She has a number of these about her trip through America, not afraid to both embrace and question stereotypes. The bad start she talks about seems to be about being taken into custody at the border in Laredo. I didn't check into whatever that was about. She was displeased about it, but seems to have quickly gotten past it.
She looks pretty young, and may only have known travel in Europe under the Schengen protocols which is visa and passport less like travel between states in the US. She might not have understood the same does not apply to the US-Mexico border, at least for non-Americans.
ReplyDeleteIf you view the linked video on youtube, the experience at the border is the topic a preceding video.
ReplyDeleteComments to that one from 'locals' indicated that:
• tourists crossing at the Nuevo Laredo border crossing are immediately suspicious, as why would you choose to transit deepest cartel territory when safer options are better?
• the way she presented herself (sweet innocent single young European tourist) raised all the red flags for a duped drug mule.
In my experience of Quebec and Ontario US crossings, I long ago came to the conclusion that the CBP officers at land-crossings hate it when Europeans cross, as we had problems every time.
There's an instant change from sullen-but-businesslike to shouting and accusatory when they see the EU passport. US CBP are already uniformly shoutier and angrier than most customs and immigration officers I've encountered anywhere else in the world, but the fear and intimidation factor has seemed to go immediately 'up to 11' whenever they were dealing with a European passenger on a cross-border bus or train, or when I crossed by car for an Adirondacks camping weekend or to attend a concert in Burlington with a European in the car.
Knowing the drill and having all the right papers and the ESTA that shows you are cleared for free entry under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) really doesn't make it any less harrowing. And I have no explanation for why this should be this way.
To Christopher B's point, it's interesting that she bills herself as "a European" rather than as a citizen of Poland. She's pretty charming, though, even if (or partly because?) she drives barefoot. (She'll figure out the need for shoes in Texas pretty fast, if she ever gets off the pavement.)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the openness to experience.
@ Douglas2 - I think you just explained to me why we had such a nightmare when my adopted Romanian son had such trouble at Niagara Falls after crossing back from the Canadian to American side when we were drivjng his brother to college in KY and took a tourist detour in the evening. I thought the border patrol agents were just crazy and unreasonable. Which they were.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, John-Adrian just shrugged. He expected border patrol agents to be shouting and unreasonable and figured they were just expecting a bribe, and why did his stupid father not just pay it?