This is my 2nd trip Tijuana Mexico and this time I get to stay and take in the sights, unfortunately not by choice. My visit here was to get my work visa stamped in my passport so I can travel internationally. So a lot has changed since the last time I visited in 2007, the price of getting a visa for one and also the amount of time it takes to process the visa and this leads us to the adventures in Tijuana.
My appointment at the US Consulate General was at 9:30 am this morning. I got in line just about 9 am and finally got into by about 10 am. There is a brief meeting with an agent who takes your picture and fingerprints you. After the initial meeting, I didn’t get to have my interview till 1:30 pm. A few hundred of us just sat and waited our turn. Finally my number (1181) was called and I got to counter to an agent who seemed happy to see a Singaporean; he said he hasn’t seen one of us in a long time. After asking me a few questions, fingerprinting me (again) and typing in my data, he proceeds to tell me I won’t get my visa till Monday and I would have to stay through the weekend. At first I thought it was a joke because of the way he said it and the smile on his face. But I quickly learned it was no joke, oh no, it was for real. I told him that wasn’t going to work and asked if there was a way to help me expedite the process because I had plane to catch in the morning. Here’s some back story, my first visit here, I borrowed a friend’s car and drove myself in to Tijuana, this time I thought it would be easier to just walk over the border. I rented a car from the airport, drove to the airport and parked at an overnight parking lot and walked across into Mexico. So you can imagine my horror at hearing I had to stay through the weekend – my worst nightmare just came through!
Now, I was left wit surmounting problems – I have a confirmed flight back tomorrow, the rental car is in a 24 hour only parking lot, my hotel reservation was only for one night, I had a paid reservation for a hotel room in San Diego, I brought enough clothes for my planned stay and that’s not the end. I have club seat tickets to the Seahawks game on Sunday and I was supposed to be leaving on Monday to play and lead worship at Ministers’ retreat. As you can see this was not how I had planned to spend my weekend.
One of the first thing I wanted to do was change my flight and I figured it would be a relatively easy fix but boy was I wrong. I went online to change my reservation only to find one flight that I could possibly make and it was at 6:30 pm; however, I get my passport back at 3 in Mexico, then I have to make my way to the border, clear customs there, return my rental car if it isn’t impounded and try to make the flight. I tried to call the airline to see if there was a later flight out of San Diego but the airline only had 800 numbers and those don’t work here, that was not cool! I decided to call my bestie, Lindsey, to try from Seattle. We found out that 6:30 pm was the last flight out of San Diego for Seattle – how on earth is that possible?? Two major cities and hubs and 6:30 is their last flight out?? Unbelievable! After much discussion and griping I booked a 6:30 am on Tuesday.
After getting most of the major stuff squared away, I figured I probably needed to head to a mall to get clothes and other essentials for my extended stay. I went down to the front desk and befriended the young people working there.
Gilberto spoke pretty good English so I asked him for ideas for what to do in TJ and where the closest mall was. The girl in the middle was also very friendly and when she found out I was from Seattle, she told me she was planning on going to school at City University next summer. I told her to look me up when she came to town. I probably should find out her name first. So my new friends suggested I go to the newest mall in town called Plaza Rio. They also suggested eating and drinking the night away – not sure about that. Anyway I got myself ready and then I hopped into a hotel cab with a driver that reminded me of this dude, from his looks, voice and mannerisms:
Jesus Ochoa, see here with Denzel Washington from the movie Man On Fire. His character was Fuentes, a bad police chief who got blown up by Denzel in this scene. Anyway, “Fuentes” my cab driver took me to the mall and then told me to call him when I was done and he would come pick me up for a total of US$10.00. It was very kind of him. Side note, I have never been so ready to strap my seat belt on than I have here. The drivers here are offensive drivers and in a lot of ways defensive as well – alls I can say is WOW!
I have had quite a bit of time to people watch and observe and I have found the Mexican people to be very friendly, very helpful, beautiful and fun loving people. I am still trying to figure out the transport system here. They have public buses and they have all kinds of cabs – the car kind and the van kind. The van kind they seem to pick up everyone and anyone. The cabs honk and/or have a special beeper that comes on all the time when they see people walking about. Very fascinating.
Ok back to my cab driver. So while I was waiting for him to come back to the mall to get me (he said 10 minutes which turned into a 30 minute wait) I sat down along side the road to look out for him. Along came this couple who decided to sit close to me and have their date night right there. At one point they were full on in embrace and making out. Awkward! I guess not to them because they kept at it. I had to remind myself not to stare. Then along came Javier, who stopped to ask me for the time. I told him in Spanish I only spoke English and he proceeded to converse with my in his best English asking if I comprende. He told me some story about his brother and then about himself and how he was deported for California for being an illegal alien and how there were many ways to get in and out of the States. There was also something about having no work. Before I knew it, he shook my hand and asked me for a dollar. Interesting night so far. My cab driver “Fuentes” finally came to my “rescue". As I got into the cab and we drove off, he asked if I wanted to go back to the hotel or make a stop somewhere else. I said back to the hotel as I was quite wiped from the fury of activities today. He asked if I was sure that I didn’t want to go and find some chickita tonight and I told him yes I was sure. He then told me all I needed was a bottle of Tequila and I would be fine. This is only my first full day here. As I got out the cab back at the hotel, he again told me if I need to find a chickita to call him – I wonder what gave him the impression that I was out to find a girl. Strange.
Speaking of strange, I have been attracting a lot of unwanted attention from guys of the same gender (if you know what I mean) on this trip. Some of my friends can attest to this, but I somehow have a way of attracting these unwanted attention everywhere I go, no different here in Mexico. Got to watch my back.
Anyways, I am looking forward to another few days here, hoping they are more productive and also restful. I covet all the prayers I can get and I really want to go home.
Good night y’all!
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