The Border 101

This was a busy week – 4 days were spent touring around El Paso and Juarez to help us understand border issues. We:

  • Took an after-hours tour with Border Patrol
  • Visited a mid-wife clinic in El Paso
  • Took a Juarez neighborhood tour
  • Toured an immigration detention center
  • Toured all aspects of two bridges, including the inspection of tractor-trailer rigs
  • Toured two factories: one that makes Lego toys and the other that makes the padded fabric for car seats
  • Toured the Mexican passport agency and their Civil Registry

Socially, it was a busy week, too. John was still not feeling well last Sunday, but we carried on with a small dinner party for our friend Martha, who left Juarez on Monday. I also dropped by a welcome lunch for two new arrivals, Marwa and Al, who we knew at FSI.

Tuesday we had a farewell dinner with our friends Vivek and Bovni, who are heading to India – they took us to a good Middle Eastern restaurant, Al Zaituna – small, but good food and great fresh pita bread.

Friday we attended a fun going-away party for our section chief Jeff, who is going to Iraq for a year. It was at the home of a local staff employee, Martha – those girls danced all night, while the rest of us ate great tacos and visited.

Yesterday, John and I explored Las Cruces, NM, a bit – we enjoyed their farmers’ market (John found some local honey) and we had a good lunch at a little Mexican diner, Delicias Cafe. We drove through old Mesilla but passed on the shops there. We’ve spent the rest of the weekend getting things organized at home – we received our small, second shipment this week (kitchen table, etc.). Oh, and we watched Juno last night – very good.

Thanks so much for all of the kind notes about Noodle. We still can’t believe he is gone.

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