I have a few more posts left about our trip to Ensanada, Baja California, Mexico and our visit with the folks at Lantern Hill. The previous posts were relatively serious, so I want to lighten it up a bit with just random observations about our trip and life in Mexico.
Traffic. The flow is basically the same as it is in the states. There are two main differences. One, the distance at which it is ok to pull out in front of someone is much smaller than it is in the U.S. It’s completely normal to pull out in front of other drivers. JJ even once pulled out in front of a police officer. I had a chance to drive the Lantern Hill van and made it a point to exercise this bit of Mexican freedom.
I got a rude awakening when we came back home. A few days ago, I accidentally pulled out relatively close to an oncoming car in the parking lot at High Pointe Commons in Swatara Township. As I pulled into my parking space, I looked into my rearview mirror, and the young, burly guy driving the other car stared at me.
Also, unless there is signage that explicitly states otherwise, it’s normal to pass other drivers on two lane roads. We saw this in Guatemala, too. Bottom line, when you’re driving in Mexico, or at least this part of Mexico, be ready to be on the brake.
The American immigration debate. We had two brushes with the American immigration debate during the trip. First, when we first entered Mexico, we drove on a highway that follows the Mexican border fence and the American border wall for a few miles. We saw the infamous wall that is going to be built from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. (HAHA! I know- good one!)
The Mexican fence isn’t more than eight feet high and is built of tin or corrugated steel. It was kinda cool to see the Ozomatli logo graffitied on it, though.
Our other reminder of our home country’s immigration debate was more serious. In the parking lot of the taquaria (taco stand), a gentlemen and his young adult son approached us and had a conversation with the Spanish speakers in our group. The young man was headed to Tijuana and then into the United States. He didn’t know how we was going to get into the states. Our party wished him good luck, and then my wife said to me afterwards that he doesn’t understand how hard it is going to be.
Food! We ate lots of great food. The best- tacos, of course. I preferred the fish tacos downtown where the stand gave you a buffet of toppings and salsas. Taqueria Poblanos was pretty good, too, especially with the guy at the edge of the counter, slapping tacos together with their special spicy sauce.
At Taquaria Poblano
The most unusual- fruit of cactus, or tuna, in Spanish. It’s semi-sweet with a lot of seeds. The seeds were small enough that I thought I could swallow them, but there were so many that I spit them out.
New things I tried- tamales, which are like cornbread wrapped in corn husks and stuffed with numerous fillings- cheese, chicken, beef, corn; birriria, which is like a beef stew; and sopes, which are like Spanish English muffins with toppings- in our case, refried beans, chicken, lettuce, tomato, grated cheese, and salsa. And tortillas at every meal.
We claimed we wouldn’t eat Mexican food for a while, but by Wednesday- six days after we got home- we had tacos. In fact, my wife made the recipe of our Mexican cook, with potatoes. Granted, my wife made it with ground soy instead of beef, which I think Margarita, our Mexican cook, would find completely bizarre.
Unusual drink- clamato. This is a combination of tomato juice, clam juice, salt, and beer. I tried it but am not a fan. However, I am a fan of las cervezas Sol and Bohemia. Both were very good. I’ve seen Sol in the states. I have not seen Bohemia.
The standard of living and the cost of living. The minimum wage in Mexico is around $4 per day. That’s pretty atrocious. I’ve heard it said that the wages in other countries are relative due to the cost of living in those countries. Well, goods are about the same cost as they are in the states, so Mexicans are paying basically the same price for goods without the level of income that we have. A Hershey’s chocolate bar is around $1. Hershey’s has a plant in Mexico. I don’t know the wages of workers in Hershey’s Mexican plant, but what are the chances that the wages are equivalent to the wages of the American plants?
These multi-national corporations have no qualms about taking advantage of Third World labor costs but won’t sell the product back to the people at Third World costs. And that’s an outrage.
Weapons. They’re illegal. JJ gave my dad a warning about the Williamsburg souvenir pocketknife he was carrying. But it’s totally legal to carry a machete because it’s a tool.
Surf! JJ attempted to teach me how to surf. I caught three waves, managed to get up on my feet once. It’s a start. I don’t think there are any pictures of it, thank the Maker.
The pictures talk. JJ said something that I found to be quite thoughtful. He talked with us about taking pictures with discretion. He didn’t say it in these words, but essentially what he was saying was that he didn’t want us to be exploitative of these poor communities via photography. He asked us to take pictures when we built relationships with the locals. I, of course, thought of that old REM song, “Cuyahoga”: “Take a picture here, take a souvenir.”
Religion. It was pretty clear that this is a tough topic. In an area dominated by Pentecostals and conservative Catholics, Lutherans are considered too liberal. And forget about having any kind of interfaith discussion.
Next post: “The concrete village”
Tags: food, immigration, Lantern Hill, Mexico, Poverty, religion, social justice
