Mexico-the land of variety!

I had not been to Mexico since I was in college. That is too many years ago to state. It was not how I remembered it. Not worse, not necessarily better. Perhpas part of the problem is that I have not been there is soooo many years, and have actually NEVER been to this particular part. The new border crossing rules made our visit a bit of a rush the first time, as we had used metered parking with a two hour limit. We thought we would go over for a couple of hours and come back. The problem was that it took 58 minutes exactly to get back across the border. I am sure this is a temporary problem and that the powers that be will figure out a more convient way to scan IDs.

The Mexican people I encountered were very friendly. The men, especially, were loud and flirtatious and very convincing in their quest to sell me their wares. They adorned me with jewelry, smiling and saying how lovely it looked on me. They chased me down the lanes, swinging necklaces and bracelets in my face and inquiring how much I would give for them. I finally did buy a silver necklace. For $11.00. I thought, mistakenly, that wearing it would show that I had already bought jewelry and that they should pursue another tourist. However, it meant, to them, that I like jewelry. Everyone began to shout that they had a matching bracelet for a good deal. I finally hid the necklace in my purse. But, they were all jovial and good-natured with each other, jesting among themselves as to who REALLY had the best deal.

The "store" owners were a bit less assertive, although they shouted "Come in, Come in and see what I have!" They were willing to bargain, but wanted a "tip" on top of the final deal. One got me to buy Baby Girl a little leather purse. Steve got a silly T-shirt for a good price.

The lady vendors were much quieter, though they jumped up to show their goods and immediately quoted prices and demonstrated anything that moved. The talked excitedly and rapidly, but in respectful tones. Unfortunately, due to the very long line to re-enter the US, we had to cut our shopping time short. The line wrapped around many little shops and independent vendors. Some candy sellers follwed the line, trying to convince us we needed something to munch while we waited.

I was amazed at the myriad of people. Visitors from all over. Natives in traditional attire. Locals in regular clothes. Some looked more business-dignified than others. Some were beggars on the street, literally. One beggar sang off-key to attract attention. He appeared to be blind as he held is baseball cap out with one hand for donations. Another little elderly lady sat in a wheelchair with an umbrella hat on her head. She was not begging. She was selling candy. Flies swarmed all over her and the candy (which was wrapped) and her crippled hands barely
managed the money. No one stood beside her to help. But no one tried to rob her either.

The police drove all kinds of vehicles and the Border Patrol, on both sides, rode bicycles up and down the streets. There were few crosswalks and we had to take our chances on whether or not the traffic would stop as we crossed. But, we witnessed no accidents either time. (We went twice, once for shopping and once for dinner with my husband's company). We did, however, witness two arrests and a possible drug bust. And the rain poured down heavily on ALL of us!

The Mexican people seemed to welcome the visitors. They smiled as we passed. Even the beggars. IF they bumped into us, they apologized. Wow! People rarely do that at any malls here! The apologizing, I mean. The bumping into you...that is common.

Even those who could not speak English seemed to try to express friendliness. The only grumpy people I encountered were the Border Patrol guards. I am not sure if they were over-whelmed at the amount of humanity wanting to cross the border, or if they were bored at the routine of "check the IDs, birth certificates, or passports," or had drank the water...but we did get across!

I like the land of Mexico. I shall go there again. But I shall NOT park with a meter needing feeding, and I shall give the Border Guards an extra smile, since they seemed to have lost theirs. A nice variety of humanity. A nice variety of culture. And very good experience over-all!

PS- The Mexican food at the dinner was excellent. And we had a band serenade us throughout dinner. Very nice entertainment.