d pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible

My brother in law, who is a prominent doctor in Geneva and a fairly successful writer sent to me the following comments on his last visit to our country. I think they are worth a quick glimpse.

He wrote:

I really had no desire to spend my six week holiday away from my home. After considerable discussion and analysis of the benefits that would derive from an overseas visit, I had to go along with my wife’s wishes. Also, it helped me make up my mind her announcement that if we did not travel overseas, she would invite her sister, brother in law and four brats to spend their vacation at our home. At the prospect of being exposed to the inanities of my brother in law, his pedantic manner and the unbearable-to-watch manner in which he treated his wife, was enough for me to accept going anywhere. Not to mention the four energized brats that would play havoc with our furniture, my library, our garden, and consume our six month inventory of those selected provisions we kept in our climate-controlled cellar.

We arrived in the middle of the afternoon at the busy airport in the largest and best known city in the country. My curiosity began to increase.

"Maybe it is not such a bad idea to visit this country, about which so much has been written and from which so many things we adopt and imitate in our own country" I thought, as my attitude was beginning to change and I no longer viewed the trip as a safe escape from an unpleasant family invasion.

The customs inspector in a nice, freshly pressed light blue shirt adorned with several patches, emblems and name tags, sat behind a glass enclosed booth with a computer in front and other electronic equipment whose purpose I could not easily divine. He looked at my passport with a great deal of interest.

Then he raised his head and looked at me with a suspicious intensity that caused me to fidget. Now, I have never been very good at standing the analytical appraisal of uniformed officials. If a policeman were to ask me for traffic directions, or even the time of day, I would suffer an immediate temperature increase, noticeable in my cheeks, and pearls of perspiration would be automatically invoked and installed on my forehead, followed by involuntary, but all-dominating, stuttering sequences. So I stood there while he compared my passport photo against the real article, turned into his computer and quickly punched a few keys. I could not see what he was doing under the counter but I had the feeling that he was pushing some sort of pedals and pressing some mysterious buttons.

"How long will you be staying?"

His look said it all: "I got you, now. I know who you are. I want to hear your voice. . ."

With an Olympic effort I managed to blurt out:

"Six weeks, sir"

"Business or pleasure?"

New pearls of perspiration appeared over my forehead. I could feel my senses entering into a 6 alarm mode. I managed to unglue my teeth so that I could exhale an answer his question.

"Actually, it is bit of both, sir"

He looked down and jotted something on some unseen pad or notebook, or Mao's Red Book for all I could sense. He frowned and returned to me:

"Do you carry any perishables?"

"Only my wife, but she has excellent health and, besides we have full medical coverage, accident and life insurance, a special policy from Lloyd’s of London and letters from my bank, my employer, my taylor and a cousin who is a funeral director. . ."

He seemed a bit startled and in a severe tone, said:

"I mean edible articles such as lasagna, lunch meats, goat cheese, smoked cod or fried bananas"

"None of the above"

"Well, then, have you been in a tropical country in the last six months?"

"No, sir. At least I don't think Southern France could be called tropical. They have lots of palm trees, you know. . "

"Do you carry currency in excess of ten thousand dollars?"

"No, sir. But I have a number of credit cards, travelers checks and personal checks, just in case."

"Where will you be staying?"

"In a hotel"

"I know. I mean in which city?"

I mentioned the several cities where we planned to spend a few days visiting friends who lived there. I also added that we had made prepaid reservations and had fax confirmation of all of them. That did not impress him. He turned to the computer again and pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible

gest and best known city in the country. My curiosity began to increase.

"Maybe it is not such a bad idea to visit this country, about which so much has been written and from which so many things we adopt and imitate in our own country" I thought, as my attitude was beginning to change and I no longer viewed the trip as a safe escape from an unpleasant family invasion.

The customs inspector in a nice, freshly pressed light blue shirt adorned with several patches, emblems and name tags, sat behind a glass enclosed booth with a computer in front and other electronic equipment whose purpose I could not easily divine. He looked at my passport with a great deal of interest.

Then he raised his head and looked at me with a suspicious intensity that caused me to fidget. Now, I have never been very good at standing the analytical appraisal of uniformed officials. If a policeman were to ask me for traffic directions, or even the time of day, I would suffer an immediate temperature increase, noticeable in my cheeks, and pearls of perspiration would be automatically invoked and installed on my forehead, followed by involuntary, but all-dominating, stuttering sequences. So I stood there while he compared my passport photo against the real article, turned into his computer and quickly punched a few keys. I could not see what he was doing under the counter but I had the feeling that he was pushing some sort of pedals and pressing some mysterious buttons.

"How long will you be staying?"

His look said it all: "I got you, now. I know who you are. I want to hear your voice. . ."

With an Olympic effort I managed to blurt out:

"Six weeks, sir"

"Business or pleasure?"

New pearls of perspiration appeared over my forehead. I could feel my senses entering into a 6 alarm mode. I managed to unglue my teeth so that I could exhale an answer his question.

