Day 1 in Mexico

After driving four days through the United States, I reached Tucson and was a little preoccupied about crossing the Mexican border.   I stayed on another day in the U.S. because I felt I needed a rest and to prepare more; get papers photocopied, go through my van,etc. 

The drive to the border was an hour from Tucson and the desert was stunning.  Huge Suaritas  (those typical cliche looking Arizona cacti) rose up from the flat desert as well as other really cool bushes with amazing protrusions; it was hard to keep my eyes on the road.  It was so cool to have driven through the Sonoran desert, and also to have touched on the Mojave desert and probably lots of other geographical interest points I haven't learned about yet.  The geography was really and truly stunning.

And on the way to Mexico it was also very pretty.  I crossed the border without ceremony. There was another sort of pass through with people and shovels and trucks and I just drove through it, too.  Then the highway took me to a toll booth where I paid $3.00 for something. Then a parking lot came up, for people who needed auto import permits.  This was the immigration part of "the border" but there were no signs and nothing looming or official like I'm used to in Canada.  In Canada or the US, you can't miss the border, which is of course, the whole point.

I jumped through the hoops necessary and an hour later, I was back in the car with my proper papers, import sticker, and the phone number from the man from the government bank "Bancomer" who is the  "line-up helper" informing people about what they needed and making them feel better for having to wait so long.  I didn't ask for his number, but he gave it to me anyway, just in case I wanted to go out with him when I came back through the border.  ha.  There is something just so Mexican about that.  And of course, I graciously took the paper with his number on it and wished him a good day.

The interesting thing about this moment in Mexico, with the people and the line-ups, was this fragrance in the air that completely took me back to the last time I was in Mexico.  I hadn't even known I had missed it until I smelled it again, and I still don't even know exactly what it is.  I think it's the hair pomade the men use.  It is just so so lovely and it floats about the air subtly whenever there is a group of people.  Very typical and a little thing that made me smile as I was standing there taking it all in.

I got in my van and wound my way towards the now official border crossing where you either get a red or a green light and I didn't see anybody.  I noticed my light was green and said "'pase" so I did, but it was like everybody was on a coffee break.  There wasn't even anyone with which to avoid eye contact!  Nobody looked at me or my dog.  So, off I went and kept on going, never to be stopped, until I reached the next state of Sinoloya, where a man checked my car import paper, looked at my drivers license, told me I was beautiful ("Que guapa!") and bid me adios.