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Medical Care in Mexico Guide to Medical Care in Mexico
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 The Chinese Dragon The past posts were a major experience for us! Teach us a lesson to visit Durango and get lost in the “Deliverance” Mexican wilderness!
After our safe return back to Mexicali and recovering our sanity, we decided to celebrate Chinese New Year with our two young friends at Calexico’s Yum Yum’s Chinese restaurant.
This year, 2012, is an auspicious year. It is the Year of the Water Dragon. The last time this year came about was in 1952.
The Dragon year represents a symbol of good fortune and sign of intense power. Therefore, people born in the Dragon year are to be honored and respected. It’s a year where the world, especially China, will see a huge boost of babies! Billions of Chinese want Dragon Babies!
We crossed the border to Calexico with Alex and Ali, who are Americans, but who just happen to work in their family’s restaurant in Mexicali.
Alex and his sister, Ali, both in their late 20s, are San Diego State graduates, but due to family pressure, they had to return home to help their parents in their family-run menudo business. At least they’re working!
At Yum Yum’s, we placed large orders of fried rice, beef noodles, egg foo yung, and spring rolls—all washed down with hot Chinese tea.
“So how was Durango?” asked Alex with a smile.
“A nightmare—Jim read the map wrong, and we made the wrong turn!” I said.
‘No kiddin?” said Ali. “We told you guys to visit Cabo, and you go to Durango!”
“Eh yeah…” answered Matthew, “We watched the movie called The treasure of the Sierra Madre and it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“Let’s not spoil this wonderful lunch, it’s the Year of the Dragon!” I chimed in.
“So did you all watch the CNN Republican debates?” asked Alex.
“We sure did!” replied Jim. “That there Newt Gingrich is gonna win the nomination. Romney’s too rich to understand poor folks!”
laughed Jim.
“Did you know that Sarah Palin has already endorsed Newt?” said Ali, putting more food onto her plate.
“Really? In that case, if Newt wins the Presidency, he will make her Secretary of Whatever in return”, I said.
“You’re right, I never thought of that,” said Alex.
“Whatever it is, we don’t need more wars and debt. That’s just gonna make life difficult for our kids,” said Jim, piling on more fried rice and egg foo yung. Those Dems and Republicans are all the same now. I’m here reading a book by Kitty Kelly about the Bushes.”
said Jim. “It’s the same old story about how our politicians are getting richer, while riding herd on our backs!” growled Jim.
“It’s a wonderful book—I bought it on Amazon!” I said.
“But, now I am going to feng shui our home—you know put the furniture and stuff in the Chinese way for good luck and stuff. Check this book out,” I said, showing my Feng Shui book, called Feng Shui that Makes Sense.
“This is our next project—the Year of the Dragon has already started for me!” I smiled.
With that said, lunch was over and we drove straight back to Mexicali.
 No stinkin' badges Continued from last post…
Herman and Armando must have spent nearly two hours combing the woods for us. But we were lying low, and hoping they would not come our way.
“Mountain lions in these here whereabouts,” whispered Jim, “so keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Mountain lions?” repeated Matthew.
“Snakes too,” whispered Jim.
“C’mon now, Jim, it’s bad enough just with these guys,” I said.
“Well, I was hearin’ some noises back in the woods,” explained Jim.
Finally Herman and Armando gave up. They went back to near where our truck was parked and lit a fire.
“Geez,” said Matthew, “those guys are setting fire to our truck!”
“Oh, my God,” said Jim.
Once, however, when the flames died down, we could make out that our truck was okay and that Herman and Armando were just setting up a simple campfire.
We waited and waited. The fire kept flickering and I kept thinking how warm it was in our house way far off in Mexicali.
We were so cold we were going into hypothermia.
Herman and Armando, drinking by their fire, had to be so drunk they were out of their minds by now.
Sooner or later they were bound to pass out—we hoped.
Slowly we made our way out of the deep forest and walked very slowly and quietly through the woods toward the firelight.
As we neared them we could see that they had parked their truck to block the exit road that went out of the camp. Between their truck and our truck was their campfire. Finally we could see that Herman and Armando were lying down—hopefully asleep.
