Border Crossing

I know that everyone is probably most interested in the border crossing that I will be doing daily.  My daily commute will start next week because I accepted a job with a company in San Diego!  Yay!  I'm very excited about that development and am amazed at how good God is.

So far, I've only crossed the border about 6 or 7 times.  The first time was my second day in Mexico.  I was taking my dad to San Diego so that he could catch his flight back to Illinois.  My dad gave me a GPS as a going away present when I left Illinois.  It includes Mexico streets and has been immensely helpful for me getting around Tijuana.  I would have been lost several different times if I hadn't have had it. Unfortunately, the GPS is only as smart as the person following it (anyone remember the episode of the Office where Michael follows the GPS into the lake?).  There is construction on one of the ramps on the Mexico side going to the border.  Therefore, the GPS told me to go the second easiest way, which took me to the Sentri lanes.  I didn't know what this was at the time and I got in trouble for going in that line.  It is for people that have already been subjected to a background check and have received a Sentri Pass.  I was given a warning, but if I go in that line again without a Sentri Pass, I will be fined $5,000.  Several times after that, I was really nervous about crossing the border because I was never certain I was in the right line.  But I think I've got it figured out now.

The second time I crossed the border, I had to wait in the line for about an hour.  It was incredibly chaotic because about 5 of the booths were closed.  So trying to merge into a different line was difficult because I wasn't really sure which lines led to open booths and whether people would let me in.  I tried to go around a woman who was trying to merge to the left, and I hit her car with mine.  The woman who was driving immediately started screaming at me and saying I hit her because I was trying to cheat and go in front of her.  The difference between her response and that of her husband was pretty comical because he was really calm and nice. He realized that I didn't really do any damage to his car, but we exchanged information because his wife was screaming at us to do so. But before we left, he said I probably wouldn't be hearing from them.  And I haven't yet.  It has been several weeks, so I'm guessing that won't.

So then I was very nervous about getting in the wrong line AND hitting someone every time I tried to go to San Diego.  But I've gotten over most of that now and am more comfortable with where I am going.

The time it takes to get to San Diego varies drastically depending on the day and the hour. Here is a picture I found online and that is pretty much what it looks like. The Sentri lanes are on the right and all the regular lanes are on the left.  The only thing this picture is missing are the vendors. People have carts that they set up right in the middle of the road in between the lanes.  They mainly sell food.  You can get any type of Mexican food that you want and you typically have more than enough time to eat it.  They do a lot of business there.  I saw one woman that had an apron that advertised all the different foods she sold. The one I thought was hilarious was "comida corrida." Jose and I would eat that a lot in Mexico City.  It basically means that it is a 3 or 4 course meal: an appetizer, the main course, the dessert, and a drink.  Just because it was on her apron doesn't mean she was actually selling that.  But I thought it was funny because you would have time to eat it if you wanted.  But if you had soup it might get a little messy.

That picture is really pretty much the end of the line, meaning you are almost there.  Those people probably have about a 20 min wait if all the booths are open. Behind them are the ramps to get to this area.  There are 3 ramps that converge on the border crossing, but 1 is under construction right now.  The problem is that the lines spill out onto the regular roads where there are intersections and such. A police officer is typically stationed at the entrance to the ramp and only let cars in from one direction which seems to work pretty well most of the time.  The ramp I use has longer roads with fewer intersections and it makes it harder for people to jump in line.  When I was going to my interview on Monday, I left 3 and a half hours early to make sure I had plenty of time to get to my interview. (I had done a dry run the Friday before and it took 2 hours.)  When I got to the line, I almost had an anxiety attack because the line was so long.  I had to drive south for three intersections before I found the beginning of the line.  And by that intersection, people were getting into the line from all three directions which made it even slower. I knew it would take a miracle to get to my interview on time.  And of course I was late.  It took me 4 hours to get from my apartment door to the office for the interview.  If I didn't have to stop at the border, it would take about 40 to 45 minutes.  Which means I spent over 3 hours in that stupid line.  Luckily, my interviewers didn't hold it against me.  And when I told them I lived in Tijuana, they understood why I was late.  Fortunately, they didn't hold that against me either, because I'm starting next week! Yay!

I had to drive back into San Diego this morning (Wednesday) to fill out some paperwork for my new job.  I made my appointment for 11am so that I would be sure not to be late.  I left at the same time this morning as I did Monday, giving myself a full 5 hours to get there.  I thought that even if it didn't take quite that long, I could maybe go by and get my mail and maybe go to Walmart beforehand. When I got to the ramp, I was astounded.  There was no traffic spilling into the local streets at all.  I had to wait in line for only 30 minutes before I was back in the US.  And there I was, driving into San Diego at 7am for an 11am appointment.  So I got my mail and went to Walmart and then called them at 8:30am to see if I could come early. They said yes and it all worked out.

The only explanation I have for this is that maybe many people drive into San Diego on Monday and then stay there throughout the week, coming back to Tijuana on Friday.  At least I hope that is the case, because it will make my life a lot easier if Mondays are my only 4 hour commuting days.  I just found this website which updates the delays at all the border crossings for both Mexico and Canada: http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/.  My crossing is the San Ysidro border. I'll have to test it out and see how accurate it is.  It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to actually drive to the border.

I have applied for a Sentri Pass.  I don't know how long it takes to get one.  They have to determine that I'm not a security risk and I have to go in for an interview and get my car searched and registered.  I'm really hoping that pass comes through.  While there are delays in the Sentri lanes, they seem to be a fraction of the waiting time of the normal lanes.

Getting back into Mexico is simple and fast.  I did have about a 15 minutes delay coming back today.  But that was the first time I've had any sort of delay and I think the only real reason for it was that a small part of 2 lanes were blocked for construction.  There was a lot of merging and I happened to get in the slowest lane.  But you are not required to show a passport to get into Mexico, so they don't really stop any cars.  You pretty much just drive through and are on your way.  I did stop today to get a tourist visa.  I read online that you are only required to have one if you are planning on being in Tijuana for more than 72 hours.  (If you drive further into Mexico, you are then required to have a passport and a visa.)  Technically, if I am driving back and forth 5 days a week, I won't actually be in Mexico for a 72 hour period.  But I'm not sure if that actually follows the spirit of the law or not.  Regardless, it's better to be safe than sorry.