Please tell me anything you know about Tijuana, Mexico.?

Question

Our family is moving there in January. Please tell me what you know about Tijuana, culturally, socially, economically, and more. Please try to tell both the good and the bad. I want to know about the food, the weather, the people, bascially anything you can think of! Please keep it clean and honest.

My husband and I will be working as church planters there for CHrisitan Reformed WOrld Missons, we both speak Spanish. Please tell me more about the area.

please tell me more!

Answer 1

I haven't been there for quite some time but I do remember it being hot, dusty, and dry. There is the tourism of Americans but there is also a level of poverty that pervades Mexico that is quite hard to get used to like whole hillsides of people living in cardboard roofed lean-tos and children begging in the streets.

The people are warm hearted and friendly once you get to be a "regular" and not just a tourist. You have to establish trust. The first people you meet that you resonate with will more than likely turn out to be your friends for some time to come. Dress codes vary from place to place, but start out with knee length skirts, pants, and demure tops if you are female. In lots of places you will get hissed at if you wear shorts or short skirts and dresses. But maybe not so in Tijuana.

The food is quite nice. Different as far as the meats consumed, but prepared very well. There is a restaurant called Caesars that claims to be the home of the salad by the same name. That was one of my favorite restaurants.

There are lots of arts and crafts there and lots of street vendors from the children selling hand woven string bracelets and lemonade to blown and stained glass and beautiful pottery. Crafts of wood, leather, and stone were everywhere too. The level of craftsmanship is from crude to fine. It depends upon where you look.

The religious faith is strong and the church is an important part of most people's lives. I've spent some time in Oaxaca (wha - ha- ka) , Mexico City, Acapulco, and the Yucatan. The interior of the churches are wonderfully adorned and kept up. Lots of gold on the alters and statuary everywhere. You will almost always find people there throughout each day of the week.

Drink bottled water and beware of bandits when you travel out of town into the country. Pickpockets are everywhere in the larger cities, like most places in the world. Wear a money belt or your purse across your shoulder with the strap crossing you front from shoulder to opposite side hip until you are known as a local. Be smart when you are out past dark. Don't go out alone, ever, no matter how long you live there. The elements of crime don't discriminate if you are a friend or foe. If you have something they want, they will take it. You will find the same in the states, but the poverty is quite a strong driving force when it comes to crime.

Young women alone are frequently kidnapped and sold into prostitution in other countries. Another reason for not going out alone day or night. It's money in the pocket no matter how it gets there.

Be smart, be kind. Learn the language and local dialect if you already don't know it to help fit in. Lots of people speak English but it helps to know the language.

Good luck. I hope your transition from where you are now to there is smooth and without troubles.

Answer 2

Tijuana has all the faults of any border city.

In some respects great areas of it seem like one giant slum. However, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of colonias, each one different from the other. It is a great, sprawling megalopolis.

TJ is the both the entryway to California for many of those from the even more impoverished interior, as well as a draw in itself. Jobs are available in this bustling, hustling big city (no one really knows how many people live there, estimates range from 1 1/2 mil to 3 mil) but most are for the Mexican minimum wage, about four bucks a day.

Over in the Otay section there are a number of maquiladoras, twin factories, owned by Americans, Japanese, Europeans etc. They provide mostly low wage jobs to locals. (Eight years ago it was about $1.25 an hour for assembly line work. Don't know what it is now, maybe the same.)

Because TJ is a place of opporutnity to Mexico's impoverished, it has become a magnet for (in F Fanon's words) the Wretched of the Earth. Some people (I've forgotten what they are called) actually live at the huge city dump, making a living of the salvageable stuff they find there each day. (Would they ever go wild to see how much of value the wasteful gringos toss out every day!)

Crime is rampant, it is true, because of this stream from the interior to the border. Burglary in particular. Even the humblest home will have wrought iron bars on the doors and windows.

The city is also quite ugly, due to the omnipresent grafitti. It's everywhere, huge black marks, taggers desperately trying to show the world they're alive.

The current mayor (now running for governor, election in early August) is part of the corruption. He owns the big Caliente gambling operation, and has often been accused of murdering a journalist some years ago.

