The only time I've been to Mexico was to attend a destination wedding in Cancun. I don't consider my experience at an all inclusive resort complete with Mexicans playing reggae music a real experience with Mexican culture. So when Joseph developed a business relationship in Tijuana I was eager to tag along and perhaps glimpse into a more authentic Mexico.
I don't know much about Tijuana but the mention of it conjures up American teenagers going over the border to take advantage of the Mexican drinking age: 18. However I learned Tijuana is also a major manufacturing hub and home to almost two million people. It's also that a well known hub of T.V. manufacturing and assembly. So much so that the "high season" of Tijuana manufacturing are those six months leading up to Christmas when Americans buy televisions in large quantities. Joseph had developed a business relationship with a Chinese run manufacturing company in Tijuana. So, the owners and management are from China, whereas most of the line workers are Mexican. This information will be significant later in the story.
Joseph had flown in to Tijuana on an early morning flight, so our plan was to meet up on the Mexican side of the border when I arrived from my evening flight. To avoid the drama of an international flight, Joseph's protocol is to fly into San Diego. To avoid the hassle of driving over the border (one of the busiest international borders in the world*), Joseph's protocol is to Uber from the airport to the border and walk over it. His manufacturing buddies on the other side then pick him up in their car.
Since I was to follow the Joseph protocol I grabbed an Uber from San Diego airport and instructed the driver to take me to the Otay border crossing. My driver Kevin wasn't familiar with taking people to border crossings so we plugged it into the GPS. It was a 30 minute drive so we got to talking. Kevin was a dad-aged white guy and I noticed a picture of two teenage girls on his dash, so I asked about them. Before long he disclosed that he was having a difficult time with the 17 year old. After a long chat about the challenges of both being and living with an angsty teenage girl Kevin started to express some anxiety about dropping me off at the border alone. Like he was getting seriously stressed. "I'll be the Uber driver who was the last to see her alive". I tried to reassure him. "I promise I'll be o.k. My husband is waiting on the other side for me". "You promise" he semi-scoffed. We stopped at a place that seemed to have a lot of foot traffic and I took off with my messenger bag and blue rolly suitcase in the direction of where I saw people walking.
The signage was pretty confusing and the foot traffic led me into a building with a very long line with very grumpy Mexicans. After about half an hour of texting with Joseph I realized I was in the customs line for the United States. I then departed for the Mexican customs line which had no line and was staffed by Mexicans in very good humor.
After successfully making it through the border I quickly located Joseph and his Chinese friend "Roc". Roc seemed embarrassed because some factory circumstance had held up our driver so we were temporarily stranded. To tide us over we ducked into a coffee shop and had some coffees and chatted. The difference of a few hundred feet from San Diego to Tijuana could not have been more stark. In moments and steps I transformed from a typical Southern Californian locale to an environment that felt like what I imagine India to be like. People were everywhere, traffic was full of havoc, many shops were crammed together in small spaces advertising anything you could want. It was a bit like walking through the wardrobe in "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe" if you are familiar with that story.
Eventually our minivan chariot arrived and I was introduced to the other main members of the China crew: manager Jason and Roc's wife Tiffany, all Chinese. As we made small talk we were informed by our Chinese hosts that we were going to a legit Chinese restaurant and would be sitting on the special floor where government consulates and other Tijuana celebrities dined. The staff of the restaurant were waiting for us as we walked in the door and we were ushered up a special staircase, through a ballroom, and into a formal dining room with one very large dining table. You could have easily fit 20 people at the table but it was set for five. Large chairs accompanied each place setting with menus outlining the 10 course meal we were about to embark on. The menus were in a combination of Chinese and Spanish so the meal was a bit mysterious. The middle of the giant round table was a lazy Susan so the servers would place a course on the lazy Susan and out party would take some food off the plate and wheel the giant lazy Susan to the next person. This went on for about five courses before a chef emerged carting an entire roasted duck, complete with neck and head. He then carved the duck and slices of meat were placed into little tacos and dispersed via the lazy Susan. It was by far the most.memorable meal of my life. As we ate we chatted about Chinese, American, and Mexican culture. I hadn't seen Joseph so happy in quite a long time.
On the drive back to the hotel I was instructed by our friends not to leave the hotel alone the next day while Joseph was at work. I agreed but as we drove on I needed more details, so I inquired, "So, could you tell me why it's not safe to leave the hotel? Will I get robbed?"
Roc responded, "No. TJ** doesn't have a lot of robberies.. "
"Ok, so what then?" I said.
"Well the drug cartels have turfs" Roc said lightly.
"Oh, I said, so I'll get murdered." And everyone laughed.
We arrived at our hotel which was quite nice and tucked in for the night. In Houston time it was well past my bedtime but I wasn't a lick tired. The evening had been a sensory overload.
