Crossing Over Part 2

...We arrived at the international border around high noon. Bumper to bumper, the stream of cars crawled serpentine over a bridge which covers a completely dry Rio Grande. In fact the only thing of grand scale was the amount of vendors hawking their wares to pitying black Friday consumers. Ironically there were several signs sternly forbidding any kind of commercial activity at all. Yet here, as in other parts of Mexico, we saw the underside of a population that thrives in spite of its own governmental structures. Garishly adorned Virgin Mary's hung upon the same concession poles as popcorn and cans of Pepsi--everything and nothing was sacred, which reminded me a lot of Israel.

As our little vessel chugged along the bridge, Caroline and I enjoyed our first few minutes of American radio. In fact, we found a nice classic rock channel, and it was our mainstay for the rest of the trip. The infamous American border patrol offered us no trouble; perhaps because I spoke English with more familiarity than he. Soon after we found ourselves cruising along the bustling metropolis of McAllen. There were all the familiar McDonald's, Best Buys, and Targets, and some local oddities as well. We bee-lined it to the mall where we found a moderately chaotic swarm of humanity. There were actually police towers in the parking lot (not sure if that brought a feeling of comfort, apprehension or hilarity).

(I'm taking over this post now, because He is in San Antonio, TX for a UN trip...)

The mall was typical and very busy. And the adage is true: everything (read: everyONE) is bigger in Texas). We didn't find much to buy at the mall, but we weren't really taking the trip to buy anything, just to get away for the day. We also went to a Best Buy, and bought a new camera. We've had trouble with ours; it sometimes will not close, and then water spilled on it and that was that. We got a nifty Nikon for $120USD, not too bad a guess...

We had a gluttonous supper at Romano's Macaroni Grill. It was sooo relaxing to be able to speak English, and have your meaning understood instantly. That's not to say we didn't hear Spanish; there seemed to be an equal mix happening. At Barnes and Noble (we each bought a book; his was a critical analysis on T.S. Eliot's poetry, mine chronicled the suicides of famous people), the cashier gave us our change spoke to us in Spanish. So much for getting away from the language...

Our drive home was fairly uneventful. Coming back into Mexico at the border, we weren't even stopped. There wasn't even a line-up (granted, it was about 10pm, but still). They did not check ID's, passports, anything. But they had Mexican military lounging about, and a truck-mounted 50-caliber gun. The border town of Reynosa is pretty seedy, but there are plenty of signs guiding us outta there. On the highway back, we stopped a few times to stretch because we were so tired, and both of us were nodding off.

Overall, this was a worthy excursion. It's not something we'll do frequently (like some of our Mexican co-workers seem to do), but for a mini-vacation, it was well worth the trip.