We started creeping on all fours, moving as silently as we could from one tree to the next, making our way toward our truck.
Finally we reached our truck. We about twenty feet away from the sleeping bodies of Herman and Armando, separated from them only by their dying campfire.
Suddenly, Armando woke up. He tossed another branch on the fire from his blankets, and laid down grunting.
We waited without moving until we saw the first signs of daylight.
Down on all fours again, our hearts pounding, we crawled over to the truck. Slowly, Jim opened the driver’s side door and we eased into the front seat.
Jim turned on the ignition. The truck wouldn’t start due to the cold. He waited what seemed a lifetime, and then tried again. Suddenly, the engine started. Jim gunned the truck and backed up quickly then we swung past their truck. Herman and Armando rose sleepily out of their blankets looking bleary and confused.
We raced up the hill to get out of the camp, expecting to see their truck in the rearview mirror.
Guess what—we never saw them again.
As we sped on to safety, Matthew said, “You know, my favorite movie was The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”
“Yeah, I remember it,” I said.
Matthew continued, “Didn’t Armando look just like the guy in that movie that said, ‘I ain’t got no stinkin’ badge.”
“Quiet, Matthew,” said Jim, “I gotta keep my eye on the road out of this place.”
We drove down the mountains on treacherous Highway 40 west to Mazatlan, up the coast through Culiacan, to Hermosillo, and on to Caborca, to San Luis Rio Colorado, and finally to Mexicali. The total trip was over 1,100 miles and took just about 24 hours.
We didn’t stop, except for gas, until we made it all the way home so catch the sunrise in Mexicali.
 The Christmas moon Continued from last post…
“No, no.” Jim smiled gently. “We’re just tourists. It’s our Christmas vacation.”
I was freezing in the truck. My back, still not perfectly okay from the operation was killing me from sitting up so long. I could see from Jim’s body language that he and Matthew were in some sort of trouble with these guys.
It was difficult to start the truck; I guess due to the cold. Finally the engine kicked in. I turned on the headlights. For our trip we had put in those bright bluish lights that we had put in just for the trip—they are not street legal in the U.S.
Gunning the engine, I headed straight for the Jim, Matthew and the two men.
As I approached them, I slammed on the brakes, and the truck skidded through the mud right up to where the four were standing. So far as anyone could see, there could have been a bunch of us in the truck, including some bad guys.
I opened the window just in time to hear Armando say, “We don’t mean you no harm.”
I kept the engine revving as though at any second I could just squash these guys into the mud.
Armando said, “It’s beautiful here. This is the best place for tourists. Write that in your blog thing.”
At that point, a caretaker came out of one of the cabins. He told Jim and Matthew his name was Juan and when Herman and Armando’s backs were turned he pulled down on his bottom eyelid, making the Mexican sign for “Be careful.”
Herman turned to Juan and said, “They is sleeping under the trees tonight.”
Armando looked at Jim and said, “Juan, these gringos got no right to be here.”
“Calm yourself,” said Herman.
“Where’s my f…..g bullets?” said Armando, fumbling around in his pockets.
“It’s no big deal,” said Herman. “We have beer. We have perico. We will have a good time.”
“What’s perico?” asked Jim.
Herman and Armando laughed. Armando said, “The perico is a little bird-can’t stop talking. You gringos call it parakeet.”
“Oh, good,” said Jim, who had no idea what these two drunk guys were talking about.
Armando and Herman gulped down another couple of fist-fulls of the white powder.
The caretaker, Juan, pulled down his eyelid again and said, “Bye, bye,” leaving the scene quickly.
“Us too, goodnight, my friends,” Jim said, grabbing Matthew and jumping quickly into the truck. I gunned the engine and drove splashing across a creek and through the trees getting a good two hundred yards away from Armando and Herman.
There were picnic tables and benches we could see in the headlights. I parked next to one of the tables and then we all piled out of the truck. With my bad back, Jim and Matthew helped me as we hobbled into the woods.
After a bit, we stood behind a tree just watching and waiting.
We didn’t know if they wanted to rob us, kill us, or just frighten us some more.
