movies for us to watch! another movie i liked was soul provider with omotola and many more movies...i can't remember all the titles.... our phillips dvd player plays the dvds without any problems...nigerian ones, american ones, and european ones my husband brought with. the dvd player was a gift, so i don't know how much it was, but i'm sure it wasn't on the expensive end of the scale... i think i spelled chioma's last name wrong..maybe its chukwuka...lol...i don't remember...but i love her! O.K. don't get me started with my favorites Let me see if I can narrow it down to a trio.. I can say in the female division, Rita Dominic, Patience Ozokwor, & Ini Edo. In the male division, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Ramsey Nouah, Jim Iyke, and Kenneth Okonkwo (oops, thats four huh? LOL Well I tried.....) for some reason, ini edo rubs me the wrong way, i just don't like her..... i like rita dominic too. she has cute hair! i know this has gotten off topic, but how many posts haven't at some point?	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-12 17:37:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Nigerian Movies	blood sisters is awesome! my trio of favorite naija actresses are genevieve nnaji, omotola, and chioma chukwa. anything with them, i'll watch! i'm pretty lucky because we always borrow our movies from a friend...so haven't had to spend any money to do it. he's a businessman, lol. he's in afica now...can't wait until he gets back with new movies for us to watch! another movie i liked was soul provider with omotola and many more movies...i can't remember all the titles.... our phillips dvd player plays the dvds without any problems...nigerian ones, american ones, and european ones my husband brought with. the dvd player was a gift, so i don't know how much it was, but i'm sure it wasn't on the expensive end of the scale... i think i spelled chioma's last name wrong..maybe its chukwuka...lol...i don't remember...but i love her!	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-11 12:21:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Arrests made in sham marriages with Ghanaians	This is awful and rotten, and I'm glad they got caught cheating the system, while those of us *truly* marrying for the right reasons have suffered impatiently to begin married life together. But, as awful as it is, at least everyone involved knew what they were getting into. It is more heartbreaking when the USC believes she/he is entering into a bonafide marriage, only to be duped. A girl I used to work with recently found herself in this situation. The day after her husband got his 10 year green card, he left her. He said his good-bye through email. She is absolutely devasted--she went through so much to be with him, and she was truly in love and happy with him. It is those people I wish would be caught more frequently....	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-09-08 22:52:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Traveling to Nigeria	hi! as i posted in another post, i recently bought a ticket directly from iberia airlines for $1,100 for a roundtrip ticket to lagos. i am coming from minneapolis, so the price might be different from different cities. when i was looking i checked out kayak, orbitz, travelocity, airgorilla, airfareplanet, etc. this was the cheapest i found. some appeared cheaper, but after they added taxes, was actually more. plus we wanted a layover in madrid... keep in mind, december is an expensive time to go, because it is a common time to go. good luck with finding a cheap ticket! and have a great time when you do go!	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-10 13:37:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Info. on Dan's interview today	"She said I must say this to you. She said I have never trusted nigerians coming under the guise of marriage. I said what, what the hell did she say that for, but anyway, it doesnt matter he was approved. She also told him I trust you. So glad of that. Just think she denies alot of visas cos she thinks all nigerians are fraud, what a bunch of #######. So look out for the white lady. LOL " ------------------ My husband is Nigerian as well. We went through the Madrid, Spain embassy. I (the USC) was interviewed before he got his K1 visa, and the lady said that to me, as well as a lot of other really biased unenlightened things. It was an awful experience, and the things she said made me sooo mad. Yes, there is a lot of fraud. But there is also real love too. Oh, but I forgot the most important part----Hooray for you! You got the visa, and you can begin life as husband and wife for real! Savor the feeling---it is wonderful!	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-10-20 02:05:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Finally, our journey is over	The love the two of you have for each other is so beautiful and inspiring! I know you will have a long and joyous marriage together. The only things worth having are those you fight to have. Enjoy your time together again....	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-11-08 00:08:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	African music to relax to...	i would suggest Ayub Ogada. he's a kenyan musician. his music is so amazing and soothing and beautiful!!! i would love a massage to his music..... and you can find his music on amazon.com!