Another trip to Mexico

Saturday morning we decided to make a run to Mexico so I could get some of my medicines. Soon as we walked out of the parking lot, we go down this ramp and through a building walkway to the right, through a gate, into the Mexican side of Nogales.

As soon as we got to street level we saw all the taxi's lined up, both sides of the street, to take visitors wherever they would wish to go.

Drivers stood calling out, "Taxi, taxi, you need a taxi??" The wall on the right where the taxis are lined up, is the border between the states and Mexico.

 My brother was getting some stitches removed at the dentist office where he had had some work done recently. I like the intricate detailed street lights. The pace here is slow and people take time to sit or stand and chat. There are benches made from metal at various places along the streets.

I was delighted to see these "dancers" coming down the street. I had never known of this before.

They had goat-like hats on their heads with horns and droopy ears, and masks on their faces.

One carried a box for donations, one a drum, others with maracas...

They wore belts of shot-gun shells, made to add to the music as they did their dance,

And legging-like things made from soda cans into hundreds of little bells that tinkled in time to the music. Oh what fun this was to watch them as they imitated the goats and did a dance much as you would see in the movie "Dances With Wolves". That was the highlight of my day!! 

Here is a picture of some of their wares that I hadn't seen last time. Lots of neat metalwork.

When I saw this blanket I could not pass it up. This was just made for on my sofa at home in my den! It is made from Alpaca wool. More than I wanted to pay (even after bargaining him down to half)

but well worth it. It is beautiful and soft!

We finished off with getting a fantastic meal at a restaurant called "Lee's", recommended by a local person. It was beautiful inside, and the food was excellent!

Oh, yes.... I drove the RAV4 for the trip there and decided I like it VERY much!

 

Later this week, we leave for a camping trip to the Dragoon Mountains. It will be My brother's and s-i-l's first RV trip.  We are planning to have a great time!



Snow in Nogales, MX

We left my brother's Tucson home at 1 pm yesterday for his dentist appointment was at 5 pm in Nogales. This would give us a couple hours to walk around and see the wares the Mexican people had for sale. I took a couple mountain pictures on the way down,

It was overcast, chilly , and rainy.

Below is the border fence, the Mexican side of Nogales, and Mexican homes on the hillside in the background.

Some of the street vendors at the entry.

Blankets and jewery are prominent goods for sale, as well as

 little girl's frilly dresses, and sombreros, ladies purses, and colorful metal yard ornaments.

This youg Mexican boy posed for me in front of the display of bovine skulls.

Wouldn't one of those skulls look great on the front of my RV??? Haha!!

I'd rather take this child home with me, such a cutie!

Another street with "Farmacias", and a restaurant where we ate.

We were able to buy some REAL vanilla in quart bottles at a greatly reduced price!!Many vendors sold it, but my brother knew where to go for the best price!

A Mexican earns $$'s by taking pictures of tourists with his burro. I was glad to see the burro had the tarp covering because of the rain. He was being fed corn husks, and had a pail of water to drink. Well I didn't want my picture taken WITH the burro... just wanted a picture of him. I had to pay $2 to be allowed to take the picture!. Thats okay, because it would help buy feed for the burro :)

Contrary to what may be thought, not everyone in Mexico is poor, far from it. Here is a VERYexpensive car used for valet at a local motel. Neat car though...

We visited leather shops where  my brother was remembered by several shop-owners. They seemed glad to see him again, even though he did not make purchases at their shops this time.

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It was getting time to get back toward the dentist office. We went inside and was glad to be able to sit down in the warmth of the office. Shortly, my s-i-l noticed it had started to snow outside!

It came down quite heavy at times.

I had come to Arizona to escape the winter weather .... go figure!

But, really it made me chuckle...

Going into Mexico here did not seem unsafe at all to me. The vendors and shopkeepers we talked to were a light-hearted, happy people in spite of the weather and and somewhat harsh conditions. Some of them were set up in alley-ways with only tin for walls and roofs over them and their wares.

It was dark as we left to start home, and it snowed about half way back but didn't stick, except to the windshield. As we rode back, I thought of how US citizens could learn some very valuable lessons in life from these people, well at least I could.... Their easy-going contentedness spoke volumns to me. I was very glad for the opportunity to go there... I really liked visiting, and may go back before I leaving to head back east.