My Neighborhood

I love my neighborhood.  Almost everything we need is within walking distance (and the weather is always awesome).  And for the other stuff, we can go to a Wal-Mart and an outdoor mall about a mile and a half away.  Our "sub-division" is on a hill and there are only three roads that access it.  So I think it's a little secluded and a little safer.  But there is a lot of Tijuana I haven't seen, so I could be wrong.

Every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, there is a tianguis that spans several blocks.  It is an outdoor market and seems to be a cross between a farmers' market and a garage sale. You can buy all kinda of fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, used furniture, used appliances, cleaning products, toiletries (there are literally towering stacks of toilet paper), and underwear.  And that is just to name a few.  Most things are cheaper at the tianguis.  It feels a little bit like a block party, but maybe that's just me.

This is a big pile of underwear.  They say it's all new even though all the bags are opened. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), Jose couldn't find his size.

One tent was selling old books.  Most of them were in english.  This one was a blast from the past. Anyone remember when the three Lawrence brothers had a show?  I was a big fan of the middle one, Matthew.  I wonder whatever happened to him.



Some of my favorite places in the neighborhood are...

The ice cream shop.  I saw a lot of Michoacanas in Mexico City.  In fact, there are two here within a couple blocks from one another.  Their specialty seems to be the paletas (fruit and ice cream bars).  They also have this dish called the Tosti-Loco.  It's a big bowl of ice cream with spicy Tostitos chips around the edges and with lots of toppings like peanuts and this spicy red sauce.  It seems very mexican to me.

The bakery.  This bakery makes this part of the road smell amazing.  I want to go in and buy something every time I walk by. We've only actually gone in a few times though. Unfortunately, this bakery is on the way to and from the park where we run.

This little corner store. Only because it is one of the two places within walking distance that sell Dr. Pepper.  This place only charges 6 pesos a can.  The other place charges 8 pesos.

The park where we run.  It has a sidewalk/track that goes around the perimeter.  It is approximately 3 laps for a kilometer and 5 laps for a mile.  At first I didn't think this park was much to look at.  But I've really come to enjoy it.  When we run in the early evening, there are a lot of people there. It's nice to see so many people enjoying being outside.  However, some of the kids can be really annoying.  At what age do they learn to get out of the way of someone who is running?

This gazebo is at the center of the park.  I don't know if they ever have any public events here or not. But it's cute.

I can't get over the trees here.  A palm tree next to an evergreen-like tree.  I'm not sure exactly what kind of tree it is, but it has needles.

Here are a couple of the houses that are across the street from the park.  They are definitely the nicer houses in my sub-division. I'd like to see the insides.

This house is the type of house I would've expected to find in Southern California.  I wonder what that rooftop area is like.

The local mall?  I'm not sure what to call this building.  It houses a lot of shops.  But as you'll see from the picture below, most of them are not rented out.  I think it's quite sad.

But it does have this little supermarket. We go here for quick trips.  It doesn't have as much stuff Wal-Mart.

This is the internet cafe where Jose would go to video chat with me.  I also visited the first couple weeks I was here until I got the internet in my apartment.  It is named "Mau," like what a cat says.  Like "Meow."

The internet cafe is really cheap.  The prices are in pesos, but they use the dollar sign, too.  (It can be very confusing sometimes.) One dollar US is about 11 to 12 pesos.

This is a restaurant I stumbled on.  It was really good.  They have a daily special that is 40 pesos.  It is a few different prepared foods that you can choose from.  Jose and I tried to go there last Saturday. But I guess it's more of a lunch place. When we got there at 6pm, they had already closed.

This is the Wal-Mart.  It kinda makes me mad to shop here because the prices are often not next to the products and it doesn't seem to have that much variety for being a supercenter.

This is the outdoor mall right next to the Wal-Mart. I bought my hat here at Mundo Del Gorros.

For all of you that like the book The Shack, I found the spanish version in the book store at the mall.

This is a view from my backyard.  Not much green, but I like the mountain/hills.

This is a garden one of my neighbors has made.  I'm assuming this area is supposed to be for all the tenants.  But the lady seems to have claimed it for herself.  In fact, she blocks off the entrance when she isn't there.  I can kind of understand since she was the one who did everything for it.

I love my neighborhood. The weather might have something to do with it. Sorry to everyone who has been suffering through the midwest heat.  Can't say I miss it though.  Every day of the past three weeks here has been sunny with temps primarily in the 70's. You can't beat that.