*One of my favorite things about having a non-academic blog is I don't have to cite my sources and you can't do anything about it. You'll just have to trust me or google it yourself.
** TJ is slang for Tijuana.
I don't know much about Tijuana but the mention of it conjures up American teenagers going over the border to take advantage of the Mexican drinking age: 18. However I learned Tijuana is also a major manufacturing hub and home to almost two million people. It's also that a well known hub of T.V. manufacturing and assembly. So much so that the "high season" of Tijuana manufacturing are those six months leading up to Christmas when Americans buy televisions in large quantities. Joseph had developed a business relationship with a Chinese run manufacturing company in Tijuana. So, the owners and management are from China, whereas most of the line workers are Mexican. This information will be significant later in the story.
Joseph had flown in to Tijuana on an early morning flight, so our plan was to meet up on the Mexican side of the border when I arrived from my evening flight. To avoid the drama of an international flight, Joseph's protocol is to fly into San Diego. To avoid the hassle of driving over the border (one of the busiest international borders in the world*), Joseph's protocol is to Uber from the airport to the border and walk over it. His manufacturing buddies on the other side then pick him up in their car.
Since I was to follow the Joseph protocol I grabbed an Uber from San Diego airport and instructed the driver to take me to the Otay border crossing. My driver Kevin wasn't familiar with taking people to border crossings so we plugged it into the GPS. It was a 30 minute drive so we got to talking. Kevin was a dad-aged white guy and I noticed a picture of two teenage girls on his dash, so I asked about them. Before long he disclosed that he was having a difficult time with the 17 year old. After a long chat about the challenges of both being and living with an angsty teenage girl Kevin started to express some anxiety about dropping me off at the border alone. Like he was getting seriously stressed. "I'll be the Uber driver who was the last to see her alive". I tried to reassure him. "I promise I'll be o.k. My husband is waiting on the other side for me". "You promise" he semi-scoffed. We stopped at a place that seemed to have a lot of foot traffic and I took off with my messenger bag and blue rolly suitcase in the direction of where I saw people walking.
The signage was pretty confusing and the foot traffic led me into a building with a very long line with very grumpy Mexicans. After about half an hour of texting with Joseph I realized I was in the customs line for the United States. I then departed for the Mexican customs line which had no line and was staffed by Mexicans in very good humor.
After successfully making it through the border I quickly located Joseph and his Chinese friend "Roc". Roc seemed embarrassed because some factory circumstance had held up our driver so we were temporarily stranded. To tide us over we ducked into a coffee shop and had some coffees and chatted. The difference of a few hundred feet from San Diego to Tijuana could not have been more stark. In moments and steps I transformed from a typical Southern Californian locale to an environment that felt like what I imagine India to be like. People were everywhere, traffic was full of havoc, many shops were crammed together in small spaces advertising anything you could want. It was a bit like walking through the wardrobe in "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe" if you are familiar with that story.
Eventually our minivan chariot arrived and I was introduced to the other main members of the China crew: manager Jason and Roc's wife Tiffany, all Chinese. As we made small talk we were informed by our Chinese hosts that we were going to a legit Chinese restaurant and would be sitting on the special floor where government consulates and other Tijuana celebrities dined. The staff of the restaurant were waiting for us as we walked in the door and we were ushered up a special staircase, through a ballroom, and into a formal dining room with one very large dining table. You could have easily fit 20 people at the table but it was set for five. Large chairs accompanied each place setting with menus outlining the 10 course meal we were about to embark on. The menus were in a combination of Chinese and Spanish so the meal was a bit mysterious. The middle of the giant round table was a lazy Susan so the servers would place a course on the lazy Susan and out party would take some food off the plate and wheel the giant lazy Susan to the next person. This went on for about five courses before a chef emerged carting an entire roasted duck, complete with neck and head. He then carved the duck and slices of meat were placed into little tacos and dispersed via the lazy Susan. It was by far the most.memorable meal of my life. As we ate we chatted about Chinese, American, and Mexican culture. I hadn't seen Joseph so happy in quite a long time.
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| The duck course |
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| Joseph enjoying the royal treatment. |
On the drive back to the hotel I was instructed by our friends not to leave the hotel alone the next day while Joseph was at work. I agreed but as we drove on I needed more details, so I inquired, "So, could you tell me why it's not safe to leave the hotel? Will I get robbed?"
Roc responded, "No. TJ** doesn't have a lot of robberies.. "
"Ok, so what then?" I said.
"Well the drug cartels have turfs" Roc said lightly.
"Oh, I said, so I'll get murdered." And everyone laughed.
We arrived at our hotel which was quite nice and tucked in for the night. In Houston time it was well past my bedtime but I wasn't a lick tired. The evening had been a sensory overload.
*One of my favorite things about having a non-academic blog is I don't have to cite my sources and you can't do anything about it. You'll just have to trust me or google it yourself.
** TJ is slang for Tijuana.
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