Border Crossing

Friday morning we got up at 5:45 am. We were to get the boat ready for the day away from the dogs.. As stated in previous blog’s that this entails putting all desired items below beds and off the walls. Couch cushions get put on our bed with the pillows and any last minute items we don't want "chewed" on get thrown into the v berth. The dog’s are much better than before since they are not longer puppies but just in case we stayed overnight I wanted it to be ready for anything!

It usually takes about 45 minutes to get everything ready, the dogs get the outside cushions inside etc...yes I want them to be comfy after all. As we are getting things ready, which includes looking up the address to the dentist office in Tijuana (oops), the internet card was nowhere to be found! We finally found in a place it has never been put before. Phew! We get the address written into Neil's palm pilot.

The next thing on the list is to get the backpack ready and this includes passports, camera, and jackets. I go to get them from the waterproof case and Katie's passport is not there! “Craptastic!!” Now we try to remember when it was last used and why. Thirty more minutes go by, and it is found along with one of the missing camera batteries. Success! Now the question, will we make the 8:30 am. ferry over to the city? Time to haul butt!

We get to shore and get the dinghy locked down and engine covered. Now we are hoofing it off to the ferry along the shoreline. We make it with 10 minutes to spare! Boy what an exciting start to the day and let me tell you that it was a nice relaxing 20 minute ride across the bay and into the city to board the train and head for Mexico!

We have not gone together as a family into Mexico before so we are getting a little anxious. (the kid's were unfazed but Neil and I were geeked!). I am also a little nervous taking my gorgeous children into a foreign country and now am chuckling to myself thinking back to all the times I flew in and out of Singapore, Japan, Hawaii, Australia and basically all over the planet with my mother telling me to “Stay Close!!” She would look panicked while I wandered the streets in front of them without a care. (Sorry mom! Smiley Face!)

We get to the border and cross over the freeway on a large walkway to the other side. In front of us sat a few people in uniform, flagging us through with big smiles on their faces and waving like, "Come on in, Welcome to Mexico!" It reminded me of landing in Hawaii years ago and instead of getting a lei and a kiss on the cheek I was wondering if I was going to be handed a shot of tequila and a taco! (haha)

As soon as we rounded the turn style gate and passed by “The Wall”, we went into the visitor center and got some maps. Now it was off to down town towards our first landmark, a large arch in the middle of the road.

Before we got there this man speaking broken but good English, started in with his sales pitch of "Come in and buy something you don't need" (this was one of the most common lines, come to find out, along with "99% off everything you don't need”). We were in need of a bathroom break and asked him “how do you say bathroom.” He said it was"la bano.” We asked where the nearest one was and he said, "In my store, come, come see."

Since the train ride was longer than expected and it took a while to get over the river and through the woods so to speak we used “la bano” and to show gratitude purchased a pair of sunglasses for Stewart. I won't say how much we paid, just that it wasn't very much. However around the corner, they were going for less than 3 dollars, US. (darn!) We asked him for a good eatery in town he gave us the name of one that was on our way to the dentist office.

We were on our way again and down the main strip. It truly felt like we were glowing bright, and venders from all over were shouting out from across the streets and all around. "G Day Mate, you Aussies?" along with "Look here, come in, looking is free, come, I will give you what you need, I will be your best friend, Mate!" It was overwhelming at first and very soon became very annoying. The only humorous part was that they kept asking Neil if he was an Aussie and he would turn and say, "No, but my wife is." They would look at me like "what?" I was a bit hurt! haha...No, he loved it...I guess I may have rubbed off on him after all! I think it was his flip flops and laid back attitude!

We found the restaurant and it was charming. Most of the meal was cooked out in front by the street. The Hors d'œuvres were radishes and limes in one bowl, and pickled carrots and jalapeno’s in another bowl served with three different hot sauces ranging from mild to “Ay Dios Mio” (Oh My God!) The kids and I ordered cokes which came in a glass bottle and Neil his first cerveza of coarse! We ordered some very yummy and rather large servings of authentic tacos, burritos and some other strange creations made out of tortilla's and mystery meat ingredients.( I would prefer not to know especially after the trip to the market…you’ll find out later).

While we were eating a Mariachi Band came up, they spoke no english, but we gathered they wanted to sing for us. So we nodded and they began. It was nice at first. Then they asked if Neil and I were spouses, I said “Si” and was glad I knew a bit of what they were saying since they were speaking so fast. Then they sang another song about “Esposes” (spouses). Afterwards to be polite I grabbed a $5 US bill out of my purse and handed it to the first guy and said “Muy bueno! And Gracias” (Very Good, Thank You).

The first guy proceeded to keep his hand out and started to get up in Neil’s face waving the money around and pointing to the other two men obviously suggesting he wanted more money for his two unsolicited songs. I was like, "No mas!" (no more) and he got really angry. Another street vender then came over and said to us, "He want's $5 per song per person and he wants it now!" Neil told him to translate to the others that $5 was all he was getting! (Neil was very clear in his translation with his facial expressions and tone that they were not getting any more period! You can imagine those who know him what that must have looked like).

Pretty soon the waitress came out and they took off. She asked with great concern, "Is everything ok?" We said yes. She smiled awkwardly and said "It IS different here." We agreed and after a terrific meal that had us stuffed for less than $23 U.S. I gave her a $5 tip separately as we were leaving. She looked so surprised and smiled like a child as she put it in her pocket and gave us a big “Gracias.”