Jim said, “One thing’s for sure.”
Matthew asked, “What?”
I too asked, “What, Jim?”
Jim repeated himself, “One thing’s for sure-these guys are comin’ after us.”
“What are we gonna do?” asked Matthew.
“Not much we can do,” came the answer from Jim.
“God bless,” I whispered.
In the darkness, I took a photo of the crescent moon above the trees—just in case we lived long enough to want to remember this moment.
We waited. We couldn’t see what Armando and Herman were doing but they kept opening and slamming the door of their truck. Finally they started the engine and we figured they were leaving. But instead of driving out of the camp, they came directly towards where our truck was parked.
When they saw we weren’t in the truck, they put on their high beams and started roaring around looking for us. We ducked down and hid, but they drove around for a good twenty minutes.
Then their truck stopped-right near ours. They got out of their truck and we could see their flashlights turn on.
The started combing the woods for us. We could see their flashlights lighting up the whole place.
“Geez,” whispered Matthew.
“Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain,” I whispered back.
to be continued…
 A storm was coming on at the camp Continued from last post…
Doing their best to change the subject, Jim and Matthew went to see one of the cabins. It was large and surprisingly well appointed with four bedrooms and a very nice kitchen.
“Maybe this place is legit, after all,” whispered Jim to Matthew.
Armando, who was right behind them, asked, “What did you say?”
“Nice place,” replied Jim in an unsteady voice.
“That’ll be two hundred dollars for the night,” barked Armando.
“Oh, I don’t have enough money on me for that,” answered Jim.
Herman, who had just entered the cabin said, “No?” He continued, “You can sleep for nothing under the trees. Do you have a gun?”
“No, I …,” gasped Jim.
Then Herman, playing good cop said, “No, no. Don’t worry. We are friends. We will get drunk together. Do you have beer?”
“Nope,” said Jim, “but we have a bottle of Mount Gay Rum, which we brought to keep ourselves warm—just in case.”
“Gay rum,” laughed Armando, “what kind of a caballero are you?”
Jim and Matthew laughed weakly. Mentioning the rum had been a calculated risk. Getting drunk with these guys was the best and probably only chance of making friends with them, but it was equally likely to make them more dangerous, belligerent, and unpredictable.
Matthew ran out to the truck and returned with the rum.
Herman and Armando each took a big swig, and then another big swig each, and then another, alternating until the bottle of rum was empty. They both nodded in satisfaction.
Things were looking good.
Armando then brought out a whole case of Tecate beer from their truck.
Jim and Matthew were stunned as, from a paper bag, Herman and Armando shook out handfuls of what looked to be cocaine and gulped it down with the beer.
Things were not looking good.
They gave a couple of beers to Jim and Matthew, and held out the bag to them. “Take some,” said Armando.
Jim reached into the bag and pretended to take a little hoping that he and Matthew could be regular amigos with the two.
Still, Armando seemed suspicious and he gave an ice cold stare at Jim and Matthew. “Are you really alone and unarmed?”
“Why, shucks, yes,” answered Jim.
“What are you doing here?” asked Herman.
“Just enjoying our Christmas vacation,” answered Matthew.
“Here?” said Armando.
Jim cleared his throat, “Yes, and we are also writing an Internet blog called Mexicali MaryAnn.”
Armando interrupted, “Internet? Blog? We ain’t got no Internet blog here. You think we are stupid? What is a blog?”
Jim answered, “Why it’s just an article written on the Internet. We came here to write about what a nice place you have here.”
“What is a blog?”
“It’s an article written on the Internet.”
“Where is your passport?” asked Herman.
Jim showed him his passport.
Herman looked through Jim’s passport, then looked up and asked, “Where is your tourist permit? You are a foreigner and you gotta have permission to enter this country. When I was in Texas, the f……g gringos threw me out. Where is your permit?”
“Why we are very sorry about that…” said Matthew.
Fortunately, Jim had his tourist permit, and handed quickly it to Herman.
Both Herman and Armando scrutinized the tourist permit.
