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I chatted across the aisle with Josué, a young man recently married. They lived in Mexicali
but he had just started three months of training for a management position with Carl's Jr.
in Tijuana. He was a graduate from a university in Ensenada and mentioned that Margarita
Thompson invented the margarita at the
Hotel Rivera in Ensenada. I always assumed that the name margarita, which means daisy
in English, was due to the white salt on the rim of the glass that represented symbolic daisy
petals.
Península Lines pulled into Mexicali a little ahead of schedule. I looked over the next day's
schedules, which were posted behind the terminal's counters. There were frequent depar-
tures so there was no need to make a reservation.
I took a cab to town and asked for “la plaza central.” That confused the driver and sur-
prised me. “Which center?” my driver asked. In Mexico there is alwaya a central plaza that
is surrounded by a church and the city hall. It was standard city planning. But that wasn't
the case in Mexicali.
The cab driver headed for the Old Town Center. He recommended Hotel del Norte, once
favored by Mexican presidents, as noted in photographs in the lobby. The last presidential
visit was in 1965.
The single room rate was 485 pesos, about $45. I asked for a discount, my standard
routine, but I received a pleasant “No.” I checked out the room after inquiring about air
conditioning.
I asked, “Does that mean refrigeration?”
“Sí, sí, hay refrigeración,” she said.
In Mexico, air conditioning can mean an open window in a ventilation shaft. In my room,
I put my hand up in front of the air duct. There was circulation, but I felt no cool comfort.
“It's probably set at 78 degrees,” I thought. If I kept asking, they'd insist it was cool. Elec-
tricity is expensive, and cool is relative.
It was still light outside so I took a walk. Next door to the hotel was a huge modern, con-
crete building. It looked like a first-class shopping mall. “What's that?” I asked a woman
who was waiting for a red light to turn green.
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