Razor wire prison fencing lines the path as you walk over the Santa Fe bridge from El Paso, Texas into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Walking provides you with much faster transit time across the border check points and also leaves you with the sobering view that is missing when entering countries via air transit. As a US citizen entering Mexico, one is struck by the lax security on the way into Ciudad Juarez although a constant police presence is seen and appreciated throughout the city.
Walking down the main street, there are beautiful gates that greet everyone, “Bienvenido a Ciuadad Juarez,” restaurants, regular businesses (i.e. dentists and optical centers), and tourist gift shops where shop owners urge you to buy their wares. We tried to take a shortcut towards the market area in front of the cathedral and veered back onto the main road within a block.
During this time of year, most of the tourists in Ciudad Juarez are Mexican. We were waiting in line to take our picture when we ourselves became a tourist attraction. One woman asked if her daughter could take a picture with the girls because they were so excited to see “Ingles” speaking visitors.
As with most Mexican cities, the zocolo is the square around the church and is the heart of the city. It is a festive place dotted by crowds watching street performers. While we were there, we saw musicians, a Michael Jackson impersonator, dancers, and statue performers. Our kids took some fun pictures with a statue performer dressed as a solider of Los dorados (The Golden Ones), who had painted himself in gold.
While we frequented the touristy shops, most of the market area is an indoor-outdoor shopping bazaar, complete with name brand clothing and accessories. As you walk through the market, there are hair and nail booths, covered by plastic sheets to contain the chemical smells. The kids were amazed that a haircut was the equivalent of a quarter which sparked a nice global-political conversation later that night. Our small RV storage was more motivating that the tempting low prices, so we refrained from stocking up on items here. We did enjoy walking through a traditional candy store (that was the literal translation) and everyone chose a special treat to take home. Riley chose a candy that had a light layer of chocolate covering marshmallow and strawberry cream. Kaeli regretted her choice that looked like red candy spaghetti with a dipping sauce. She reported the long, thin candy ropes were spicy and the dipping sauce was gross. I bought some chewy candy that resembled Now and Laters. Stuck in translation, it took us a bit to identify the candied sweet potatoes on a stick. They looked almost like a reddish meat on a stick and we decided to pass on these.
As you wind your way through the streets, food vendors are everywhere carrying local favorites. They move frequently in an attempt to meet more customers and it feels like a well choreographed movement, different aromas wafting towards each intersection. You could buy an item, turn away to take a bite and realize the food vendor had vanished into the crowd to find a new position in the bustling city.
While we are traveling with less food allergies these days, it is still a daunting task to eat food in a country where you do not speak their language natively. Google translate is a fast friend, but doesn’t help with catching words from rapid conversational speech. Despite these challenges, we navigated the food trucks well and enjoyed sampling a splattering of local cuisine. First, there was a delicious cup of fresh mangos with lime juice squeezed over top. There were also choices to top the mangos with different chili sauces or salt (which I think would have been tasty, too). Then, we enjoyed a bag of hot pumpkin seeds as we winded in and out of shops along the main thoroughways. For lunch, we watched the chef warm fresh tortillas over the griddle while he cooked the steak for the most delectable tacos and burritos. We were handed a bag of onions, parsley and lime and another bag of sauce. In an attempt for an authentic experience, I dipped my burrito in the sauce and immediately my entire mouth and throat felt like it was on fire. I gulped down water to no avail, feeling as though several layers of my insides had peeled off from the heat. Kaeli, our reigning hot sauce champ (she got a sticker at the Maryland Christmas Show about five years ago for trying ghost pepper hot sauce), ever so slightly dipped the end of her finger in the sauce to taste it and complained loudly that it was way too hot. I had a rolling burn for most of the afternoon. We were unimpressed by the Mexican street corn (buttered or butter and parmesan) we tried, but feel it could have been an amazing treat for our tastebuds had the corn been in season and sweeter. The kids enjoyed candy apples that looked like giant, glass lolliops. As the day heated up, I quenched my thirst with some fresh squeezed lemonade and the kids enjoyed Agua de Fresca, a drink made with fruit juice and cream. As we were making our way back towards the border, we found a street vendor with two buckets, one with chicken wings and the other containing fried crickets. Chapulines, typically fried grasshoppers, are seasoned and served with hot sauce. After the experience with our tacos, Kaeli skipped the hot sauce. She found the crickets to be delectable, but I will freely admit that she’s eaten many bugs over the years. Riley tried two crickets and found them to be a bit spicy. I decided that you only live once and let the kids talk me into trying one cricket. While the overall flavor was fine and the crunch was slightly satisfying, there was a gritty insect texture that I found disgusting. The fact that a leg got stuck between my teeth was the icing on the cake for me.
Riley purchased a large, blue Sombrero which she has continued to wear in the coming days. The customs officials found her Sombrero charming and she’s definitely garnished some special notice at our next destination. Kaeli’s special souvenir was a beautiful, beaded hummingbird. We dragged our tired feet across the bridge and marveled in our fun day.