Armando looked up. His eyes were fierce and crazy. He moved up to Jim’s face and shouted out, “Are you a terrorist? How do we know you’re not a terrorist? You got a gun?”
to be continued…
 San Miguel de Crucis This is how we spent our 2011 Christmas vacation in Durango. Well, not really in Durango itself, but in the beautiful Sierra Madre mountains around Durango.
Jim, Matthew and I set off of the long three-day drive to Durango, which is at an altitude of 8,000 feet.
In Durango, we went to the tourist board, to get some pointers as to where we could go in the nearby countryside.
The lady at the tourist board said, “Oh San Miguel de Crucis is beautiful—plenty of tourists up there. They rent cabins, horseback rides, fishing, things like this.”
Hey, that was exactly what we were looking for!
Once we got on our way we hit a road that was like a washboard with rocks and potholes and plenty of fine powdery dust on the surface. Sure, there were patches of snow, but only patches.
We passed occasional houses and small settlements along the way and I was struck by the lack of color in them. None of those nice bright Mexican hacienda colors we expected.
Here everything was brown and gray, and the people looked hardened.
About two and a half hours out of Durango we hit San Miguel de Cruces. It had once been a mining town and then a sawmill town. Now it was bleak, and shabby, with abandoned houses and boarded-up stores. Why had that tourist lady described it as beautiful?
We couldn’t find a hotel, so we stopped by a small store. Matthew, Jim and I went in.
An elderly lady wrapped in blankets was slumped behind the counter.
I asked her if there was a hotel, “Any hotels around here?”
There was no hotel, she said, but there was a tourist center perfect for foreigners back the way we had come.
Matthew said, “Somehow we must have missed it.”
Jim said, “Shucks.”
We all piled back into the truck.
Back tracking, we found the place. There was a sign, but it was in bad shape—no wonder we missed it. Still we could make out the word “Turistico.”
The sign, which was full of bullet holes, also had drawings of cabins, horses, fish—and a mountain lion.
“Wow,” said Matthew, “this looks really great!”
“Hmmm,” answered Jim.
Jim entered the camp and drove us down a dirt road through a forest of trees.
We finally came upon two men standing by a battered pickup truck in front of a cabin.
The men looked at us, and one of them gave a brief nod. They appeared to be more than a little tipsy.
Jim, Matthew and I knew immediately that they were bad types, but it was getting late and we didn’t know where else to go. The nearest hotel, along with the nearest cop, was three hours back down the way we came.
There was nothing we could do so we got out of the truck. Jim said, very respectfully and friendly, “We are looking to rent a cabin.”
The two men smiled and looked at each other. “You are alone?” said the taller one.
The shorter one said, “Who do you know here? What was the name of the man who sent you?”
“We were sent here by a lady in the tourist place in Durango,” said Jim. “I didn’t get her name-uh, sir.”
“And you want to rent a cabin?” said the taller of the two.
“That’s right,” said Matthew, who had joined Jim as some sort of what you might call “a reinforcement.”
“He wants to rent a cabin,” smiled the shorter one.
The taller one laughed and shook his head. The shorter one laughed and offered Jim and Matthew a beer. This was a good sign.
Our hope was to make friends with them and drinking together is the key male bonding ritual in the Sierra as it is everywhere in Mexico.
Knowing my place as a woman, I returned to the relative safety of the truck.
“Hey, thanks, I’m Jim, and this here’s my brother, Matthew,” said Jim trying to keep from shaking, either from the cold or from fear.
“I’m Armando,” said the shorter of the two, the other guy said his name was Herman.
“You’re up here alone and unarmed?” Armando gave a sinister little chuckle, whistled, and shook his head.
‘Aren’t you afraid someone will kill you?” said Herman.
“Why would anyone want to kill us?” said Matthew trying to smile.
Armando smiled and said, “To please his gun.”
Then Herman pointed out that “someone” could kill us all and throw our bodies down a ravine and no one would ever know, “Everybody’s killers here,” added Armando.
“No one would ever know?” said Matthew, looking at Jim, both frozen with fear.
It started to drizzle.
to be continued…
 Sinapsis Café I just have to rave about Sinapsis Café in Mexicali! ”Sinapsis” means synapses in English—structures in the brain that permit a neuron to pass a signal to another cell—but enough of science! Oh, by the way, the people at Sinapsis Café speak English!
