More on the American students in Syria. I received this email: "Hello Dr. AbuKhalil, if u think this is worth putting on your blog, feel free to do so: in winter 2005 i tried to obtain a visit visa to enter the US.i'd been a permanent residence of Canada for about 6 month. so i booked an appointment for an "interview" in the American consulate in Toronto, and filled all required applications online + an extra application for being a Syrian!! So on the day of the "interview" i was there on time (supposedly my "interview" started at 9am). they made me, and others,line up and wait outside the consulate for our names to be called (we are talking about Toronto in february, so temp was about -14 C and i'm pretty sure people waited for more than an hour in the cold) once i was let in, i waited for about two hours inside, my name was called, went to a booth for my "interview", asked to submit my papers (including a $100 money order for an application process fee!!), the women working there looked at my documents, looked at her computer screen for couple of minutes, told me that my application was denied and the "interview" was over !!! . no questions, no comments, no explanations. so i'm wondering, why the hell do Americans expect to be allowed to enter Syria without even bothering to get a visa from the Syrian embassy in the US?? and then they're unhappy with the wait on the borders??ok, be happy your were let in, you know the situation and the politics behind it, so if u r visiting Lebanon and planning to visit Syria after, please get a visa before leaving the US and spare us all the headache. at least i'm almost pretty sure that your experience with the Syrian embassy in the US will be way better than mine with the American consulate in Toronto. i want to touch on a more sensitive issue, i'd like to know if any of the Americans students in Syria have ever been harassed or discriminated against by the Syrian (people), although i'm sure the answer is no. now how does that compare with the experience of Syrian students in the US with the American (people)???"