Back to Mexico

Monday, March 9

Al and Yvonne spend three months here in Southern Texas and are familiar with all the places to visit and they will take us around. They pick us up at 10 am and we drive to Progresso, a border town.
We park in a giant parking lot and join the thousands of people on foot across the border. There we are greeted by Mexicans who all speak at least a little bit of English, depending on the goods or services they are promoting.
Dental clinics are lined along the street, offering services at a fraction of what we pay at home. Ramiro would like to have a cavity filled, but does not want to wait. Next time maybe.
The next most popular stores are the pharmacies, offering items not available without a prescription at home. We walk along the long street and enter some of the shops. We can buy anything we want, pottery, leather good, jewellery, liquor, sweets, you name it. The prices are half of what they are 5 miles north, but still double of what we paid in south central Mexico.
Yvonne tells me of the places where you can get your hair cut, and while Ramiro and Al browse around and buy Margueritas at a price of 2 for $1.00. Yvonne and I walk to the beauty salon. There are many customers and we need to wait 15 minutes before it is our turn. We talk to some ladies who have their feet soaking in a nice tub with warm water, waiting for their pedicure. They are from the Calgary area. Other, Spanish speaking ladies, live in Texas and come here every two weeks or so to get their nails, feet or hair done. Pedicure $8.00 versus $35.00 at home. Haircut $4.00 versus $40.00 at home. (That is if you don’t need a shampoo).
Yvonne likes to have a more layered look and counts on me to explain to the hairdresser what she wants. Meanwhile I treat my feet to a pedicure. It’s taking much longer than we anticipated and the guys are getting inpatient. Two and a half hours later, We both walk out with a new haircut and pedicured toes.

It’s quite a scene here on the street. Mexicans begging for money; Tourist spending money. It is very busy. Most of the Snow Birds are leaving this month and like to take advantage of the lower prices before they return. It puzzles me, why the prices at home need to be so much higher, while we get the same type of service.
I agree, much of the money goes to the government. Our buildings are either heated or airconditioned, and all these extra frills that cost money and we could do without.

On the way back across we buy some jewelery and Al and Yvonne stock up on Tequila.
We try to get rid of our tourist card and are told that we never paid for it. First we have to pay. But where? No one can give us the correct information so we walk back with our tourist cards. Hoping that we will be able to return into Mexico one day.
At US customs we show our passport and after walking through, Al is picked out to pay duty on his bottles. Save some money one place and lose it again on the other side.
We still treat ourselves to a small banana split, offered at $2.00 for two. In Texas, they do know how to tease you with low prices and ensure you’ll be back.
The next stop is a vegetable farm where we buy oranges and grapefruit by the bag. Again not as cheap as back in Mexico but quite a bit less than in Alberta.
At Wallmart we buy the rest of our groceries and return home so tired, that we go straight to bed after checking our e-mails.