Experiencing Tecate

I came to Tecate today just to check it out.  I´ve been looking for a quiet-tranquil place to live and although I'm not quite ready to move yet, I needed a break from the action.  I was the sole passenger on a full size ABC bus out of the Central Camionera in Tijuana.
¨¿Sí vale la pena el viaje si nada más soy yo?¨ I asked the chofer.
¨Si de todos modos me tengo que ir pa ya.  tengo pasageros en Mexicalii¨
¨Y sigue la lluvia¨ I commented to the chofer as we left the station.
¨Sí parece granizo¨
We traveled East for about 15-20 min and there were still houses, colonias along the freeway. ´This far from the beach and its still the same city´ I marveled.  The road was flooded half way up the tires in spots.  Finally the city stopped and the green hills and orange rocky cliffs started.  I feel asleep.
¨¿Cual es el horario para los caminones que van para Tijuana?¨
¨Salen cada hora al centro de Tijuana¨
¨Gracias¨  I said to the friendly lady behind the desk at the station.
That's prefect.  I came out of the station onto the main strip in Tecate.  Ma and Pa restaurants and other small business locales lined the street.  I walked into a restaurant, don´t even know the name, I just read ¨Comida casera¨ and thought they must have a chicken and vegetable soup here.  Sure enough Rosi had some homemade soup served with rice and beens and made me homemade lemonade and gave me the sugar to put in ¨...a tu gusto¨
Rosi was from Guadalajara and opened the restaurant 4 years ago.  ¨No se' pero ve pa alla' y pregunta.  Me imagino que alguien te puede dar raid.¨ Rosi told me when I asked if they new of transport to SD from the other side of the border.
¨Y si no, me regreso pa ca.¨
¨Pos sí.  Nada pierdes¨
Her husband was working on a new sign ¨¿Tu eres Americano o Puertoriqueño?¨
¨Americano¨
He went on to explain that once there was a guy that came into the restaurant who said ¨i ama e uanca y a e egro¨ and then he repeated what the guy was trying to say ¨mi mama es uanca indigena y mi papa es negro.  Es que cuando se cruza asi la gente, los ninyos no saben hablar bien.¨  He then went on to give other examples of uniteligible or barely understandable Spanish that the guy spoke.
¨¿De dónde es usted?¨I asked.
¨Yo soy de Acapulco.  Es que allá hay gente negra NEGRA como los del otro lado.  IGUALES¨
It later came out that his Mom is Uanca Indian and his Dad is black and that's why he doesn´t speak Spanish that well.  I didnt notice any problem with his Spanish.  I guess he was self consciencous.  I chatted a bit more with the husband and wife and a nephew who was from Tijuana but liked it much better in Tecate.  ¨No tan rapido todo¨ he commented.
I came out onto the street in the pouring rain feeling really good after the nice warm delicious ´caldo´.  Really enjoying seeing a new place and the tranquil vibe.  I stopped into a computer store to see if someone could fix my laptop.
¨Regresa hasta las 6 el técnico¨
The border was a bout 4 blocks away.  A couple blocks from the town park-plaza. 
I had a hard time finding the port of entry cause there were no people to follow.  I walked down the 20 foot railing walkway to an office building.
I walked in and there were two agents and a guy having a coffee talking to one.  I walked up to the other one.
¨You didn´t stop at the stop sign man.  go back¨
I walked back 5 steps to the sign and then he waved me back to the desk.
¨What were you doing in Mexico?¨
¨Visiting, exploring¨
There were about 3-4 more ?s to follow and he looked through both my backpacks.  Very suspicious of every answer I gave him.
¨Is it always like this here?  I mean with nobody in line?¨
¨I don´t know i don´t work here¨ he said.
I looked at the other agent ¨Do you know?¨
¨There´s no one here cause there´s no people here.¨
¨Oh, i was just asking cause I´m thinking about moving here from Tijuana.¨
They finally loosened up just a tad and said that in the morning there is sometimes a short wait but nothing like San Ysidro. ¨Hence only two booths¨  He had to get one more sarcastic remark in.
