Interesting article from a New Mexico paper this week about crossing from Juarez to El Paso: www.daily-times.com/news/ci_5475812. It's part of a series they're doing about this area.

Indeed, those of us who invested $750+ in border speed passes (Dedicated Commuter Lane passes) find it easiest to ferry pass-less people into the U.S. by dropping them at a pedestrian bridge, crossing as normal via the vehicle speed lane, and then waiting for them at the U.S. end of the bridge. It's much faster for visitors to cross on foot than by car.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

The first brazen hit since we arrived happened this week. At a busy intersection in broad daylight, 4 young men in at least one car got multiple bullets in an apparent assassination attempt. The news that night said that 2 had survived and 2 had not.

Mexican t.v. coverage of the incident was great, as usual. Press are allowed in the middle of such crime scenes, even when the forensic investigation isn't finished. Or hasn't even started. They show all sorts of dead bodies in situ, even their faces.

Anyone with enough money can hire official Mexican police bodyguards for protection. As we don't go out much at night, (remember, drunk driving here isn't necessarily a crime if the driver can pay cash for whatever damages he/she might cause) I only saw my first bodyguard in action last week, too. Usually, you see them and their clients in the nicer restaurants at night. It is not recommended that you stay in or enter the restaurant if you spot them. This 2-man team was following close behind a fancy Cadillac SUV as it weaved fast through traffic, and dropped off when the SUV got to the border. The Cadillac ended up in front of me in the DCL line to enter the U.S.

It's not uncommon in El Paso to meet Hispanic Americans, even those with family in Mexico or Juarez, who are afraid to go to Juarez. U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly have prices on their heads, so they don't visit. But lots of regular folk confess when they hear I live in Juarez that they never cross the border. Frankly, I wouldn't either if I didn't live here.

Like in Tijuana, there are areas in Juarez that are more tourist-friendly than others. But even there I worry about pickpockets and/or damage to the car. (Remember our hubcaps?) We went downtown once, on a Saturday afternoon. That will do it for us. It was nothing but gridlocked traffic, loitering men, and a main square too tiny to be enjoyed.

Outside the downtown area, there are people who all day loiter or cruise businesses frequented by middle- and upper-class Juarenses. If you leave a bag or a briefcase on the seat of your car while running into a convenience store or dry cleaners' for a few minutes, even if you can still see your car through the plate-glass windows, it wouldn't be uncommon for your window to be smashed and your belongings gone.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

It was hard last week to relate to the snowstorms on the East Coast, as here we had record temps all week: 84, 85, 86+ degrees F. In a parking lot on Monday afternoon, the car's thermometer said it was 92 outside.

It seems normal to us, but apparently we are only supposed to have highs of 69 at this time of year. That's almost how warm it is in the morning.

It feels nice, though. We cool off the bedroom at night with a little air conditioning, but the near-constant breezes make us feel as though we're on the coast of Florida. And as the 15-foot wall on the south side of our house is about one foot thick, we've always got cool shade to sit in during the day.

In other news: our tap water was dirtier for about a month, perhaps due to this being the windy season. Glasses had milky streaks on them after drying. But maybe it was due to no crowds of visitors visiting. Apparently, when there are regional or international festivals, the city dumps extra chlorine in the tap water to make it safer for out-of-towners to drink. Yuck...

We use three kinds of water at home: we wash the dishes and brush our teeth with what comes out of the tap; (so far no illness) we cook and wash food with water from an under-sink filter; and I wrestle home from the grocery store 5-gallon jugs of water for drinking and coffee. The brand of the bottled water, though hecho en Mexico, is "Alaska."

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

Time to turn on the air conditioning already? Yes. I started sweating this morning while drinking my coffee downstairs -- the cooler part of the house. I had to put my hair up in a ponytail to cool off.

Last week, the nighttime temps were in the 30s. (F) This week, they're in the 40s. During the day, however, it reaches the upper 70s in the afternoon, which feels like the upper 80s if you're in the sun or in your car. The temperature can climb 30 degrees in a day because the humidity is so low -- 15 to 25% most of the time.

Why the architect made the master bedroom the hottest one in this house and not the guest bedroom, I'll never know...

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

So we had the air conditioning repair guys come to check out a rattling noise in the system that keeps us awake at night. We assumed that a fan belt in the a/c unit was rubbing against something metal, but the reason was much easier to see: upon removing all the upstairs vents, the workers found that whoever installed the system had left behind an empty Tecate beer can -- inside an air duct... Maybe the fact that they were drinking on the job explains why the house is 10 degrees hotter upstairs than down...

Now that the a/c is fixed, the temperatures have dropped again. It was in the 40s last night, and is still cold in the shade now though it is almost noon.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

Dust Storm -- Part Deux

We had a dust storm with stronger winds last week. This time, a little bit of dust came in around the windows, and I taped up the laundry room door shown in the last picture. The above picture is from the first dust storm of the season. That's how much dust was still piled up on the back of the car four days later. Our garage, though covered, only has two walls.

Here is a good article from the "Tallahassee Democrat" newspaper about drug-running on the Juarez/El Paso border, entitled: "Mexico, Part I: Border issues are not terrorism and immigration." (www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301/OPINION05/703010350/1006/OPINION)

U.S. Border Patrol cars on duty in certain sectors have to be parked behind plexiglass "windows," to protect agents from rock throwers on the Juarez side of the border.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/