Sinapsis Café is the best “go-to” place for a good-tasting steaming large cup of hot cappuccino.
In fact, Sinapsis Café is well known for its wide-range of coffees, from cappuccinos to espressos to macchiatos and lattes.
Its frappes (AKA: smoothies) range from chocolate and strawberry to a variety of other yummy tasting flavors! You can have your frappes and coffees prepared to go as well!
Sinapsis Café is also famous for its teas, wines, sandwiches, salads, cakes, and other goodies. There is a wide range of fresh baked cakes from chocolate to cheesecake and carrot cake. On certain days there are home-made oatmeal cookies, brownies and tiramisus available as well!
Sinapsis Café also makes the best Caesar salad going with a big topping of shredded chicken. And then there’s the cheese platter with salami and ham with different types of cheeses with crackers—just delicious! The melted cheese over nachos is another favorite of ours. There are also delicious hot crepes on the menu. I’ve tried them and they are scrumptious. I liked them with the strawberry filling.
 Inside Sinapsis Café Sinapsis Café has the most comfortable sofas and chairs you can imagine. Even its high stools are large-size and very comfortable.
Synapsis Café’s menu is vast! You order and in no time the good folks there will bring the hot coffees and food to your table.
At least for Jim, Matthew and me, sitting in a comfortable place, maybe, for a couple of hours in great chairs is the icing on the cake.
The people at Sinapsis Café have really done it with its wonderful and comfortable seating arrangements with a beautiful décor and warm ambiance.
Sinapsis Café is housed in a very nice new building and occupies two floors. It’s open in the mornings to the late evenings from Mondays through Saturday; Sundays it opens at 4:00pm.
The interior is warm and cozy, with paintings by well-known Mexicali painters, hung on its walls for sale. There are two large flat screen TVs. In fact, that’s where we went to watch the NFL game between the quarterback, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos and its wonderful quarterback Tebowing Tim Tebow!
 Sinapsis Café's famous cappuccino! Sinapsis Café is always crowded with people, ranging from young working people to families, all people who know where to go to have ham and cheese sandwiches with a side order of garden salad. We just look at the wide menu selection and we always get hungry!
A new dish called paponas has just been included to the menu. It’s consists of papas (fries), tocino (bacon), queso (cheese), chili beans and ranch or chipotle (chili) dressing.
A friend of ours, Bud, came down from Yuma to visit us. We took him to Sinapsis Café. Good old Bud ordered practically everything from the menu and even finished it all—Bud paid.
”Heck, the food here is outstanding—you know what, after you guys take me for a tour, we’ll swing by here and have another frappe…I have to try the strawberry one!” Bud said, rubbing his tummy.
If you are ever in Mexicali, just cmon’ down to Sinapsis Café and try its famous cappuccinos, frappes, and all the rest of the goodies..
Its address is Ave Rep. de Argentina 298. The also have a great website at www.sinapsiscafe.com where you can see their entire menu, and even make reservations.
 Statue of Lincoln in Tijuana There’s a part of Tijuana that is actually good – nothing like what you might think.
And if you just crossed the border from the USA and turned right, that perception would be pretty close to reality.
You’d head to a strange twilight zone that is neither the USA nor Mexico or like anywhere on earth, it’s Planet Tijuana Yet, if you went straight ahead, you’d end up in “Paseo de los Héroes” an entirely different world.
As you enter the paseo you see on the left an interesting piece of architecture, a completely round building next to El Museo de Las Californias. (The museum of the Californias.)
Later you’d go past a statue of the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc.
The avenue spits in two with a lovely green nature strip with tall palm trees down the middle. On the sides there are very modern buildings, terrific restaurants, and quality hotels all around.
At the next glorieta, (traffic circle/roundabout), you see a huge statue. It’s a very tall man, with a beard and no moustache.
What is the great emancipator doing in the middle of Tijuana? Yes, Abraham Lincoln stands tall over Tijuana’s best area.
It turns out the statue was a gift of friendship from the USA.