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-02-23 00:15:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	VISA APPROVVVVVVVVVVED	Hooray! Congratulations to you and your wife! Now, you can finally begin your life together....... Wishing you all the best!!!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-28 00:22:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Fiance Arrived	Congratulations!!! Now you can begin your life together....Wishing you much happiness!!!!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-29 20:10:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	POE	Thank u all for sharing your experiences. I am now in the US and I did not have anyproblems at the port of entry. I just handed the documents and when the immigration officer checked he said all was ok. He chatted with me for a few seconds and then told me to remember I had 90 days. It did not take all more than 15 minutes I am so glad you had a smooth POE. welcome, and have a wonderful married life now that you are reunited!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-14 00:33:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	POE	flying from madrid, we had to change planes in amsterdam. going through immigration there was very tough, and we almost missed our flight. the immigration officer was an a**hole. I found the security in Amsterdam to be a bit tough too, and I wasn't trying to immigrate anywhere, just get back to the US from Kenya! They asked me so many questions about what I was carrying in my bags, and then I had to explain in detail why I was carrying recording equipment with me. It was sortof intimidating, and I wasn't trying to do anything wrong and should have been the easiest kind passenger to deal with! The guy should have smoked a joint before work to lighten up a bit! Yeah, I went through Amsterdam on my last flight, too! I didn't realize security was asking EVERYONE about where they had been and what they had done, so I thought I was in big big trouble for doing nothing but staying with a native male Tanzanian for two months. I was really worked up about it, but once I saw that they were asking everybody questions, I stopped freaking out. It was REALLY intimidating, though. Hopefully when Ombeni flies over, he'll change planes in a less scary (and confusing! man I hate Schiphol) airport. i have a love/hate relationship with the amsterdam airport. it's a pretty airport and there's lots to do to kill time. BUT they are so tough with their immigration. i actually met my husband at a wedding in holland, on my way home from spending a couple of weeks in tanzania. the immigration officer was flipping out that i didn't have an itinerary. at that time, i worked for an airline, so i flew on open tickets----tons of airline people fly that way through amsterdam, so it's not an unusual thing. but the officer was such a jerk. he made me put every electronic item i had through the machine one by one, drilled me with questions, and scolded me for spending a few unexpected days in holland. he stayed with me the whole time until i physically boarded the plane. i was just glad to get on that plane! so i have to yucky immigration experiences with that airport. they were much worse though when it was my husband and i, they actually made us go into the little office area to be questioned!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-09 02:45:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	POE	i can't tell you how your will be, but i can tell you how mine was, or rather my now husbands. my husband is nigerian, but went through the embassy in spain. our poe was minneapolis. going through immigraion in minneapolis was very simple,no problems at all. the officer even welcomed my husband and wished him good luck! flying from madrid, we had to change planes in amsterdam. going through immigration there was very tough, and we almost missed our flight. the immigration officer was an a**hole.	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-05 02:53:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	quick update	yes, the waiting to work and getting familiar in the neighborhood were the hardest parts. luckily, where we were living at the time there was a ymca walking distance from us, so we got memberships. my husband would go to the gym or play basketball for an hour or 2 while i worked, and was able to make friends there. definately a life saver from boredom. also, just walking around the neighborhood, locating places to buy calling cards and nigerian food helped out as well. also at the time, there was a guy from guinea (who was my friend first!), who became one of my husband's friends. just trying to find your partner stuff to do while they wait so they aren't so bored is going to help sooo much.	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-14 00:32:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Letter of complaint re: US Embassy in Nairobi/medical exam	Thank you for all your kind wishes. I am happy to say that today, when Jacinta went to drop off her medical exam results, the Embassy officer had the good sense to carry out the interview today and had the kind heart to approve her! She can pick up her visa on the 26th and will be coming here shortly thereafter! I can't wait! Congratulations!!!!!! I am sooo happy for the two of you! After all your frustrations, what sweet news! And the timing will be so nice---Jacinta will be here for the fun (and nice weather) of summer! Have a happy married life--it will be so wonderful for the two of you to be together and finally begin your life together....	