So, when the name Tijuana comes up in a conversation, what
are the first things that pop into your mind?
The place you went to as a kid for a quick day-vacation with your
family, you know, before 9-11 changed everything? A college party town where shopping is cheap? The place with a 5 hour wait in a line to get
back into the States? A place filled with Mexicans trying to illegally cross
the border? A place that has more
violence, drugs, and problems than is necessary? A place to avoid at all times?
When I first arrived in Tijuana, I had no idea what to
expect. I had been told that Tijuana was
one of those really dangerous border cities that you should avoid if you
can. Nothing good comes out of Tijuana, I
was told. Well, I just want to clear
that up. I loved the short time I was in
Tijuana because it surprised me.
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| The line to US customs |
Relatively speaking, Tijuana is one of the safer border
towns due to the increase of border patrol and checks. The population of Tijuana is roughly 1.3
million people, but that number is constantly in flux as the mobile population
(those coming and going) numbers close to 300,000 people daily. In addition to that,
between 600 and 700 people are deported into Tijuana from the US every day! The city is full of art and history museums, coffee
shops, maquiladores, universities,
churches. And there’s a beach! Although the wall going off 200 feet into the
water kind of takes away from the scenic moment…
As I sat sipping a latte with friends who are choosing to
live and serve in Tijuana, I looked out across the waters to the shiny lights
of San Diego and it hit me of how divisive we’ve become. We’ve let borders become solid barriers
between us, not just national lines debated and drawn up by the
powers-at-be. And in this case, there is
literally a wall that separates us. It felt in that moment like a zoo, keeping
the different species apart in their own habitats. The rub is: we’re not different species.
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| "Here dreams become nightmares" |
A friend, Alejandra, took Rachel and me to the wall to see
it. There’s a park where people can go
right up to a section of the wall (there are other walls behind it so they’re
no worried about it I guess). On this
section of the wall, artists have come and painted murals, messages, and
graffiti all along it. Periodically
someone will come and repaint over them, and so each of these messages holds a
potency and life about them, as if they can’t wait to shout out before their
voices are painted silent. The message
this time hit me hard—on each panel there was a picture and history of other
walls in the world: the Berlin Wall, the Korean Wall dividing North and South, the
Israeli West Bank Barrier (also known as the apartheid wall), and others. And this is hung on the 700 mile long US-Mexico
Border Wall—far longer than any of the others mentioned above!
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| The Wall |
Along this same wall there is a section that is not cement
but metal barred so that you can see the other side. In this spot, every Sunday morning there is a
church service for those of both sides to come together and worship. Family and friends can come face to face and
praise their Lord side by side, the wall separating bodies but not faith. How sad and beautiful!
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| Rachel's family came with us to walk across the border |
For a more in-depth look at the Border, check out this really cool photo project:
The next day we spent 5 hours standing in line to cross the
border. One moment I was in Mexico, the
next I was in San Diego. And let me tell
you, it was strange that sudden adjustment. It was as if I had teleported
there. Paved streets, signs in English, American
restaurants and cars and people everywhere.
Well, looks like my re-entry had just begun full steam ahead.
Stay tuned!
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