City of Car Alarms

If you like things quiet, you aren't going to last long in Tijuana, because this is a city of a lot of different noises.

Case in point: car alarms. Everyone's got 'em. And they're the kind that goes through all the different sounds. There are variations on a theme, too: some of the cars honk while going through the different sounds, some of the cars have the sounds at a higher or lower pitch, or do them in a different order. But they all essentially sound the same. How this helps stop car thieves, I don't know – it obviously didn't stop the guys who stole our truck a couple weeks ago (but that's subject matter for another post).

People are constantly setting these alarms off, too. An hour rarely goes by here where I don't hear at least one car alarm. But after almost four weeks of hearing them, I've pretty much been able to tune them out -- I guess it's like the train going by.

The Bane of my Existence

Someone once told me that it wasn't buggy down here. This person was a liar.

The fact is, there are mosquitos down here, and there are lots of them. They also happen to like biting me. I'll be amazed if I don't contract West Nile by the end of the summer.

I've gotten good at keeping them at bay, but they usually get in when I'm doing the laundry, and it takes a couple days to get rid of them all. Usually, just when I think I've purged them my apartment, one will fly past my face. I can practically hear it laughing.

Just seeing one of these little bastards makes me itch. I've gotten better at killing them, but occasionally I'll find one that's more elusive. I bring my hands together to smite it, clap as hard as I can, open them up, and lo, and behold -- they're empty. How that damned thing escaped, I have no idea.

Right now, there's one in here, but I can't find it, and I'm getting tired. And if I don't find it, I know this thing is gonna eat me alive during the night.

A-ha! Got it. Now I can rest, if the dogs don't howl all night. More on that later.

Back in Business

Here I am, spending a year in Tijuana, Mexico. It occurred to me tonight that I probably should be writing all this stuff down, since I'm never going to remember it all, and since people are probably wondering what I'm up to down here.

So this blog is now back in action.

I'm going to do my best to keep it updated -- really, this time. In the past, whenever I've tried to keep a blog, I've never seemed to have anything to write about. I'd sit down, stare at the text entry field, and think....OK, I got nothing here. But this time, seriously, I'm going give you something to read. You're about to get a taste of what life south of the border is really like.

Enjoy.