A Day in Mexico

I spent Sunday in Nogales, Mexico with a lady named JoAnn who volunteers a great amount of her time to the city and our department. She invited me to a craft show, but after we drove the hour and a half to Amado we found out the fair was canceled due to inclement weather so we went to Mexico instead. I have never been to Mexico. The experience was very humbling and I have not been able to stop thinking about the city since I left.

Nogales is a border town so we parked on the American side of the city, stopped at the duty free store to buy some liquor and were escorted across the border by some security guards from the store. (I guess you have to physically go into Mexico to receive the cheap prices for the items so the duty free store pays security people to make sure you go over the border and ensure that the business doesn't lose their license.)

As soon as I crossed over the border I was amazed at the poverty inside this city. I was shocked at the difference in life and economy created simply by crossing a street. The Mexican side was full of trash and store after store selling the same items. I was walking down the street holding my camera when a woman tried to get me to buy a woodcarving and I told her I didn’t have any money. “That’s ok, that’s ok, I will trade you for your camera or your North Face shoes.” And I felt guilty, horribly guilty. Especially because I know I am a North Face brand whore.

What really broke my heart were the children begging for money. A little boy who could not be much older than two walked up to me with his hand cupped like it was holding water, he looked up at me with the sweetest little eyes and said "quarter? quarter?" He would follow people down the street just holding out his hand and asking for quarters. And it was cold - snowy and rainy and freezing cold.

It made me realize why so many Mexicans flee their own country and walk miles and miles over mountains in the heat of the summer or the snow and cold of the winter to try to make it safely to the States. And I began to understand why the Border Patrol are a necessary entity even though it did make me sick to see them, once we were closer to Mexico, crawling through the canyons on the side of the road carrying assault rifles.

While some of the day was depressing I must admit that I was entertained a bit by the desperate attempts to get me to purchase items at the stores. Some of my favorite lines from the storeowners were:

"It might be cold outside, but after looking at you my quickly beating heart has warmed my whole body. Please come inside and look at my jewelry."

"When you come back, I'm gonna take a picture, just me and you, and I’m going to blow it up and make it into a huge poster so I can see you every day"

"Are you married, because if you’re not I'd love to be the man to wake up looking at your face every day"

The men in this store were the most inventive:



JoAnn apparently frequents El Greco when she visits town and all of the men inside knew her:

“Oh, this is the lady who robbed me the last time she was here. She got me to drop so low on the price that I should have just given the pot to her for free.”

“Oh, it’s so good to see you again. Come and have a swig of my grandma’s tequila.”

So we proceeded to drink a bit of tequila from little plastic cups. And it was so good.

My favorite line of the day came from Alberto inside El Greco:

"Erin, that is such a beautiful name for a beautiful lady…. are you sure you're from Michigan? Because you look like you're from Hollywood"

I will say that while it's difficult for your soul, a visit to Nogales is absolutely wonderful for your self esteem.