El Paso & Juarez: My tale of two cities
When you were a kid, did you ever color Easter eggs? And put the
yellow egg into the red die in order to watch it turn orange? That's
pretty much like what has happened here in El Paso in the past 200
years. Two different cultures have been mixed together here -- and
magically turned into an interesting, viable and delightful third one.
Back in the day, El Paso used to be a Mexican town. Then it became an
American town -- and now it is a happy blend of the best of both. El
Paso is a success because of (not despite of) its cultural diversity.
Please bear this in mind.
But what about Juarez? I was about to find out.
"Don't go there. It's dangerous!" I was told by a bunch of people who had never been there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFnxvWgX73Y
"Piddle-tish," as my father used to say. Juarez is only a ten-minute
walk from where I was staying in downtown El Paso. I just walked over a
bridge, paid a 25-cent bridge toll and Voila! I was suddenly in
Juarez.
And perfectly safe.
First I went to Juarez's cathedral, an excellent example of
centuries-old colonial architecture. Then I went to the new, modern and
excellent "Frontera" museum. Then I bought a Juarez T-shirt, visited a curandero, ate an
ice cream cone and bought another T-shirt with a picture of Pancho Villa
on the front -- and several tiny bottles of tequila to bring home to my
friends. https://lesblank.com/films/chulas-fronteras-1976/
"What happened here that caused all this change," I asked one of the
shopkeepers. "How come it's not dangerous here any more?"
Apparently the Federales finally woke up, got their arses in gear,
wiped out a whole serpent's nest full of drug cartels and stopped all
that gun-running from America (aka the "War on Drugs"). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbZ3VdYb90o
And BTW why aren't our own Federal troops waking up too -- and helping Americans to recover from those gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and terrible wildfires in California? Instead of just wasting their time sitting around waiting to torment poor harmless asylum-seekers? https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-the-migrant-caravan-and-a-manufactured-crisis-at-the-us-border
And BTW why aren't our own Federal troops waking up too -- and helping Americans to recover from those gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and terrible wildfires in California? Instead of just wasting their time sitting around waiting to torment poor harmless asylum-seekers? https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-the-migrant-caravan-and-a-manufactured-crisis-at-the-us-border
"But how do the people of Juarez support themselves?" I asked next.
"We have about 400 macheadoras
-- factories -- here along the border, employing over 5,000 people.
Plus we grow fine-quality cotton here that is picked by hand. It is in
great demand in Saudi Arabia. We fly it straight there." Who knew.
I loved Juarez. I walked back over there four different times. And I have the T-shirts to prove it.
And I loved El Paso as well. Cultural diversity has really spiced El
Paso up. Too bad that so much of the rest of America is missing out on
this treat.
PS:
Bob Dylan wrote a song about Juarez that I can't seem to stop humming.
Marty Robbins wrote a song about El Paso too. Here they both are,
thanks to YouTube:
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Stop Wall Street and War Street from destroying our world. And while you're at it, please buy my books. https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Stillwater/e/B00IW6O1RM
