Not long ago, 3 wonderful peeps and myself experienced this and believe me, it’s a funky feeling…As we rolled through what we now are forced to assume was the border, a simple wave from patrol was the procedure for entering a completely different country. By this time the road signs have switched to Spanish, and the distance changed from miles to kilometers. But there was no passport check, no stop, and to my recollection no sign saying "You have entered Mexico" or even "You have left the United States" in English OR Spanish. There was, however, a weird moment of silence in our car as the 4 of us naïve souls all thought in our heads "What just happened?" finally one of us mentioned this aloud and we were all comforted by the others’ confusion, we were not alone.
So we drove on assuming that soon we would be stopped and checked and searched and questioned, and everything else we were expecting. Nope. Nothing. Or NADA I should say as we really had made it into Mexico, and it was time to step it up on the Spanish. Good thing for us we had quite a translator. We cruised right on thru that little border town, straight for: la playa, las margaritas, la comida deliciosa, y divertido…
Heading back into the US was a different story, I should add. Filled with waiting in a long line, and many offers to purchase souvenirs from determined local sales personnel walking repeatedly up and down through the cars. Anything at your fingertips from sno-cones, to burritos, to mariachi guitars, to lots of turtles and frogs to decorate your garden. And yes, this time there was a passport check, a question of our reasons for travel, and a little recognition that a border was actually crossed. Only thing no one ever noticed was our attempt at responsibility, with our purchase of stupid Mexican insurance that became a fast waste of money, easily down the drain. Oh well, now we know for next time.
I can surely say that all in all it was a good trip, or more respectively, UN BUEN VIAJE…
