Day before yesterday in Tijuana

The smiling-eyed hustlers on Av Revolution will stick with me awhile - perhaps for years. Especially the little girls with "I'll look at you like I love you if you buy this (cheap) candy," the guy "Hey; it's MY turn!" The guy shorter than me (I'm 5'3") walking too closely next to me who seemed intent on connecting, possibly with my purse. My money and passport pushed carefully in my zippered breast pocket. Loved the clique of good school girls in their plaid wool skirts, holding hands and giggling with their teachers.
Sweetness and light. And the cathedral, of course, welcomes all with its bells, stained glass and icons, the priests giving blessings often throughout the day.

Other than the helicopters and frequent red and blue blinking lights atop the ever prresent cop cars running back and forth on Av Revolution, I saw no evidence of crime. Drug wars probably staged in Tijuana's equivalent to Hunter's Point in SF or East Oakland - impoverished areas where drugs sales is the business of the day. Not downtown. This is tourist territory so I get hit on to buy stuff every few yards.

I came home with an attractive straw sun hat and a sea shell chime, reminding me of a long-ago trip when Tom Robbins' Another Roadside Attraction was running around in my head, especially the part about creating a sanctuary. My Berkeley sanctuary was to be made of these same sea shells, so I will have them now whether or not I recall why. OK; I'll make a sanctuary on the land we recently bought to start up a fruit and small animal farm.

I enjoyed the whole parade. From the good, very good food, views, architecture and romantic history of Rosarita Beach Hotel (OK, modeled on Hollywood circa 1940's and 20 miles down the coast) to the happy guy who served us lukewarm canned beans with grey rice at the Av Revolution "family" restaurant and dusty-funky disco bar above the street, I loved it. Mostly very warm, relaxed people, the "free" dogs not starving but walking unexpectedly in front of our car! Don't hit the DOOOOGG!!!

On the Av, there were multi "zebras," donkeys painted with stripes for kids to get their photo upon. I gave a buck, took a photo of the donkey and gave her a pat. Sweet old gal.

The "silver" arch take-off of the great arch of our Twin Cities, St. Paul and St. Louis Minn., shows from a distance where downtown begins. Two Mayan-looking guys in feathers and percussion seed leggings playing wooden flutes, grinning. Gave a buck apiece and took photos. They seem to enjoy themselves.
Mariachi band guys and single guitarists selling a song for you in every cafe... good voice and guitar!

The Tijuana I was concerned with before we arrived, the 13,000 deaths due to drug wars? Unconfirmed. Poverty but not desperation, and tourist season is coming up. They'll be OK; we enjoyed ourselves. Enjoyed paying the remainder of the grocery bill for a little girl (age 5?) buying stuff for her family. $1.28 made the difference. Want to do more - but maybe more for the billion people on the planet without clean water or enough food.

That and clean energy. We'll need more for ourselves, too. Boy, have we got our work cut out for ourselves - if we have our eyes open, anyway.