Musical Border Crossing

[Judith Rosen]

Irene Shelton wrote:
>  as we were informed, 'the idea of foreigners just driving around 
> "sightseeing" is just not "normal" .. I'm not sure why enjoying the 
> countryside via car is such a weird concept, but the security woman 
> who briefed us about future travel etiquette said that people without 
> rigid daily plans tend to be 'hippies and terrorists'(?!?) and 
> suggested making up destinations in the future, rather than say we 
> were just on a driving holiday .. we were also told never to say we 
> were going to stay in a hostel (isn't the word to be concerned about 
> really 'hostile?) as, again, apparently 'normal' people don't do that

So, the customs officials actually advised you to LIE, in future, 
rather than tell them the truth about your plans while in the United 
States!?! I almost fell off my chair when I read that! The security 
folks apparently didn't consider the fact that Sedona is basically 
empty of people, and that terrorists don't go places where there's no 
one to terrorize. But it's just too much to hear that they told you, 
"Next time, just SAY you're going to do this, instead of that...."

In a weird way, I think it's a sign that this crazy country of mine is 
recovering quite a bit from 9/11. When the security staff start giving 
you practical advice about how to avoid setting off "alarms" when you 
come into the country in future, right up to saying in so many words 
that you should lie through your teeth about what your actual plans 
ARE-- Wow! That's hilarious!

Judith
PS: But I'm still baffled over what Mairi Rankin experienced at the 
border in Maine. How anyone could be the slightest bit put off by her 
is beyond me. I met her when she was playing in Syracuse, NY, with 
Beolach a while back and she's delightful. For those who haven't had 
the pleasure of hearing her play, there are a few nice clips on 
youtube. Here's one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l66t3vTFc08 
where she demonstrates the same tune first as a jig and then as a 
reel...


Web address: http://www.rosen-enterprises.com
BioTheory: An electronic journal of general science based on the 
Relational (Rosennean) Complexity Paradigm
On Feb 16, 2009, at 5:49 PM, Irene Shelton wrote:

> Well, my daughter and I had an interesting thing happen the last time 
> we went to the States, even WITH all our papers in order ..
> We decided to take a very last-minute flight to Arizona just after 
> Christmas, to spend a few days hiking around Sedona .. we had 
> prebooked a car but hadn't booked a place to stay, figuring that since 
> it was last minute and off-season we would just see how far we got the 
> first day and stop where ever, make it a bit of an adventure ..
> However - it seems that some US customs people just don't like the 
> idea of 'no fixed destination' .. we were detained while the security 
> people explained to us that we needed to be able to state a specific 
> accommodation / hotel chain and street address (and not just the 
> town).. apparently, as we were informed, 'the idea of foreigners just 
> driving around "sightseeing" is just not "normal" .. I'm not sure why 
> enjoying the countryside via car is such a weird concept, but the 
> security woman who briefed us about future travel etiquette said that 
> people without rigid daily plans tend to be 'hippies and 
> terrorists'(?!?) and suggested making up destinations in the future, 
> rather than say we were just on a driving holiday .. we were also told 
> never to say we were going to stay in a hostel (isn't the word to be 
> concerned about really 'hostile?) as, again, apparently 'normal' 
> people don't do that ... we did get on our plane without further ado, 
> after being 'briefed', and had a bit of a head-shake and laugh after 
> ... but the whole thing WAS a bit over-blown and strange .. and not 
> exactly welcoming!
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