A Weekend in Mexico

A weekend in Mexico.  We were just happy to be in a country where stuff works more than it does in Cuba

Breakfast at La Cocina de Doña Esthela.  Brought people from miles around and they all waited

yes I ruined jens picture!

making torillas

very delicious

this road looks good compared to the ones we had to drive on last night.

stopped by the winery called "Santos" because we had to do at least one in the Valle de Guadalupe while we were there.  We had plans for more but that unexpected extra Cuba adventure put an end to that.

this was the nicest winery we've ever been to probably, it was pretty cool.

they had these hanging from the ceiling, hand painted tops from Oaxaca, they are also hung as the intro to Beethoven's something symphony.

They have this huge concert venue that's seen the likes of Ricky Martin last year and Kenny G this year

Mex 1 runs along the ocean up to Tijuana.

One last adventure.  Rental car companies don't want you driving their cars across the border so dropped it off at the Tijuana airport and then crossed the border on foot.  Huge surprise.   The line tripled over on itself and it took over 2 hours.  People have asked if there is no fast line for American passport holders and the answer is no.  I talked to two teenage girls that sorted us out.  Their mom lives on the mexico side and they go to school on the US side so they do this every weekend.   There are vans that will offer to take you over the border for $6 and later on we met a couple that took this van and ended up behind us and they said they had been waiting in the van for 4 hours.  The teenage girls warned us about that happening.  There was a guy in line when we almost got to the agents, a black guy yelling over and over to "send those n!ggas" home, referring to Mexicans going into the states.  That was the fastest way to get across the border cuz they just escorted him out of line and across the border.  There was another guy on the tram to San Diego, also black, who was going off about sending the Mexicans back.  What an ordeal

Permisos looked like it was for people that do this everyday and work on one side of the border or the other.  General Public is for everyone.  Ready Lane costs $55 for first timers and $30 for previous pass holders.  Sentri is $155 for 5 years and has the most paperwork and you need to be pre screened, this line is generally shortest.  I looked this stuff up online.

thanks a lot you guys.  3 f'in cuba stamps on a fresh page

the gps on my camera worked.  technically illegal to bring gps devices into cuba so i guess that would mean smart phones and stuff too.

after a night at Stacy and Phil's house it's back to New York.  The guy I sat next to on the plane used to build the walls that stretch across the whole US-Mexico border.  He said in some places out in the desert it's only 6 feet hight and 12 feet high in the more popular areas to try and cross.  He told stories of tunnels that pop up in a supermarket on the other side and cutting through steel walls to get through.  People also put them selves in plastic bags and float down the river.  Gates under water have to be installed.  Here he says you can see a road running right up to the wall.  At this point we were so happy to be back in America where you can have all the internets you want and things work.  Cuba isn't a vacation, it's an adventure, so keep that in mind if you're thinking about going to Cuba.  The quote of the trip was from a happy Cuban cab driver: "Cuba is good, the system is bad".  Couldn't have said it better myself.