Get your vehicle repaired in Mazatlán,
for instance, you may take your coche (car) or truck (camion)
to the refaccionaria, (auto parts shop) where you'll buy a new
embrague (clutch). Across the gulf in La Paz you'll take
your carro or troca to the auto partes shop where they'll sell
you a new clotch.
DAMN YANQUIS
"So far from God, so close to the United States," a Mexican president
once lamented as he sought to describe his country. Nowhere is
that more obvious than Baja California, at least the bit about
the United States. By and large, though, Baja Californios get
on quite well, thank you, with their northern neighbors -- perhaps
out of necessity.
Aside from the loneliest outposts, almost everyone here has
had dealings with nortemericanos and their peculiar ways. Tourism
is the No. 1 industry, and thousands of gringos have put down
roots as seasonal or fulltime residents. Dollars are welcome in
most businesses, and the pickup in front of you on Highway 1 could
as easily be from California or Oregon as from Baja.
Beisbol
(not soccer) is king among sports, and every November thousands
line the back roads to watch the Baja 1000. Meanwhile, legions
of homes are full of cast-off furnishings, appliances, clothing
and toys bought in the U.S. and resold in Baja by enterprising
importers.
AUTOMOBILES
Take a spin down the back roads of Baja, and you would reasonably
conclude that Hyundais, Saturns and Mazdas were hot sellers with
Mexican car-buyers. In fact, these and assorted makes are all but
non-existent in the rest of the country. What gives?
Mexico has long placed strict restrictions on the import of
new or used vehicles from the United States in order to protect
its domestic auto industry. (That's due to change in future years
under NAFTA, but that's another story.) However, U.S. vehicles
enjoy free rein in the border region. That's a narrow band (only
about 16 miles wide) along most of the frontier, but all of Baja
falls into this zone. As a result, most cars and trucks bear the
distinct yellow and green frontera (border) license plates,
which means they were imported from the United States and may
only travel on the mainland with a large deposit ensuring their
return. Thus, you'll see more auto makes in Ciudad Constitucion
(population 45,000) than in Mexico City (population 20 million).
FOOD
Pity the American who walks into a Guadalajara restaurant and
asks for an order of fish tacos, a lobster omelet, chimichangas,
or any kind of burrito. You'll find them all, and much more, across
in restaurants and homes across Baja California, where cuisine
is one more thing that sets the region apart. Baja menus tend
toward norteño (flour tortillas, machaca, burritos, lots of red
meat), but it's seafood that distinguishes the region more than
anything else.
Almost no place in Baja is more than a couple of hours' drive
from the coast, while in the rest of Mexico most people live many
miles from the sea on the high inland plateaus. Their menus reflect
that, and seafood often gets lost in the shuffle amid other meat
dishes, except for Fridays during Lent. Mainlanders in Baja may
be surprised, too, when they look for the comida corrida -- the
featured main meal of the day on most Mexican menus in which the
server brings your courses one by one. They're a comparative rarity
here.
POLITICS
Is it just a coincidence that the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI), which held an unyielding grip on Mexican politics
for more than 60 years, governs neither the state of Baja California
nor the state of Baja California Sur? Probably not.
The National Action Party (PAN) has won three straight governor's
races in Baja California since 1989, when it became Mexico's first
opposing party to win a statehouse since the 1910-1920 Revolution.
The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), meanwhile, has governed
in Baja California Sur since 1999. In the northern state that
partly reflects the PAN's pro-business, pro-U.S. tilt, but nearly
all Baja Californios feel a certain sense of independence from
the rest of Mexico, where the PRI still rules the majority of
states. When things go awry in Baja, it's the people in Mexico
City (Chilangos) and federal government that catch the
blame.
POTPOURI
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Unlike the rest of Mexico, multi-story buildings in Baja
don't have a planta baja (ground floor) followed above it
by first floor, second floor, etc. Instead, ground floor is
first floor, just like the United States.
-
Mexicali has the largest Chinatown (and most Chinese restaurants)
of any city in Mexico.
-
Baja California has the highest per-capita income of any
Mexican state.
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Baja California Sur has the fewest people, and fewest per
square kilometer, of any Mexican state.
For all that distinguishes Baja, the peninsula shares much in
common with the rest of Mexico, which includes the spirit of amistad
among its people. Wherever I've gone in this country, I've had
exceedingly few bad experiences at the hands of Mexicans. A humble,
respectful attitude toward the locals and their culture (plus
a good Spanish-English dictionary) will inevitably open doors
and forge friendships destined to last a lifetime.
