The Journals from the Road
November 14: Burrito Stands, Toll Roads, and Mini-salesmen - Rosarito, BC
This was the first full day in Mexico and what a rich and full day it was.
I left the Caravan Ministries dorm before 8:00 am. The youth group was
packing up to go back home after a few days of house building, and a great game
of pictionary.
Thank-you to all of you for your encouragement and prayers!
I followed Gary's most excellent map and found my way flawlessly to Insurgente
Blvd. At that point I thought that I should change my travelers checks to
pesos. Little did I know that none of the "casas de cambio" would
accept travelers checks. I thought that Costco, Tijuana might but I didn't
pack my Costco card. I did, however, get directions to the center of Tijuana
where the clerk at Costco thought there would be some banks open, since it was
Sunday.
In El Plazario I found an ATM and decided to get the needed pesos that way.
Then I started following signs to Ensenada. Many people kept telling me
how beautiful the toll highway was so I finally decided to use that as my road
to Ensenada.
When I approached the toll road, having biked about 20 miles across Tijuana and
toward the coast, I saw a picture of a biker with a slash through it.
Hoping this was a less enforced rule I thought I would just pay the toll and go
on. The toll gaurd soon waved me aside and then started yelling
"security". A guy with a walkie-talkie came out and explained to
me that I must go back as his radio squalked "gringo... bicicleta..."
Another fellow came out and helped bridge our slight language gap and assured me
that there was no other way for me to go other than back to Tijuana. I
chalked it up to experience and turned around and started heading back. By
this time it was 1:00 pm and so I only had a few hours to get out of town.
After that I found the FREEway (emphasis mine). I kept asking for
reassurance that I was going the right was and we finally got me to Rosarito.
In Rosarito, I met a little fellow named Juan. He was five years old and
reminded me a lot of my cousin Mark. Constantly smiling, he told me why I
needed my water bottles, asked me a few questions, and even tried to sell me
some 'Rugrats' necklaces. Although I passed up his offer we shook hands
and left as buddies.
Today's special at the Tijuana Road Kill Cafe was hotdog and I am talking about
the ones with hair still on them. With the multitude of transient mongrels
in this town a good portion end up being 'perro pancakes'. In the voice of
the genie from Aladin, "It's not a pretty picture!"
At Rosarito I stopped at a well-patroned taco stand and spoke with Mario, and
Jose. I told him about my school visits and he gave me directions to a
nearby school that his daughter attends. We'll see how well I can tell my
stories in Spanish. The first ones might resemble charades more than a
guest-speaker.
After that we witnessed a nearby store being broken into. Actually we only
heard glass breaking and saw a kid speed off on a bike no less. His
application as a peacebiker may need to be rejected. Nothing like a little
safety encouragement, right?
Well, I found a great little hotel to stay at and because I wanted a ground
floor room I got three beds. Not bad, eh?
A heavenly shower and some personal time with my TM-20 email machine and I am
ready to do a little exploration in Rosarito.
Con mucho amor,
TAD
An 'edu-venture' around the world for peace.
"We seek to connect young people around the world to each other so that
their friendships build a peaceful world for us all.
-Tad Beckwith
Two house builders visiting Tijuana!
The Backstreet Builder Boys!
Those drivers in Mexico are crazy!