In answer to that, we took a trip to Calexico because Luis has been itching for some time now to show the Perkins his hometown.
We left around 10 in the morning after dropping Butters off at their place. Since we didn't have any breakfast, we stopped by Los Compadres near El Cajon for some of their delicious pollo asado tacos.
Our first stop was at Luis' house to visit his aunt. Then we walked around downtown Calexico to peek in all the little shops with trinkets, baubles and other shiny objects. The boys found 99 cent airsoft handguns in an electronics shop while Lauren and I visited an accessories store. I then found some lucky bamboo (to replace the ones that I killed) at a big, general all-purpose store.
Off to Mexico. After walking through the two clanging rotating doors, we came up two stop lights and a new sign with the table on the left side. I tried to make out what the sign said, but to no avail. Luis told me to just keep walking. He explained later that the men sitting behind the table were actually Mexican border agents checking bags coming into Mexico. They seemed nowhere as stringent as their American counterparts.
After crossing, we immediately hit up the taco stands and ordered sixteen tacos among us. I love Mexican tacos because they are so simple and fresh. They give you the tortilla with meat and we decide what to put in them, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, lime juice, etc. We payed 200 pesos (a bit less than $20) for the tacos and four drinks.
We continued our strolling along with streets just taking in the sights. Being Easter Sunday, quite a few shops were closed. It seems like whenever I'm in Mexicali, there has never been a time when the majority of the stores were open. However, little vendor carts still lined the sidewalk.
L and I next got some corn in a cup. I couldn't finish mine because of all the tacos. They didn't seem to be the best anyway. Right next to the corn vendor (who also sold cut cacti, fried pork rinds, potato chips, and drinks) was a man who sold freshly made churros and pineapple drinks (along with other flavors, but pineapple caught our eyes). We promised ourselves to come back to taste the two.
Further walking did not lead to novel discoveries, so we decided to start back. Lauren got the pineapple drink and a bag of churros. The man took the freshly fried dough, put them in a paper bag, spooned some of the cinnamon sugar mixture and carefully shook the bag. He then ladled the pineapple juice with the correct proportions of ice, juice and pineapple chunks into a big cup. The churros were sweet, warm and crunchy, with no dryness whatsoever. The juice was incredibly refreshing, not too sweet but tasted of genuine pineapple.
Luis also bought a mango ($1.50), skinned, cut into flower shape, and stuck on a stick. It was so sweet. I loved it. Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish it because on the way back across, the Dept. of Agriculture guy told Luis, who was holding it, that he must throw it away. Immediately. He didn't even get the chance to eat it!
Anyway, on our way back across the border, Luis found an old-fashioned raspado (shaved ice) cart. They had a 1 to 1 1/2 ft by 3 ft block of ice under two layers of cloth. The guy uncovered it and used a metal instrument to manually shave the ice (think planing wood). The ice is held in the metal container until he puts the ice bits into a cup. He then pours whatever flavor you choose on it. Though the texture of the ice is not as soft and flaky as the one on Oahu, I still liked it because it was like eating flavored ice chips. Totally refreshing on a hot day.
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