We learned a lot within the first hour of being in Tijuana. The second half of the stretch to the dentist was much easier and we were starting to not feel as guilty for saying "NO!" The absolute hardest part for me was when the mothers sent their little 3 and 4 year olds over with candy and bracelets. The little ones were barely able to say "Please! 1 dollar? Please!" and then they would look at you so pitifully with puppy dog eyes and they would swarm around you 2 or 3 at a time and I was affraid of tripping on them….oh sheesh!...it was very hard to keep saying no thank you.

We finally made it to the dentist office and within an hour both kids were braces free! It was very odd to see them smile without a mouth full of metal. Stewart kept saying that he felt like he had "ghost braces" on. They had such gorgeous smiles before, but now they were so happy to be "free". It will take some time to get used to seeing their teeth. Katie said she just couldn't stop looking at them because she felt like they looked fake. Stewart was like " Una manzana por favor!" (One apple please) He has not eaten an apple without having to cut it up with a knife in almost 2 years! I am so glad we went.

On the way back towards the border we went and checked out one of their shopping malls and a grocery store just to compare prices. The prices were great in comparison. I was also beginning to wonder why it is that we pay so much for bottled water here in the states? I was impressed with all of it and the availability of practically everything you would ever need. I felt that even though we didn't understand allot of the fast speaking Spanish people, we did understand quite a lot. Finding specific locations, stores, supplies, etc..was no biggee. There was however some odd looking things in the meat department and one of the packages...well we have no clue what exaclty it was just that it looked like a porcupine, the other package had eyeballs and we were pretty sure it was a pig...let's just say that they use all the meat down here and when I eat out, I don't want to know what is in my taco or else I may never eat out again!! haha. We were pleasantly surprised just how much we did know just from living so close to the border now. This makes me very excited for dropping down into the Sea of Cortez later.

As we were playing tourist it was interesting to see all the graffiti ridden buildings and sometimes the urban graffiti was used in place of store signs. The sidewalks were a bit of a scary area in the fact that the holes and cracks were large enough to swallow your leg if you weren’t careful. We saw several military men in trucks with automatic rifles dressed in camouflage driving around along with a ton of “Policia.”

Most of the delivery men were riding tiny street bikes with boxes strapped to the back. There were taxis’s everywhere. They would drive along next to you and honk their horns at you to see if you wanted a ride. They do use their horns down there for everything and it seemed so loud and noisy at times between that and the sirens going off all over with all the police. As the sun was going down we noticed a lot of prostitute looking ladies and gentlemen standing about some of the local pubs and mini hotels. The music was starting to get loud coming out of the clubs, it was a Friday night after all.

We stopped to have another bite to eat before we left after all the walking around we were a little peckish.

I learned another valuable lesson.

From now on my rule, before we eat anywhere, is to visit "la Bano" FIRST!. We didn't know until after we ordered that there was no running water, and the toilets were almost to overflow (one for a number 1 and one for a number 2, gross I know!)

Next time, I will be bringing a ton of purell, for sure! I must say though that the meal was excellent. Neil and I got our first authentic margarita which came with a free shot of tequila! It was quite yummy. The waiter made salsa in front of us and we were served an interesting dish of all kinds of meat, shrimp, veggies and homemade tortillas. Even though without the pressence of water, no one had any adverse effects if you know what I mean and there was no reports of any "revenge."

When we were almost back to the border we saw traffic lined up for about a mile or so and the street vendors had carts, of just about everything, right in between the lanes of cars. Than we saw the people lined up for miles..and we were like "oh crap!".

As we got a little closer we saw a few others just walking up the line to the front. We followed “those guys” and realized the huge line was for permits coming into America. The shorter and less visible line was for those with passports or papers. The U.S. side was slowly going through everything and everybody. They were carefully inspecting paperwork and checking people’s fingerprints. There was no waving us in, no leis no smiles really. It was nothing but straight laced men in uniform with heavy firearms. We still stood in line for close to an hour and were very happy to be back in the America and the first thing we did was use bathroom and wash our hands!

**Joyce, just so you know in Mexico, they have plenty of toilet paper, but, it is out in the middle of the bathroom, on the wall. You have to grab it first before you go into a stall. Caution, if you are not sure about those taco's you ate earlier, you'd better have a spotter standing by just in case!! I did not see any paper towels either but there was always soap, even when there was no running water! Haha**

Can't wait to do it again in a few weeks when the kids get their retainers done. The dentists were great, reasonable and actually were more professional with more knowledge than the ones we had been going to back up in San Francisco!

The downside for the day was that Neil had gone almost all day without being able to stay medicated. He was in a lot of pain towards the end of the day. He has been recovering for the last few days. It is too bad he couldn't take it in with him but it would have been confiscated. After being there I am sure if I brought a pocket translator we would be able to buy it over the counter along with several others at the local "Pharmacia's". They seemed to have "Everything, no prescriptions” for next to nothing in cost and a loud “Come in, come in!" Maybe, next time.

Next month we will be taking a longer trip via a train and a bus ride into Ensenada to talk with the boat yard about a haul out. I hope to have a little more Spanish under my belt then.

But for now I say, "Adios Amigos!"

Now for the Picture Show: