Another thing about "my world" that most of us North Americans don't understand is transportation ... how someone gets from one place to another. Now Tijuana is full of millions of people, and true, there are millions of cars. (And trillions of old tires!) Vintage cars, little and big busses, taxies, etc. These wheels fill the streets and roads. But most of my people fill the sidewalks, they get around by walking, or taking a little bus. For the most part cars are not in their picture and those few that are in the picture are old, very old.
Yesterday was our big workday at barrio Gardenia. (The barrio is anything but a fragrant "gardenia") We picked up Andres and Jose, and took them with us in my nice shinny new SUV. I'll be honest it's five years old BUT looks brand new.
Now Andres and Jose about ten years old, just moved to Tijuana from South Mexico where cars and Americans are rare. Their mother warned us that they had never been driven in a new car; in fact they had never driven in a car with an American. So it was to be a first time experience. Mother's last words were "roll down the windows they may vomit!"
Well, they didn't! They were white knuckle excited as they examined the car. Roll down the window? No, just push this! They chattered away while fingering everything. No time for barfing! This was their first ride in a real American car!
I just thought I would mention this to let you know that my border world is really a different world ... so different from our formed opinions. So much of a difference on the poor side of our border fence. Moving by wheels cost precious money.
The first thing in Tijuana that impresses the American visitor is to see people, lots of people and they are walking! It was fun giving Andres and Jose their first time experience riding in a real car!
