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| Punching Bag Bitch, cry and whine your way into oblivion. |
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Dec 15, 06
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Customs at Vancouver Airport
Well as some of you know I just spent 3.5 months backpacking central america. I just got back yesterday and it was a hella shitty journey back into Canada. My flight in Houston was delayed 2.5 hours because of the weather. I boarded the plane finally and then broke out in hives (stress because I was going to miss my connection in Seattle and the extreme change in temperature)
Well I made the mistake of asking for an antihistime while taxiing and they grounded the plane for an hour. In the end the captain pulled me off the flight. I then had to wait 4 hours for a direct to Vancouver (which was also late because of the weather) I got into Vancouver super late (by this time Id been up for 2 days) and had to then fill in papers for lost luggage. Then I got flagged by customs and had everything searched (I had only a carry on backpack) and swabbed. Then they brought in the drug sniffer dogs. I was then strip searched (always fun when you are covered with hives...) It was awful. The guy was a jerk and kept asking me stupid questions. Ex Why do you have so many currencies (well I was in 7 countries you big idiot) Do you have any one elses photo ID with you? (uh no, why would I have someone elses pictures Id?) Why dont you have your drivers licence? (well probably because my car is at home) Have you done narcotics? Did you smuggle narcotics in central america? (uh no, I dont know enough spanish to get me outta jail) Why do you have 2 types of lipgloss? (uh cuz Im a girl and I like lipgloss) What is this, what is that, what is this for...? (well thats a tampon, that one is a pencil to write in my journal, that is a spanish text book etc etc) Why dont you have a stamp from Honduras? (I dont freakin know they dont always stamp, n oone I met has a Honduran stamp) It took hours and the guy really wanted me to be scared but I was just half asleep so I just kept explaining over and over what everything was. Not impressed. Im all about protecting Canada but I was treated like a criminal for no reason other than I had been in central america backpacking and not staying for a week all inclusive in Mexico. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 
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Dec 15, 06
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Probably round the world.
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Dec 15, 06
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Welcome back Sheena!
How come asking for an Antihistimine caused this hoopla? Hopefully you're spared from that Treatment next time you Travel.
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Dec 15, 06
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Och, I feel your pain. I know how bad it is just to travel for over 17 hours with out problems. Not to mention having to sleep at seattle airport becuase some bitch at the front desk had her watch set 5 min ahead and desided that we were to miss are flight even though the security gate was near empty and our gate was less than a 5 minute walk away when we had over 30 min... Had to wait on a very stressfull stand by TWICE.
Anyways... welcome home.
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Dec 15, 06
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Quote:
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Dec 15, 06
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I really gotta start updating my "look" then, too much hassel after all the earlier bs
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Dec 15, 06
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thats awsome!...i mean i love hearing travel stories.
this past august when i was comming home from another 3 month stint in south america ALL of my liquids got confiscated at the airport in peru. that meant all my expensive tioletries,calognes,medicens were dumped out....i didnt hear anything about the liquid ban cause i was in the amazon and flew to lima directly to catch the flight back home so i had no idea what was happening in the news at all..... .....love it .....
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Dec 15, 06
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thats awsome!...i mean i love hearing travel stories.
this past august when i was comming home from another 3 month stint in south america ALL of my liquids got confiscated at the airport in peru. that meant all my expensive tioletries,calognes,medicens were dumped out....i didnt hear anything about the liquid ban cause i was in the amazon and flew to lima directly to catch the flight back home so i had no idea what was happening in the news at all..... and i hate...HATE chile, i had a beutiful condor feather wich a shaman gave to me attched to my pack and they took it at the boarder checkpoint. they didnt HAVE to take it but i suspect the guy just wanted to really felx his autority. their system is entirely based on the US dea model and he evan used the US manuals to identify the feather. I was crushed cause that feather really really meant alot to me and was with me for a long time when i was down there. fuck chile! .....love it .....
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Dec 15, 06
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hope your feeling better soon sheena, call me sometime
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Dec 16, 06
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Canada Customs is a fucking joke these days. It doesn't matter where you're coming from, they just harrass the shit out of you. My last two trips to the States (one for business, one for Freaknight) were like that, although no strip search. I was in Customs at the airport on the first trip for about 15 minutes as they asked me non-stop stupid questions. Freaknight was even worse. The car was searched, and questions that had nothing to do with the trip or what we do were asked.
US Customs used to be notorious for this kind of crap, but it seems like they're the nice ones these days, and Canada Customs agents are the embarressment of this country.
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Dec 16, 06
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They were probably going on the offensive due to the whole Russian spy incident in Canada. He was found with 7 different currencies. Which is probably why he asked if you had anyone else's ID on him (the man had numerous passports.)
Also, when I was flying up here to Fort Nelson from Vancouver (not even out of the province), I made sure to show up an hour and a half before my flight as requested by the airline. When I went through the door into the security room, the woman took my boarding pass and shouted "STRIKE!" I went to take my belt off to put it in the tray but the guy said it wouldn't be a big deal. If it beeped, they'd just scan it with the wand and that would be that. Well.. it wasn't. I was told to take off my belt afterall, along with my shoes, socks, sweater, and of all things, my nipple ring. After I took out the ring, she even scanned my fucking chest again while my shirt was lifted up. Seriously.. what would I be doing? Smuggling drugs or weapons in a metal implant in my non-existent breast? Gimme a break. So after conversing with the other two security people about taking me into the back room, they let me go. It was obviously over my tatty on my arm, and a shaved head. Airport security is ridiculous. I know they have to be careful, but in this case, excess doesn't exceed. It just makes me want to take a fucking bus. I'm wondering how much flak I'll get coming back from Peru.
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Dec 16, 06
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thats pretty brutal!
The thing is I did have 7 currencies but it was all in change. I probably had 4 bucks tops in a combination of lempiras, quetzelas, cordovas etc etc. I think the customs guy was new and just being a jerk to prove how good he was at his job. He warned me 4 times that I could face jail time if I was found with someone elses tooth brush.(why on earth would I carry someone elses toothbrush?!) He also needed to get his boss to show him how to swab all of my belongings for drug residue. Im still pretty annoyed but it wont stop me from travelling again.
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Dec 16, 06
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Ouch. I think Vancouver has to be flagged for higher security because it's always the worst there. One time I was coming from LA and I was met up by the dog squad and 2 other agents who grabbed me when I got my bag from the carousel. I was lucky enough not to get strip searched however I was interrogated by a group of 7 for a good 20 minutes, it was like they were waiting for me to pull out a bomb.
I now fly to Seattle and drive up because in most cases, I get into Vancouver city faster versus coming into Richmond and going through customs.
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