Tijuana is never quiet. The city’s soundtrack of bustling traffic and barking dogs syncopates with the surrounding beats of banda and hip hop. Bright blue, green and orange homes punctuate a sea of gray cinder block.
But beneath it’s sun-dried skin, boys like Benjamin step into adolescence. Not ready to venture out into the world alone, but old enough to want it. A quiet and restless awakening.
Music: Perfidia (instrumental) by Café Tacuba
Second to family, the best part of Tijuana is the food. My mother-in-law is always cooking, always serving. Always. Seriously, she doesn’t stop. From the moment someone walks in the door, some sort of food already warm on the stove will be placed in front of them whether they’re hungry or not. It’s a beautiful thing. Lucky for me, the food is quite good :) She’s famous for the after-dinner line “Hago unos hotcakes? Should I make some pancakes?”
I’ve played the piano and guitar most of my life. I’ve improvised an endless number of riffs that never materialize into songs. I’m going to try and start recording and posting them online with a flexible copyright, hoping that the creative geniuses out there will make something out of it.
It’s impossible to point a camera in any direction in Tijuana and not find something interesting. It’s a cultural war zone, the mezzanine between two worlds. But in the middle of this political purgatory, there are people. And my Saturday routine is about family.
The song used in the video (On Our Own by September Malevolence) is available as a free download on Last.fm.
Here’s a video of my nephews hunting for shells on their first trip to San Felipe, México. We drove down Thanksgiving weekend.
In honor of a new year, I’m going to try and commit to producing more for this site. The bar has been set pretty low with monthly updates for the past year or so. Hopefully I can find the time to do what I’m hoping to do. Ok, here goes:
This is a video of me making a torta. There are plenty of ways to make tortas and this is one option if you’re hungry. All the ingredients were purchased at a Mexican market called Pancho Villa Farmer’s Market here in San Diego.