Driving On Down Past the Border

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My father came to visit me here at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2006. He was on his way to Colorado stopping first in Arizona to pay me a visit. I am from Connecticut and have not had the chance to see my father that often since coming to college, so this was a special trip. He had made one visit before and would make many more. This was the first one.

My dad rented a car from the Tucson International Airport and came to pick me up on a Saturday after arriving the night before. We drove down into the border town of Nogales. It took us about an hour to drive into the border town before we noticed a mexican eatery near the side of a narrow street, where we decided to stop to eat lunch. I still remember the experience to this day - the eatery had red awnings displayed with Coca-Cola logos. Underneath these red awnings were sturdy plastic picnic tables.

We arrived in mid-afternoon and the cafe was quiet. No one was around. Traditional Mexican music played out of speakers underneath the awning. My dad and I sat down and the waitress came over to us to ask us what we wanted. She spoke in Spanish with my dad while assisting me with my order. We had trouble communicating our order to her.

This was my first time eating real fresh authentic mexican food. It tasted quite good. I had a chicken quesadilla with rice and beans while my dad had four hard shell beef tacos. We had never eaten real mexican food like this before. My experience with Mexican food had always been with chain and fast food restaurants like Taco Bell, Del Taco, Taco Johns and Taco Cabana. At this cafe the food tasted fresh; not processed like the restaurants above. You could taste the goodness. It was hearty and seemed more healthy then a gordita from Taco Bell.

The meal was inexpensive, just a few dollars for two people. In the states a meal this good would be much more expensive. It is worth it to spend money on a tank of gas to visit Mexico on a nice sunny day to enjoy this type of food experience.

Traditional Mexican Music