Ben and Sue Day 47

Day 47, Tuesday, October 23, 2007

. . . Mexico!  Ben and I drove  to the Mexican border at Deming today.  Was very interesting.  About a 1 1/2 hour drive once again past desert sagebrush and cacti --  flat and barren.  Once we got to the border we parked the truck and walked across the border.   No one stopped us, asked us any questions or in any way hindered us from walking right into Mexico.  We walked the main street for perhaps a mile or a mile and a half.  What I saw was so sad -- first of all the whole area smelled quite bad -- even just walking on  the road.  Then if we went into any stores the smell was more pronounced.  The streets  were VERY dirty -- sidewalks all broken up -- glass and trash on the side of the road.  Many businesses were closed and abandoned.  Many of the side streets appeared barren --  just roads --  without houses or  businesses on them.  One beggar was trying to talk to us but we did not understand what he was trying to say.  He was sitting down and looked dirty, unshaven, with ragged clothes.  He started talking and then pulled  the top of his  shirt off and pointed to his shoulder.  Surely wish I could have understood what he was saying.  We so obviously looked like American tourists ambling down the street, camera hanging around my neck and bottle of water in my hand.   Many people were looking curiously at us.  A group of little girls -- perhaps school age -- stopped and looked at us and started giggling.  I felt very much like an intruder -- like a rich American coming to Mexico to see how the poor people lived.  Can't explain exactly why I felt this way, but I did.

. . .After a while we went into what was called the Pink Building.  The campground director had told us  this was where the best shopping and eating places w re.  The smell was quite awful.  But we looked around a bit -- saw mostly Americans there -- and finally sat down to eat at the restaurant.  I had heard often about being careful where one eats and the water one drinks in Mexico.  But it was way past lunch time and we were both hungry so we ate there.  The prices  were incredibly cheap and the food quite good.  There were corn chips on the table and in a couple of minutes the waiter brought salsa.  Ben tried it first and  said it was "burn your tongue off hot."  So I enjoyed  just the chips .We (or rather I) am not very adventurous so I stuck with familiar food  -  tacos, beans and rice.  Was quite good.

. . . After lunch we walked back across t he border.  The border was a rather quiet place on a Tuesday afternoon .   Hardly any cars or people were waiting to get across.  Despite a rather large sign that read "All Pedestrians must report to Border Patrol",   Ben (who thinks rules don't apply to him) told me we were just going to walk back to our car which was right there in the parking lot.  So we started to walk to our truck but the border control officer came out of the building and beckoned us over.  So we walked across to the building and reported to the border patrol who simply asked us to state our citizenship and ushered us on.  Just at that time I saw a yellow school bus (American) drop off a lot of children on the American side of the border.  I asked the officer about this and he said they were all American children and thus were entitled to  go to school in America even though they lived in Mexico with their parents.  Of course this prompted  million questions about citizenship.  I'm hoping to have time to either research on  the Internet or perhaps buy a book which will answer some of my questions.

A couple of people have called and asked if we were doing okay in light of the southern California fires.  We are  doing well -- heading north today to the Grand Canyon then west to San Francisco so  we will by-pass Southern California entirely.

Sue