“People touch my hair all the time without asking,” says Szavio Raaum, a 28-year-old Minnesotan who lives in Zona Norte, Tijuana’s red-light district. “You missed a perfect picture the other day. A group of schoolgirls, …
November 12, 2017
Mexico
Transplanted Minnesotan's daily TJ hair show
Baja 1000 racers, start your documentation
As this story goes live and the Baja 1000 starts in less than a week (November 14–18), there still has been no official press release from the Mexican government regarding the new TIP (temporary import …
November 9, 2017
Kayak fishing like the Pericú
As European explorers made their way northward along the eastern Pacific, the natives at the southernmost portion of Baja were the Pericú. The Pericú had little, if any, interaction with other tribes. Their isolation left …
November 5, 2017
Organ grinders show up in Tijuana
Downtown Tijuana is a constant cacophony. Taxis, calafias (tricked-out short buses), and other vehicles never stop honking. Sirens from police cars, fire trucks, car alarms, and ambulances seem to always distract one’s attention. And with …
November 1, 2017
Tijuana nursing-home fire kills six
Six residents of a Tijuana nursing home died Friday, October 27, and two others were injured when a fire swept through the crowded facility in Colonia Flores Magón, according to multiple press accounts. The victims …
October 28, 2017
To the tomb of Juan Soldado
“Tell her that her grandmother, on her mother’s side, was a powerful witch,” said Amy Venezia, pointing toward Erika the veteran bartender at Nelson. “Let her know that she wasn’t a bad witch, she was …
October 24, 2017
Southern neighbors — daily life in Tijuana
The whole area was the city dump They chose St. Martin as their patron saint, the señora explains, because he was a friend of to the poor — because he was black and they too …
October 22, 2017
Read before rolling into Baja
When the Baja 1000 races roll around next month (November 14–18), some Americans crossing into Mexico might be in for a big surprise. Recently, travelers crossing through the San Ysidro, Otay, Tecate, and Mexicali borders …
October 20, 2017
Too scared to cook in Baja?
International chefs invited to the seventh annual Baja Culinary Fest, scheduled October 19-22, have opted to stay out of Baja California over fear for their lives, according to El Sol de Tijuana. Chef Javier Plascencia …
October 17, 2017
Southern neighbors — Tijuana, the dark side of the law
Coyote — king of the smugglers You can catch a bus on Beyer Street or the trolley at the Iris Street station, avoiding the “Migra” around the congested central San Ysidro area. Stay out of …
October 14, 2017
A concrete border-sewage-collection basin plan
With the governor’s signature late Monday (October 9th), $2.1 million in state funding is on its way to the Tijuana River Valley — some of it earmarked to deal with the sewage, trash, and sediment …
October 12, 2017
Falling Doves hold formation after Mexico quake
“Our show at Mexico City’s Imperial House will either be postponed or we may turn it into a benefit,” says Christopher Leyva of Falling Doves, who was about to launch a world tour that included …
October 11, 2017
DJ Ferny prefers to go manual
Green light glows off the stippled white exterior of Priveé Lounge Bar, perched above the Plaza San Angel on Tijuana’s Avenida Sonora. (Just off Boulevard Agua Caliente before the Club Campestre.) Inside is white as …
October 11, 2017
Haitian immigrant discovers a Mexican dream
Rogeste Mercy, 36, and his wife Magalita Bordes, 37, lost their apparel business and their livelihood in Port au Prince, Haiti, to an earthquake that jarred the island nation in 2010. “We lost everything,” Bordes …
October 4, 2017
Don't drink the 7up in Mexico
Over 107,023 sodas of the 7up brand in all its varieties have been recalled in the state of Baja and distribution has stopped. José María Soto Gastelum, 35, died after drinking the soda bought in …
September 28, 2017