Wandering Wheels - 18 January 1991

Whew! Yet another exhausting day off! One thing about this trip: I've never been bored. And today was not different. After a doughnut breakfast, we loaded up the bus and drove to San Diego and bright and wonderful Sea World. It's been a while since I'd even been to a Sea World so I was looking forward to a good time and I wasn't disappointed. We got in rather cheaply ($7.50 as opposed to $23.50). As part of the deal we were treated to two educational programs, one about the killer whales and one about dolphins. We got to see Shamu and Baby Shamu. It was astounding the things they trained them to do. They are certainly powerful creatures, swimming up to 30 mph! The dolphins were incredible, too. It was fun seeing them there after seeing them wild yesterday. This trip has certainly renewed my interest in sea life. So many different varieties of life are there and each has its own distinct qualities. We saw bat rays, moray eels, sharks, penguins (with a neat treadmill that we had fun walking backwards on) and a couple of shows: City Streets, which was kind of entertaining; and The Pirates of Pinniped, which was a riot. It had sea lions and otters performing as well as a hilarious mime that made fun of audience members. The otter was the best, jumping across stage with a can of Pepsi or pulling a boat and stealing the treasure or hopping across with a life preserver.

From Sea World we made a run for the border. Not to Taco Bell but the Mexican Border. It was the first time I'd ever been out of the U.S. and it certainly was a day to remember. The streets of Tijuana were packed end to end with shop after shop, all trying to get you to buy things. You walked down the streets and shop keepers would say, "Amigo, come inside, I have deal for you." Most of the shops had the same merchandise in them, so we went from shop to shop looking for the best prices. You could haggle with most of the "salesmen" and get them down to your price. Dennis got a sombrero down from $12 to $5 and then nuked the guy by walking away. Most of the stories were like that.

The whole atmosphere was so bizarre! Between Tijuana and Venice Beach I've certainly had a variety of experiences. Guys would come up to us and go, "Free look!" or "Free shot!" One guy as we came out of his store said, "Buy something for your neighbor's wife." I thought I was going to bust a gut. One guy tried to sell us pornographic key chains with every position imaginable, even the "Mexican Monkey." In one store we talked to a guy for a while (probably one of the only honest guys we found). He tried to sell us Corona pull overs, but we told him we went to a Christian college and he said OK. Chip wanted to buy some fur handcuffs, but the guy didn't have any. Because he was so honest, we bought a Hard Rock Mexico pullover for $6.50. On the way out we talked to a 16-year-old who told us Mexican women LOVE American men (made us feel good).

But all of Tijuana wasn't a good time. Actually, the whole experience was kind of depressing. Little kids running around selling "chicle" or woven bracelets. Old ladies with little children begging for money. It was hard not to give money to them all, but once you gave once, they'd follow you around. Dennis got mobbed by a large group of kids just outside customs, just because he pulled out his wallet to give one kid money. An interesting place for sure, with it's Tijuana Taco Bell (a little cart on the side of the road) and cheap clothes and haggling salesmen.

After Mexico we went and ate at Point Loma Naz, a wonderful buffet and much more freedom than our cafeteria, though the food wasn't a whole lot better. Then we traveled back to the church and got into some heated political discussions that went absolutely nowhere. We talked with one of Rian's friends, a Marine, who would go to jail before war. Her husband was already over there and she was extremely opinionated. Such an interesting day. There's no way I could do all I've done out here for only the $625 I paid for the trip. Definitely one of the decisions I've ever made. Allegro muchacho, Amigo! Æ

Tunes: hayden - you are all i have