Tuesday, June 17, 2008

"The City that Captured the Sun"

Also known as Mexicali....

Sorry for not posting in a while, but I had final exams and I am finally back in the San Francisco Bay Area

Before I moved out of Irvine and came back to SF, I took a pit stop in Mexicali, Baja California Mexico.So, we are very very lucky to be living in the United States. In a country in which we can trust our government. Although Mexico has a functioning government, the feeling of anarchy is ever lingering in the atmosphere. The feeling of hopelessness when a crime is committed is prominent, the police cannot be trusted. It is no wonder the family ties or values are very strong, they are the only ones they have. I also got a first hand experience on border patrol and the problems plaguing the border.

On the U.S. side, there were many border patrol officer. I believe racial profiling is a prominent unseen problems. They are not openly racist but I felt that crossing the border would have been a lot easier if my skin was white, my hair was blond and my eyes were blue.

Here are some photos I took of my home country. Click on photos for larger image. I will provide a short explanation of the photos:

Vicente Gurrero: A Mexican War Hero during the Independence Movement.

The PRI building in Mexicali. The PRI is the conservative party in Mexico that ruled authoritatively for over 60 years.

La Rumorosa. Miles of mountains covered by rock. Mexicali is below see level, yet the mountains next to Mexicali are sometimes snow capped. The heat however, was still unbearable. 115 degree heat in Mexicali. 105 in the mountains.


On the U.S. side the border patrol stopped me twice to check if I was a citizen. In Mexico, we were stopped once by the Mexican Military (photo above). They were checking for drugs and drug trafficking. I was told not to take photos but I took one anyway. I could have gone to jail (haha such a rebel)

I will write more later. And show more photos. I will get my girlfriend to post on my blog. She will write about how she was detained by the border patrol even though she is an American born citizen.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gotta love the Bay Area weather!