Apparently, Mexico also gifted a statue of Benito Juarez. It’s somewhere in San Diego. I am not sure where it is, if you know please email me to tell me.
What a contrast between Cuauhtémoc with his feather headdress and tomahawk and Abraham Lincoln in suit and barba sin bigote (beard without mustache).
There’s also a big contrast between how you say Abraham in English and Spanish.
So great is the difference you might just have a better chance of saying Cuauhtémoc right the first time than saying Abraham correctly.
In English we have three different sounds for the letter A, and we use all three in the name Abraham – AY BRAH HAAM.
In Spanish there is only one sound for the letter A.
Also in Spanish the letter H is silent.
So Abraham in Spanish is pronounced AH BRAH AHM Right there in the 16th president’s name you have two of 9 major differences between Spanish and English pronunciation.
The complete free course “Speak Spanish and be Understood” will help you nail those 2 and the other
7 differences between the two languages.
Click below for the complete course, es gratis.
http://www.how-to-speak.com/abraham.html
Saludos Marcus Santamaria Spanish Communication Coach
In Spanish speaking countries Split bills are much less common than in the English-speaking world.
And there’s always a check dance. It’s goes something like this:
pago yo
I’ll pay
No, no, no no, no, pago yo. Yo te invito.
No, no, no, no, no, (saying no 5 times has a good Latin rhythm) I’ll pay. It’s on me
No, me toca a mi
It’s my turn
There are a couple of phrases from that exchange you’ll find handy.
Me toca a mi is a very common colloquial way to say it’s my turn,
Yo te invito, literally means “I invite you”, but it’s understood as “it’s on me”
So, if you invite someone to eat be careful how you say it, otherwise you’ll be expected to pay. And if you don’t pay after inviting someone to eat, well in Mexico you’d be an elbow.
Yes, in Mexico codo (elbow) means tightfisted.
I have no idea why, if you know why it’s elbow email me and let me know.
Everywhere else and also in Mexico the word you’ll hear is tacaño.
It means miser.
You know, I picked up a lot of colloquial Spanish like this from day one of my Spanish adventure by reading a comic strip called Condorito.
One of the Characters in Condorito is Máximo Tacaño (Maximum Miser). As you’ll see below he is characteristically tightfisted.
Here’s a translation of “Regalo”.
First Frame:
Máximo: Tocaño: Is it true that today is your girlfriend Yayita’s birthday Condorito?
Condorito: Yes, Don Maximo
Second frame:
Máximo: Tocaño: Take, (this) and take it to her it’s a cake (as a) present!
Condorito: But… this isn’t a cake.
Last frame:
Máximo: Tocaño: No, but it is the recipe.
Ja ja ja ja (ha ha ha ha)
 Michelle Walsh Mexicali resident Michelle Walsh said she has had several bad experiences crossing the border, including alleged insults by U.S. a Customs and Border Protection officer.
Mexicali resident Michelle Walsh no longer wants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border by herself.
An incident involving a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer allegedly calling her a “drug hag” and a “tweaker,” among other names, while she was detained at a Calexico Port of Entry in August has left a bad taste in the her mouth.
Walsh moved to Mexicali earlier this year and works in a dental office. She recounts numerous incidents where she has seen Border Protection officers acting aggressively, using profanity, and as a whole, making the border-crossing experience something she doesn’t want to go through again.
In the August incident, Walsh was coming across the border to price a numbing drug for her office called lidocaine. It’s not illegal in the U.S. or Mexico, but she didn’t realize she needed to declare it.
“I’m not a drug hag or a whore hag or a tweaker, or any of those things,” she said. “I should have declared that. That part is my fault.
I’m debating the way I was treated.” She emphasized that it was not an isolated incident and said many friends of hers have had similar experiences.
“This is what it’s like every time I cross the border. I hate it. It’s awful,” she continued. “I am a U.S. citizen. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa. It’s just not right. Something needs to change.”
Calexico Ports Director Billy Whitford said the number of complaints received by the Calexico ports is low considering the large number of people crossing each day. CBP interacts with the public more than any other law agency in the community.