"Actually, it is bit of both, sir"

He looked down and jotted something on some unseen pad or notebook, or Mao's Red Book for all I could sense. He frowned and returned to me:

"Do you carry any perishables?"

"Only my wife, but she has excellent health and, besides we have full medical coverage, accident and life insurance, a special policy from Lloyd’s of London and letters from my bank, my employer, my taylor and a cousin who is a funeral director. . ."

He seemed a bit startled and in a severe tone, said:

"I mean edible articles such as lasagna, lunch meats, goat cheese, smoked cod or fried bananas"

"None of the above"

"Well, then, have you been in a tropical country in the last six months?"

"No, sir. At least I don't think Southern France could be called tropical. They have lots of palm trees, you know. . "

"Do you carry currency in excess of ten thousand dollars?"

"No, sir. But I have a number of credit cards, travelers checks and personal checks, just in case."

"Where will you be staying?"

"In a hotel"

"I know. I mean in which city?"

I mentioned the several cities where we planned to spend a few days visiting friends who lived there. I also added that we had made prepaid reservations and had fax confirmation of all of them. That did not impress him. He turned to the computer again and pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible

nstalled on my forehead, followed by involuntary, but all-dominating, stuttering sequences. So I stood there while he compared my passport photo against the real article, turned into his computer and quickly punched a few keys. I could not see what he was doing under the counter but I had the feeling that he was pushing some sort of pedals and pressing some mysterious buttons.

"How long will you be staying?"

His look said it all: "I got you, now. I know who you are. I want to hear your voice. . ."

With an Olympic effort I managed to blurt out:

"Six weeks, sir"

"Business or pleasure?"

New pearls of perspiration appeared over my forehead. I could feel my senses entering into a 6 alarm mode. I managed to unglue my teeth so that I could exhale an answer his question.

"Actually, it is bit of both, sir"

He looked down and jotted something on some unseen pad or notebook, or Mao's Red Book for all I could sense. He frowned and returned to me:

"Do you carry any perishables?"

"Only my wife, but she has excellent health and, besides we have full medical coverage, accident and life insurance, a special policy from Lloyd’s of London and letters from my bank, my employer, my taylor and a cousin who is a funeral director. . ."

He seemed a bit startled and in a severe tone, said:

"I mean edible articles such as lasagna, lunch meats, goat cheese, smoked cod or fried bananas"

"None of the above"

"Well, then, have you been in a tropical country in the last six months?"

"No, sir. At least I don't think Southern France could be called tropical. They have lots of palm trees, you know. . "

"Do you carry currency in excess of ten thousand dollars?"

"No, sir. But I have a number of credit cards, travelers checks and personal checks, just in case."

"Where will you be staying?"

"In a hotel"

"I know. I mean in which city?"

I mentioned the several cities where we planned to spend a few days visiting friends who lived there. I also added that we had made prepaid reservations and had fax confirmation of all of them. That did not impress him. He turned to the computer again and pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible

ave full medical coverage, accident and life insurance, a special policy from Lloyd’s of London and letters from my bank, my employer, my taylor and a cousin who is a funeral director. . ."

He seemed a bit startled and in a severe tone, said:

"I mean edible articles such as lasagna, lunch meats, goat cheese, smoked cod or fried bananas"

"None of the above"

"Well, then, have you been in a tropical country in the last six months?"

"No, sir. At least I don't think Southern France could be called tropical. They have lots of palm trees, you know. . "

"Do you carry currency in excess of ten thousand dollars?"

"No, sir. But I have a number of credit cards, travelers checks and personal checks, just in case."

"Where will you be staying?"

"In a hotel"

"I know. I mean in which city?"

I mentioned the several cities where we planned to spend a few days visiting friends who lived there. I also added that we had made prepaid reservations and had fax confirmation of all of them. That did not impress him. He turned to the computer again and pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible

d pressed more keys. He looked up and said something to me that I missed entirely. In my feverish mind I had imagined his questions to be:

"Are you a member of the Communist Party? Have you ever tried to overthrow our Government? Have you in any way maintained relations with the Al Qaida organization or any Jihad group in the Middle East? Do you realize that we have an official language in this country and that if you as much as sneeze in another tongue will be liable to appear before a Congressional Committee? Do you swear that you will not seek employment in our country and thereby usurp rightful employment and sustenance from one of our fellow citizens and their families? Are you aware that becoming a public charge might be seriously punished under the laws of this country? What books and other reading material are you carrying?"

As I stood in front of that ominous booth, totally paralyzed I conjured an image that still haunts me. I saw myself in front of a dark, stern, bald headed, bespectacled Senator whose impenetrable gaze scorched my will power, while he raised a Bible and yelled in a high pitched, almost hysterical voice, with a New York accent that I should be placed in chains and, along with a gang of sinners be made to remove weeds, trash and other embellishments from the roadsides in the south of the country.

"Sir?"

My wife finally pinched me under the fifth rib and brought me back to reality.

"What?" I could only mumble.

"Welcome to the United States of America, sir. Enjoy your stay!"