Drive to San Diego was very interesting but I was still half asleep and was in no mood to take any pictures while driving. After dropping my luggage at a friend's place, I went to Vigitron's office. Though Alessandra does not work on Fridays, she did come to Vigitron to welcome me. It was indeed nice to meet her after a long and she warmly welcomed me. I then met Marcie and Annie with whom I have been dealing for many projects.
L-R: Alessandra, Marcie and Annie... They were so nice to pause for me :)
I then had a meeting with Ali to discuss about current and new projects. Ali and Alessandra then took me to an Indian restaurant for the lunch. It was inappropriate for me to refuse their hospitality and as long as my food restrictions were followed, I made myself convinced for one more no-water fast.
After lunch, Alessandra took me to Cabrillo National Monument. It is a hill top monument dedicated to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - the first European to land in west coast.
We were accompanied by Francesca of Italy who also is a Vigitron customer.
This little cute kid brought his parents from Philippines to this landmark of San Diego.
San Diego Skyline...
And Pacific Ocean... Start swimming straight line and you will end up at a shore of Japan...
It was a hot day and someone decided to take a nap... We named this picture "Sleeping beauty"!
Next day, Alessandra, Francesca and me went to Mexico. Mexico border is just 30 mins away from San Diego. I managed to get Mexico visa from its consulate in Atlanta. Alessandra and Francesca came to pick me up from that friend's place. They both were dressed in their typical "summer" dresses and it was almost an earthquake when they walked in the house. But house survived!
We parked the car at Mission San Diego station to catch a trolley to San Ysidro - the last stop to the border. We reached the station and then headed to Tijuana - a border city of Mexico.
There was no immigration check required to cross the border. A bridge separated US and Mexico and after crossing the bridge, we entered Mexico. Even in Mexico, there was no passport control visible. Alessandra asked one of the policemen there if I needed to stamp my passport but he said that it is not needed.
The moment we entered Mexico, we saw the difference in living standard and the difference in facilities...
A fee of 25 cents was to be paid to use this restroom... Even in India we do not have such "urinal pots"...
As we entered Tijuana, we saw pharmacies and dental clinics everywhere. Alessandra told me that people in US who do not have medical insurance, they come down to this place to buy medicines at much cheaper rate and without prescription. Also, dental treatment in US is very expensive and thus, many of them come down here for their dental treatment.
There is no tourist attraction in Tijuana except those disco clubs and dance bars. Both these places were none of my interest and thus, we just loitered in a city for a while.
Buildings were very colorful and attractive. After walking for a while, we stopped by a restaurant for a lunch. I was carrying my Bhakharis and Marchaas with me and thus the food or place was not an issue for me. But Alessandra called the cook and ordered Mexican cheese casadia for me. I enjoyed casadias with marchaas and coke!
My Coke overpowered Alessandra and Francesca's Tequila shots!
We then started heading back to the border.
On our way back, we noticed that a donkey was painted like Zebra and tourists were posing with this "zebra" by paying two dollars to the owner. While it was some kind of earning for that owner to feed and support of his family, I was very disappointed and sad for that poor animal who had to just stand whole day at one place...
I also noticed that many parents there were using their children to sell some small items to foreigners. When whole world and especially US cries so loud about child labor in India and other countries, it can just not do anything about it even in its neighboring country.
When we reached the border, there was a long queue on US bound traffic. Alessandra told me that sometimes, the queue is so long that one has to wait for more than five hours to cross the check point...
While dropping me back to my friend's place, Alessandra expressed sorry for being inappropriately dressed for an Indian family. She asked apologies and I think my friend respected her culture and he was ok with her.
For me, it was an interesting visit of San Diego that I could spend some time with Alessandra and Ali. Both have been very nice people and in short time, our business relationship has turned to more of an intense friendship. Ali has been very listening to all our requirements and he has been very helpful whenever I have approached him for any technical queries. In this visit, I also came to know about Brazilian culture and its openness. While Alessandra has been a typical Brazilian and has her own way of enjoying the life, she has been equally respectful to my culture and curiosities.
She is such a beach lover that she always carry her beach chair and umbrellas in her car trunk! Despite any similar hobbies or interest, we have become very good friends!
