Oh lordy lordy! South of the border again! I hadn't been down to the MX since 1997! I crossed out of the US the same way I did last time, by foot! There is a light rail that goes from San Diego to the border and then you can just walk across. I asked a border patrol guy if I would have a problem getting back across without a passport and he said it would be no problem.
This hospital is open 24 hours! ...not like those *other* hospitals...
Through the blessing of a happy accident, I crossed over the culvert to the Mexico side of the "international area" the wrong way. That is, instead of the pedestrian route that funnels you into the tourist strip, I found my way across via a car road and had to climb down an embankment into mechanics' row! I'm glad things worked out this way. If not, I might have simply turned around and got the hell out.
What's this? JAI-ALAI? Hey they have that in Connecticut too! There's a big Jai-Alai arena in Bridgeport! Well, there's one here in TJ too.
It's a fine morning to be in Tijuana:
I found my way back to the other side of the Jai-Alai arena. From the looks of it, I'd say it's a bigger deal here than in Connecticut. I have never been to a Jai-Alai game. I thought about it, and decided I didn't really want to stick around here that long. So I left even before checking to see if there was a game that night. I had a feeling there probably wasn't. Maybe I'll go to the place in Bridgeport someday. Or maybe I'll come back here and see a game. I think here would be more fun.
HERE COMES THE TOURIST STRIP!!!
Crass commercialism. Here is where people actually have a job to hang out on the street and cajole, harass, and pester you into going into the store. This hard sell made me not want to buy ANYTHING! I was just there to take pictures, like this one of a mega-glitzy "pharmacy":
Is that a ....huge bicycle wheel?
Trying to find a passage back to the place I was before...
...U.S.A! ...U.S.A! ...U.S.A!
Here's that culvert I mentioned before.
Interesting things kept going on. There were pickup trucks full of Mexican (police?) men who kept getting out and RUNNING around in the culvert, as if they were trying to surprise people hiding in the drainage pipes. I wonder if they always act that aggressive, or if it's only when they think there is someone there. It was very weird, remniscent of my imaginings of what the Berlin Wall must have been like. I'm sure glad I can just walk across the border. Well, I can...right?
Wait up! I'm not in the States YET? Q: What is this weird place? A: it's the INTERNATIONAL ZONE.
...U.S.A! ...U.S.A! ...U.S.A!
Ohhhh! Here we go! There's a huge LINE to get into the USA.
...it goes all the way up one side of the street and back down the other! maybe those cops were trying to bust people trying to avoid this line!
AAAAARRRRRGH!
Indeed, I did finally make it out of Mexico. The light rail ticket I bought earlier even allowed me to reboard at San Ysidro border crossing station, get off the train about half way back, eat at In and Out Burger, and get back on the train WITHOUT PAYING AGAIN! God Bless America! Well God Bless the San Diego mass transit system anyway.
