Syrian-Muslim Man seems honorable

Submitted by Keri (Canada), Jan 30, 2007 at 00:51

I am a 37 yo Canadian woman with two children. He is a never married 32yo man from Syria. We have been corresponding for 4 months now. He is poor and supporting his mother and siblings. He wants to come to Canada to work, and is applying through the Temporary Foreign Worker department at the embassy.

He had said he would like to get to know me face to face. I have brought up marriage. He has said "Absolutely not. I will not marry a woman for my personal gain...I will marry for love. It is against Islam to marry someone in deceit."

I have offered him money to help his family, and he almost discontinued the friendship. He was extremely offended and absolutely refused my offer of assistance. I was not aware that this was such an affront as i would help any friend in this situation.

I have said that if he can't come to work here that I would like to come to see him. He agreed, but said that until he could afford to pay for my way and my stay that I could not come, as it was his duty to be my escort and pay for me.

Nothing in his words has ever led me to believe that I was a means to an end. I know that he is a hard worker...have seen his certificates and offers of employment from companies in Syria and Europe, and have read letters of references from previous employers.

So, I ask if anyone here has any experiences to share with men from Syria? Is this typical? I find myself caring more about him each day. He on the other hand has said that although he really wants to come here and meet me and see if we could be together that he wasn't prepared to use me to get a visa.

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