Lelo Nxumalo

Perhaps now would be a good time to digest my transition to 'the real world' lest I forget. It was just over four years ago that I set foot in the 'New World', by way of Logan International Airport in Boston Massachusetts. I remember as though it was yesterday my first encounter with a person who would be my friend for the next four years - Yash. Yash got my name from a contact list that the office of international students had put together and circulated among incoming international freshman. We corresponded via email and eventually arranged to board the same Virgin Airlines jet to the United States of America. One memory that stands out is not a happy one, rather it was a reality check that we were not going to the land of milk and honey per se. Yash, who is from India, was pulled to the side by the TSA for their 'random' checks. You have to know Yash to understand when I say his demeanor throughout this ordeal was immaculate. I would have flipped. Random se...

I started work at the IMF on May 24th 2010, two days after graduation. The week before that was packed with things I absolutely needed to do before entering duty. On Monday the 17th (also my birthday) I traveled to the Big Apple to pick my visa from the Canadian Consulate in order to travel to Canada to apply for a G-4 visa to work at the Fund. I spent most of my birthday inside the Consulate. At lunch time I went to the Rockefeller Center and walked around the city looking for a suit for my commencement on May 22nd. I was the last person at the Consulate - for some reason the officers had misplaced my file. When I got the visa I set out for Canada. I called the Travel Office at the IMF to arrange my flight to Ottawa but it was a bit too late in the day. I left the US for Ottawa on the next day. Early Wednesday morning (May 19th) I literally walked into the embassy past the line (thanks to my semi-diplomatic status) to the G-4 window.The actual visa, however, was going to be ready on F...