Calexico - SoCal

As we looked back on the glam of L.A., we made the journey back to Uncle Matt and Aunt Linda's in El Centro, CA, which is about 2 hours east of San Diego. El Centro is a city about 10 minutes from the border of Mexico, so one evening, we drove on down. We came to the city of Calexico, on the California side of the border. I soon found out that the city on the Mexico side is called Mexicali. Get it? Anyway, this was a real eye opener for me. As we were driving, I could sense that we were nearing the Mexico border. Everything turned dark, the roads were all dirt, and all the advertisements and store-fronts were written in Spanish. It was an eerie feeling. Being we were there at night, we had to be very cautious of the border patrol, so we barely had time to get out of the car for a picture. Matt and Linda then started telling us stories of the illegal immigrants who try to sneak over to the U.S. in search for jobs.

These illegal immigrants would travel by night to try and get into the country. On the border where we were, there was a huge mountain that the illegals would try to cross as to bypass the border patrol. Matt and Linda said the best way to spot if an illegal crossed the border is by their shoes. Most of their shoes would be worn from climbing over the mountain and walking through the rough terrain. Illegals who set out at the fall of darkness would barely make it into the U.S. by morning without being caught because the mountain is a lenghty one to get around. By morning, these people would be captured and then taken by bus to into Mexico again. We actually saw some illegals sitting beside a building, waiting to go back into Mexico, as they had just been captured. Matt and Linda also told stories of how some illegals had drown in the Rio Grande, trying to swim under water in attempts of not being seen by the border patrol, but they would be swept away by the strong current.

This experience was such a reality check for me. Here I am, sitting in the mid-west with seemingly nothing to worry about, and down around the U.S. border, people's lives are in danger. I guess it's just a way of life for them. Going to the border helped me understand Southern California's culture a lot better!

Tips on Calexico:
-I wouldn't suggest any tourist go all the way to the border, especially not at night. If you don't know where you are going, it can result in serious danger. There are too many illegal immigrants looking for any way to get in, and if you are in the wrong place, bad things can happen. Not to mention you can easily get in major trouble with border patrol.