I told them to have a nice day and they didn't answer.
I walked out after stopping at the BP restroom and had the overwhelming feeling that I was still in the same place.  Unlike Tijuana-Sd where I feel like im walking into another city when I cross.  There was, however, a sharp drop in populous.  There were no houses in site and one shopping center, a tow yard and a church.  I walked over to the church and talked to missionary folks who gave me the card of the guy who runs the mission.  ¨We came from up north and we´re helping him with some work down in Mexico.¨  They were friendly.
I kept going and ran across an office behind the tow yard, insurance brokers.  They all spoke Spanish and lived near by on the other side of the border.  I knew there had to be an area where people lived on this side cause it said on the internet there was a population of 207 people.  ¨Viven muy separados en Ranchos, unos por acá y otros por acá¨she told me as she pointed over one shoulder and then the other behind her.
They told me where the bus going to SD was leaving from (back at the shopping center).  I got there and it turned out that the last one had already left.  ¨Sale a las 7, 11, y 3.¨  said the guy working the coffee stand.  I looked at the sign it was an MTS bus.  I guess it goes to El Cajon and then you take a trolley from there to SD.  ¨Sí. Te vi cuando pasaste y pensé ya no va alcanzar.¨  That was pretty thoughtful that he just figured I needed to take a bus and was worried about me.
´I guess Ill just hang out on that side until 7 or 8 and then catch a bus back to Tijuana´ I thought as I walked the couple blocks back to the border xing where there were two customs agents and bp agent standing with a drug dog at the entrance to Mexico.
¨Why are you going to Mexico?¨
¨What´s your citizenship?¨
¨What do you have in your bag?¨
¨Do you have any illegal narcotics?¨
¨Where do you live?¨
I answered all their questions fully while wondering why I was being asked them.  There were more I can´t remember.
¨Do you use illegal narcotics?¨
¨I don´t want to answer that question.¨
The young BP agent, the only male, and the one with the dog and a large tatoo of a dragaon on his arm stepped in my path and looked up at me and yelled ¨You better answer that question right now!¨
¨I dont want to.¨
¨Whats your citizenship?¨
¨I already told her.  Can I go now?¨
Getting even more angry, ¨You better answer the question right  now or Im taking somewhere else and we´re gonna have a conversation!¨  I didnt find the humor in it at the time cause i felt a bit intimidated, but now i realize how funny that would´ve sounded to a relaxed person.
¨Ok.  Lets go have a conversation.¨  I was relaxed enough to keep my calm and a little determined that I didnt need to answer that question.¨
The customs agent stepped in ¨We need to know because we have a narcotics dog and we need to know if you have any drugs on of any kind at all.¨
¨As I already mentioned, I dont have any drugs whatsover on me and I can guarantee you of that.¨
¨That´s all we were asking.¨  Said the green uniform as he edged slightly out of my path.
¨No its not.  Can I go now?¨´
¨Yes you may.¨

¨Uno viene de trabajar y le dan broncas a uno, verdad?¨  said a man who obviously had had similar experiences coming home after work.  I vented to him and told him how I wouldnt anwer all their questions.  He told me he worked in National City.
¨Wow como le haces para ir a tabajar todos dias?¨
He explained he has two cars and parks one on the us side cause ¨En carro duras horas pa cruzar pero a pie 10-15 min máximo.¨
I went to a couple Tel Cel places to see if anyone coudl fix the camera on my phone.  ¨No. Tendrías que dejarlo para el técnico.¨was the answer they all gave me, ¨¨... hasta mañana.¨¨ It got me out of the rain and some nice smiles, though.
Im now at a cyber cafe-computer repair store waiting for the guy that can work on macs.  Have another hour to boúnce around the town before the bus back to Tijuana.   I think I´ll get some dinner.