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-14 00:37:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	update	congratulations on your baby boy! so happy to hear that he is now doing fine! when you get the chance, you should post a picture of your lil cutie! all the best...	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-19 19:44:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Konyagi!	I know some of you have SOs from Tanzania, so I thought I would pass this along---it's possible to get Konyagi here in the USA. I haven't tried this website myself, so I can't vouch if it's good company or not. But Konyagi---there's absolutely nothing like it! I have sworn if off, because it makes me do wild and crazy things (it affects me like nothing else, lol). But maybe some are missing it....lol. http://www.konyagiusa.com/	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-04-14 15:38:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Good American resturants in Lagos	you guys are all making me feel so much better! i have been feeling so guilty for not loving nigerian food..... i just am not a big fan of meat or fish or snails.... the food is so heavy--even the stuff i like i can only eat a little bit of it. but the fruit and veggies over there are awesome though....so fresh and yummy. and the bread too---so sweet!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-29 20:15:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Good American resturants in Lagos	[ hehe, oh man, I hate ugali with a passion! Actually, when I stayed with the Maasai, their ugali was really good, and made from cornmeal instead of finely ground flour. But then that's all we ate for five meals in a row, and I got sick of the good ugali, too. :-p I need to find a good Tanzanian restaurant in Madison! I got all excited yesterday because I found an East African restaurant, but it turned out to just have Ethiopian food. It was still good (and they had Tusker!), but I really wanted makande. [/quote] i actually like ugali (but nigerian pounded yam is way better). in the village i was living in tanzania, that's all they ate was ugali. when asked what their favorite food was...ugali was almost always one of the responses. they didn't really like rice so much, lol. if there are any somali restaurants in madison, you should check those out---that's where i find mandazi and sambusa. i went to a somali restaurant here in minneapolis a few years ago, and the cook was from zanzibar...i was able to get ugali there, lol. it wasn't on the menu, but my friend knew the cook....	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-28 15:54:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Good American resturants in Lagos	Yeah, I generally stuck to what the locals ate when I went to Tanzania. It usually wasn't anything too excited... fried chicken and french fries, beef stew and rice, chapatis and beans. Beer was also a staple. I really craved a cheeseburger, but I've never been satisfied with Tanzanian hamburgers. They're really crumbly, and they lack Wisconsin cheese! tanzanian food is sooooo yummy! you forgot to mention ugali, lol. and chipsi mayai. there's a few places here in minneapolis where sometimes i go and get mandazi and sambusas to snack on. (excuse my spelling, my swahili is rusty).	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-28 00:49:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Good American resturants in Lagos	Has anyone ever gotten pizza in Lagos, Nigeria? What about a good ole American burger? What about anything processsed and chemically altered...you know good American food. Last time I was there I ordered a chicken burger from Mr. Biggs and that thing was not good To think of it I never saw a McDonald's...Hahaha!!! Also, no drive thru, no pizza or chinese delivery drivers, & no one eating/drinking on the streets on their way to anywhere(except for the chickens, goats, sheeps, cows). However, people will sell you food on the street. Aren't they aggressive sales men? They put it up in your face!!! Just wondering what people ate when abroad especially if you are picky like me NAIJA gotta love that place! i ate cornflakes and bread and lots of fruit and juice. it was also the beginning of my pregnancy and i had terrible morning sickness and couldn't eat. i definately lost weight while i was there. i just couldn't eat. it doesn't help that i'm a former vegetarian, and these days only eat chicken and turkey for meat. nigerian food is so meat centered. i felt bad because his mom or sister cooked for us the whole time, and i just didn't have an appetite.	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-27 00:00:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Languages	My husband speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, Edo. He understands Yoruba and Ibo as well. My husband speaks Edo as well! He can speak french and english. I am not as cultured! I can only speak english and a little bit of french due to a college requirement. Are you trying to learn Edo? Do you have any tips? Here in the Minneapolis area, there is a decent sized Nigerian population, but none that we've met speak Edo--mostly Yoruba and Ibo--so it's hard to learn without others around to practice with besides my husband.	