Cuidad Juárez and El Paso, January, 2001

Jan. 11, 2001 - I’m in El Paso before ten and check in at the Gardner, then make a city bus run up Mesa to Bourjalais for bottles of Bushmills 16 year single malt. I had wanted to score some unsalted pistachios, but alas they were out.

I wandered down the street and popped into the Cincinnati Club for some tequila sampling. Boy I found a tasty blanco in Tequila Nacional, but it went for close to forty bucks at Western Beverages down the street so I passed on a purchase.

I walked back downtown, put my whiskey aside and made a run for the border for more warfarin for Walter.

On the Santa Fe bridge crossing over the concrete ditch that constituted the Rio Grande I spied a half-dozen mojados split into two groups making their own run for the border. Over the barbed wire and through the ditch to Grandmother’s house we go…

I found warfarin at a couple of farmacias, but was compelled to check out the liquor store, and lo, I found Tequila Nacional for $21.50. I could not pass it up, it was so tasty, I think it may be more satisfying than my tequilas back at home. Guess I’ll just have to do a taste test.
So I mosey back over the bridge, passing through customs without a hitch. I’m gonna go back tomorrow and score a bottle of cephalexin. On the way back home I spied a candy store on Stanton and dug in. I’m gonna rot your children’s teeth when I get back home and that’s no idle threat.

I scored a green chile and meatball pizza from Luigi's on Mills. It was fabulous and made a fine meal while slothing in front of the idiot box back at the hotel.

Jan. 12 - I decided to bypass the trolley ride and instead made an early morning walk of Juárez. It was barely 8 o'clock when I crossed over on the Stanton Bridge, a few blocks down from my usual crossing spot. I was able to find a street I remembered from a map and walked south until I hit the main east-west drag, Ave. de Septembre.

From there I headed west taking in the streetscape. I stumbled across the old marketplace and wandered about there as the shops were just starting to open up. Food vendors were already plying their comestibles, and news vendors were hawking papers, but most of the other shops were still closed.
I got disoriented for awhile but eventually got my bearings and found my way to Avenida Juárez, the main drag leading up to the Santa Fe Bridge.

I set upon finding the farmacias I had hit the day before to acquire more Keflex for Walter. The amounts were smaller and the prices had doubled from what I had bought in Palomas, but I did find one place with the amount and price I was looking for.

I thought about hitting a bar at this point but it was still before ten and were not open yet, plus I needed to take and leave some water so I crossed back to El Paso.

I was walking up Santa Fe when I spied a trolley. Trolleys ply up and down from the bridge crossing to the plaza downtown where they connect with other routes. Trolleys charge only 25 cents, whereas the bus routes charge $1.00. I slipped aboard and rode the rest of the way up. I noticed on the trolley schedule that it continued on up to UTEP, the University of Texas-El Paso. I had been up in that area the day before and spied a coffee shop called Dolce Vita. I figured a cup of joe would do me good so I exploited the cheap ride up the hill.

I quaffed a double cappuccino and a bottle of water and sank back into a sofa and just zoned out. It was good to get off my feet and know I did not have a schedule to maintain.

Once sated, I rode the trolley back downtown, took a pit stop at the hotel, then over to Luigi's for lunch buffet. The food was good and I broke the cardinal rule of buffets and went back for a second plate. Stuffed, I lumbered back to the hotel for some down time before I considered anything else.

That afternoon I took a walk eastward along Texas Ave. to see what there was to see, which wasn't much. It was not unlike walking Second Ave. in Des Moines north of University, a sleepy semi-industrial sprawl. I grew weary of my trek and made my way back to the sun setting behind the downtown skyline.

I pulled into a bar called Osky's not far from the hotel and drank down a Dos Equis for $2.75. I got the same thing two hours west of here in Palomas for only a buck. What a concept.

I spent the rest of the evening in my hotel room, and it was a good thing too. Around 8:30 a great wind buffeted my windows and for the next three hours or so it was nothing but gusts. I was amused to see that the local stations had not interrupted their broadcasts to hearken the end of the world, as I would have expected back in Des Moines.

Photos from the Picasa Web Album: Cuidad Juárez & El Paso