“Most of those 45,000 travelers every day here in Calexico have a neutral, or even positive experience during their inspection with CBP,” Whitford said. “With that being said, one legitimate complaint is too many, and we continually work to improve.
“Their crossings are a vital part of our local community, and we do our best to speed these legitimate crossings, while still maintaining the integrity of our borders and stopping any and all illegal activity that we encounter.” In response to the community, CBP has improved the waiting area referred to as “the cage” by adding privacy screenings, a television and evaporative cooler during the summer. Whitford said it’s similar to holding areas at other ports of entry.
After complaining to authorities, Walsh received letters from CBP officials who apologized for the “unpleasant nature of the border crossing,” and then stated, “we have reviewed the matter closely and find no evidence of misconduct, unprofessional behavior, or inappropriate comments.”
We understand that Michelle’s story will next appear on Dateline.
 Thanksgiving back in olden times - 1942 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner given by our friends in El Centro. Jim, Matthew and I brought two bottles of wine from Mexicali for them.
Edward greeted us at the front door, ”Well, I’m so glad to see y’all…Stella is puttin’ the finishing touches to the 17 pound turkey”. Edward is Jim’s classmate, who is also a pawnbroker, and business has been great.
At the dinner table, we had a spread of turkey, salads, cooked yams with walnuts, green bean casserole, baked rolls, fruit salad, mashed potatoes with a side of gravy and minced pies! And then, a home-made cake, chocolate with whipped cream stuffing all rolled up together and hot coffee to finish things up.
With dinner over, we all gathered in the living room, stuffed and relaxed. ”Glad to hear you are doin’ well with your pawnshop Ed,” said Jim.
“Yup, business is way up. People are just real desperate these days!” said a happy Ed. “Great time to be a pawnbroker!”
“I just had my new glasses made, see nice huh?” chimed in Stella.
‘How much?” I asked.
“Only $350, for non-scratch and progressive lenses…I got them at the mall…good price,” said Stella.
‘You say, ‘only’$350,’ wow! I have forgotten how expensive things are here in the USA!” I said. ”I could get two pair for that price, and even less.”
“Where?” asked Stella.
“Well, in Los Algodones, for starters,” I replied.
“Gosh, yes, even in Mexicali,” added Matthew.
”We’re all goin’ on a vacation for Christmas this year. Our five girls and ourselves. Tickets are costin’ me well over $9,000,” sighed Ed.
‘We’re going to Columbia, I’m so excited, haven’t seen my family for 25 years!” answered Stella.
 Sofia Vergara “Do they have tacos and burritos down in Columbia?” I asked.
“Are you kiddin? Tacos mean explosives and burritos mean donkeys!” laughed Stella.
“Really, thought they had the same menu,” said Matthew.
“No, no…We are all very different,” answered Stella.
“Sofia Vergara! She’s from Columbia, and she is the most beautiful woman I’ve seen,” blurted out Matthew.
“Erhhh…she’s more Caribbean if you ask me. She’s from Barranquilla, up in northern Columbia, near the Caribbean,” said Stella, sternly. “I’m from Medillin-second largest city, three million people, in Columbia!” ”You’re on a gold roll here Ed,” smiled Jim.
“Don’t know for how long. If and when any riots start, we are off and runnin’ to the mountains, armed to the gills my friend,” answered an unhappy looking Ed. ”All good things must end somewhere!” he continued.
”Forget the mountains—you can join us in Mexicali. We’ll help fix you all up,” smiled Jim.
”That’s right! I might just take you up on your offer. I know many Americans are leaving for Guanajuato, San Miguel and them there places.”
“Yes, but they can’t beat Mexicali!” I answered with a big smile. “Can those folks in the middle of Mexico be in the US of A in ten minutes like we can? Can they shop at a real American Wal-Mart? Can they watch American football? Can they get their mail at a real American post office? Can they get cranberry jelly? Can they buy a 17 pound turkey?”
“Yeah! Ain’t that what America, turkey and Thanksgiving is all about!” exclaimed Matthew, standing up and placing his hand over his heart.
“You damn tootin’ right,” responded Ed.
Geez, we could see the tears in Ed’s eyes.
So we finished on a high note.
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