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-22 13:21:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Languages	wow, you sure know your resources. I have only found one page of edo/english words...but i'm definately going to look up some of these books and see if they help out. yes, i was teasing about needing to marry a swahili speaking man. love is definately mysterious, and that is part of the beauty of love. i do want to learn edo...i'm just sad that i'm losing my swahili...i just think it is such a beautiful language. Here are some Edo resources: http://www.isp.msu.e.....ype=All Types Not sure how useful they'll be, but it's a start! In my case, I thought if I was going to fall in love with a Kenyan woman, it would have been one from the ethnic group I was studying and have been spending most of my days thinking about for five years. But love doesn't work that way, and I found someone whose language I knew nothing about. But I'm always up for a new challenge.	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-21 00:31:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Languages	I learned a little bit of Nyaturu while I was living in a village in the Singida region of Tanzania. I remember when I first returned home from Tanzania, whenever I would get tipsy....I would start babbling in Swahili only. Drove my friends crazy. But I did make friends with taxi drivers and random people in clubs....lol. I was supposed to marry a Swahili speaking man, so that I would eventually become fluent in that beautiful language (and I had such a good foundation to build from). But of course, I fell in love with a Nigerian man, lol. So I have to start over with the language. And it's hard to find resources for the Edo language. ---------------------- I've gotta know the story behind this. How do you know Nyaturu? Very cool. I've written a paper with some stuff from Kirimi. I've heard that Rimi is maybe a dialect of Nyaturu? I dunno. I had the opposite problem for a while when trying to speak Swahili; when I was trying to speak Swahili and didn't know the word, the French word would come to mind, and it was very confusing! And a friend of mine who's lived for many years in Kenya has picked up a lot of Kenyanisms when speaking English always says "you know, the nini" (thing/what) or "sindiyo" (isn't it?, no?) when speaking to other Americans in the midwest. He gets a lot of funny looks. [/quote]	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-21 00:10:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	Languages	My husband speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, Edo. He understands Yoruba and Ibo as well. Me (the USC) speaks English, some Swahili, even less Spanish, even less Nyaturu, and about 5 words in Edo (which I really need to learn). I have the same problem with multiple languages. When I was learning Swahili, it wiped out a lot of my Spanish. I remember being in Costa Rica, and any word I didn't know in Spanish I would substitute the Swahili word. I was confusing people...lol. I'm losing my Swahili, which makes me so sad. I haven't been back to Tanzania in over 2 years, and most of my Swahili speaking friends here in the States have moved away...	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-03-20 13:10:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Choice of Language in Spainish Consulate	I've read a couple posts about other countries allowing the beneficiary to choose the language the interview will be in....is this true? and does anyone know if you can choose this in Spain? I speak a little Spanish and my fiance speaks a little English...we have looked up classes that he will take when he moves here...and I will start to take classes in December....if everything goes as planned...he should have his interview some time this November....thanks for any help or advice....Lema Hi! My husband went through the embassy in Spain. The interviews were in English. I'm sure you can choose to have the interview in either English or Spanish. Good luck with your interview! I am the USC, and I was interviewed as well (which I don't think is common practice), and they made me cry. But my husband comes from a country with a high rate of visa fraud, he was not a Spanish National. But he did get his visa! Good luck to you and your fiancee!	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-21 18:13:00
Middle East and North Africa	Happy Anniversary Rahma!	Thanks everyone! We had a really low key day. I went to class, came home and made cheesecake and chinese food for dinner. Our first wedding dinner was chinese food We ate it while watching Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride II Now we just need a baby But, not until we have a house! Since the first anniversaries are paper, I got my husband a photo album with all the pictures we've taken this last year, and he wrote me a very wonderful letter inshaAllah many many more! Happy 1 year anniversary to you!!! Didn't the year fly by? My one year will be in a month---wow! I want the house and baby to come too! Hopeufully this next year will bring that to both of us!	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-10-17 00:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Yes!!!!! Thank GOd, we are APPROVED!!!!!	yay for you! such a wonderful feeling....	wasino	Female	Spain	2006-08-14 17:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Originals of proof of meeting and NOA2 lost by Greyhound...	my bag was lost on a greyhound bus, and within that same week, they found it. hope yours gets found and is safely with you again!	wasino	Female	Spain	2007-01-05 17:32:00