Blogs from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, North America

Tijuana, Mexico ?? 1989... read more

https://youtu.be/OEiQznpDIgc Entre les barreaux de la fenetre de notre chambre, je vois le soleil projeter ses premiers rayons sur les palissades de beton qui s’etendent le long de la frontiere, un peu plus au nord. Elles semblent avoir été dresse pour proteger le desert américain de l’expansion d’une ville Mexicaine. Les maisons s’etendent jusqu’à la frontiere. Elle défend l’originalite de deux peuples, de deux cultures, si differentes que leur melange serait un gachi. Une barriere physique qui maintien le contrôle social de l’un et la liberte d’entreprendre de l’autre. Du regard, j’inspecte la peinture monochrome qui recouvre les murs grossiers de la chambre, a la recherche d’insectes. J’en ai trouve un hier, une belle grosse blate. Elles doivent passer au travers du jour qu’il y a sous la porte. C’est le tour du sol. Ahhh, je ... read more

We were looking for some unique fun to bring in the New Year. It had to be close, it had to be warm, and it had to offer plenty of variety. So we loaded up the SUV with friends and headed to Baja, California. There is nothing like the beach and the coastal waters to enjoy when you wish to take a break from work and other responsibilities. We stayed at the San Quintin hotel. It was very nice, but also very loud. Hard to get enough sleep there due to all of the people coming and going at all hours. I think the next time I visit here; I will get a rental home. It will be quieter so that when we are ready for our time to sleep, we can do so. I guess ... read more

Padraic's mother had a very serious talk with Padraic, older brother Kevin, and younger cousin Finn. "Things are different in Mexico. You must put your used toilet paper in a trashcan. Never flush it down the toilet." "Why?" asked Finn. "Because Mexican toilets are different." "Why?" "Because they have less money." Crossing the border from San Diego into Tijuana was easy enough. Huge concrete walls and men in camouflage impeded traffic from the other direction. A nearly-empty toll road ran from the outskirts of Tijuana to the beach resort. Intense sunlight lit the dust of the scrubland, empty except for thorny weeds and a car full of relatives driven by the venerable patriarch, GrandDude. On the beach a teenager tried to sell a brown-skinned, sombrero-wearing, ludicrously-happy, marionette to the three young Americanos. Twelve-year-old Kevin tried to ... read more

**** THIS POST IS A "CATCH-UP" POST, from the Summer of 2010, the first in a series of posts bringing my blog up to the present day ***** Wake Up I rubbed my eyes and literally slapped myself in the face. That’s something I do occasionally, mimicking cartoons I’d watched as a child, when I need to wake up. It was three in the morning, and there were probably 150 cars in front of me. I had another half an hour until I reached the checkpoint, but this was just another Tuesday. I did wonder however, if the air quality of living in Tijuana would impact my health if I did this long enough. What was I doing commuting daily across the busiest border in the whole world, and running a national political campaign anyway? How ... read more