Regarding religion, TJ, like most urban areas of Mexico, has seen considerable inroads made by the Evangelical movement. Pentecostal, I think. They have made inroads especially among TJ's middle class, stronger on the border than in much of the interior.

American corporations have contributed to the uglification of Tijuana and Baja. Mickey D, Burger King, Carl's, Blockbuster, Walmart, etc etc are everywhere, sporting huge signs that they paid city officials the mandatory mordida to have approved. In some respects Tijuana seems a tawdry suburb of San Diego

That said, it is also true that much of the negativity is overemphasized. You will find some very good people there, tho most will be loyal to their hometown in the interior rather than to TJ.

A Tijuanense friend of mine is the most honest auto mechanic I've ever known on either side of the border. Good, too!

Buena suerte!

Answer 3

All of the above answers (with the exception of "eat the worm" which I assume refers to Tequilla), are very good. I especially like the frankness of Victor H.

I would add, driving is a bit harrowing at first -- they don't drive like those in the States or in Canada. Also, the housing/roads/ and other infrastructure is less stable and sturdy. There are few really tall buildings in TJ, the major exceptions being the Grand Hotel Tijuana and a few others. Getting back into the U.S. via the border can take hours whether by foot or by car.

Lots of poverty in the outskirts of the Delagaciones (La Presa, San Antonio, Otay). Very hilly there, too. Roads can deteriorate fast, and many are dirt.

Whether is very good, but a bit too hot for me.

Not sure about jobs, but the pay rate is about 1/4 to 1/10 that of what you get in the U.S. Many people make no more than $70 a week (700 pesos).

City police are corrupt, so the mayor nationalized the police force, took away their weapons, and put military police in their stead. But still corruption and bribery is rampant. Drivers regulary drive through red lights, and fail to stop at stop signs. Hard to get police to respond to your needs. Carry valuables in a money belt or satchel under your clothes. If you are female (as you appear on your avatar), consider going around with male colleague or other female friends -- at least at first until you get used to the culture. Women are generally looked upon a sex objects in Mexico -- just look at how they are portrayed on TV, and how they actors and TV personalities dress and act stereotypically. (Women deserve better treatment, but alas, it is hard to change a culture).

Answer 4

my wife is there as we speak. she went there 2 weeks ago friday to scout for land and houses ect. she is staying with her sister who just relocated there a few months ago. i talk to my wife daily and after 2 weeks she has given up on any possibility of relocating there. she has also checked into rosarito and found that once you leave the tourist area, it is much like tijuana. she has yet to discover any neighborhood that she would live in. she is a native born mexican and will fare far better there than most. the comments that i hear daily are dirty,stray dogs everywhere, trash all over the streets, poverty and desperation. the police situation is problematic and due to a shortage of police the military is driving most of the police cars that she has seen. on her 3rd day there she got her purse snatched with 450.00 and all of her I.D. she called the police and they would not even respond. she had to go to the station and obtain a report so she could file for a duplicate I.D. card. she told me that most mexicans dont even consider T.J. part of mexico. there are some nice people there however this city seems to be the sewer of baja.
iam sorry for being so negative but i wish someone would have been truthful with me before she went there. she is still there and plans tocheck out other citys, ensenada and mexicali. we are still commited to moving to mexico, however tijuana is out of the question. the purse thing may be a isolated incident since she has had no further problems since, but i worry for her every day. doctors are very good and cheap $5.00 american for a clinic visit. grocerys and clothing are far more than in the united states. milk is about the same. she is still there so if she finds anything good i will e-mail you. sorry i couldnt tell you much good..

Answer 5

Tijuana has many wonderful areas as well as very very dangerous places. The food is the best. There is a lot of corruption like all the cities closed to the border. There is also a lot of people who need Jesus Christ. You are doing a great job. Help the poor people.

Answer 6

Nice people, hot weather, food is not that unusual for Mexico. Relax and enjoy.

There is a lot of cultural activities here. Also, a lot of Americans are moving in to take advantage of the great location, cheaper prices and proximity to California.

Answer 7

Good luck...and get a good life insurance

Answer 8

Eat the worm!

Answer 9

One word...
4 syllables...
A-de-li-tas

Google it!

Answer 10

Yo sólo conozco la canción que dice: "Welcome to Tijuana, tekila, sexo y mariguana......"