Mexico Travelogue - Days 1 and 2

Bright and early Tuesday morning we checked in at the airport (6:00 a.m. ). Ready or not…now or never…off for Mexico!

Ear Planes – screw-in earplugs – saved me on both flights.  They’re a lot rougher-and-tougher than they appear, and effectively protected my ears from pressure issues.  Hooray!

 

The Ear Planes had a side effect, however: stone deafness.  This hindered conversation with our cute new friend named Julia, a delightful college-aged seatmate on her way from Minneapolis to San Diego for spring break. Fritz and Julia jabbered back-and-forth quite a bit; he and I also enjoyed our own written form of chit-chat on a pad of paper.  He wrote up reports of the pilot’s announcements about turbulence (we had about an hour of jerky bumps and tremors), and I chided him about winning three games of tic-tack-toe!

We arrived in sunny San Diego well ahead of schedule and said our fond farewells to Julia, then hit a couple of grocery stores to stock up before heading south.  The entry to Mexico was uneventful - no one asked to see our IDs, although I'd told it's different when going the other direction (Mexico to the US)! We met Cosmo (new dog), unpacked our bags, and climbed into bed at 3:30 a.m. our time (midnight Mexico time). 

Which brings us to Day 2, the first full day at our son's (Fritz jr.) modest but comfortable home as staffer at an orphanage near Tijuana, Mexico. Here's his duplex on the right - he lives in the left half.  

The day began with a guided tour of the 16-acre property, affectionately called “the ranch.”  We walked the perimeter to get a feel for the place, accompanied by Cosmo who asked for his block of wood to be thrown repeatedly.  The ocean lay just three miles beyond the tall block security fence beneath a stark blue sky.  Typically the landscape is brown, but rains just before our arrival had inspired lush green and flowers. Only occasional clucking chickens and barking dogs interrupted the peaceful quiet.

We stopped at the orphanage kitchen (so small considering the volume of work done there) where I was eager to converse with two very bright-eyed and hospitable Spanish speaking cooks - but I don’ know a word of Spanish, so had to rely on Fritz jr. for translation.  For perhaps the first time in my life I realized how I’ve taken common spoken language for granted - how blessed I am to be able to interact directly with others.

Late in the afternoon we took off for the ocean beach and witnessed the sunset as it disappeared behind an island seven miles off shore.  

On the way home we stopped at a small meat market where a friendly butcher offered us a generous sample of his own freshly seasoned ground meat - it appears flecked with hot spices (no surprise) but our tastebuds will tell us for sure at dinnertime! A few minutes later we stopped again as our headlights peered into an enormous tumbleweed in the middle of the road.   

Then home to a late dinner, warm shower, and brainstorming about the many things we could do for the rest of our stay.  This morning begins Day 3 as our Mexico adventure continues.  Stay tuned for more updates!