Tijuana Adventure

Tijuana Newsletter #2

I walk downtown Tijuana daily. Almost the same route, alternating between my needs and the semaphores. They recently changed the red light pedestrian crossing on Third Street. It works for the best, but it annoys me because it has been the same since I can remember.

I see more than a thousand faces in less than a minute.

I’ve walked the same streets for over a decade. And it still surprises me every now and then. Things that are new. Things that just got demolished. Or things I’ve never noticed before. So many new coffee shops. So many new people.

Oh… but mention Tijuana online or on Reddit and people are TERRIFIED of the city. No one cares. Tijuana is crowded. No one will notice one more person. Even if you tried for attention. There are people trying harder to get noticed. People with little clothing like grandpa Jack who is an 80-year-old man that is completely ripped and walks around downtown with no shirt and tiny shorts glistening on the sun. No shits given.

Or what about that goth girl who carries a live white rabbit with red eyes? She just strolls downtown Tijuana with white makeup dressed up in Kawaii goth. She draws attention. But your eye diverts immediately towards more people with crazier outfits and face tattoos. 

I’ve never been in a city with this many people with face tattoos. I haven’t traveled much, but from the little I traveled… Tijuana dominates face tattoos. So many people have face tattoos. It’s insane.

So yes. You are fucking safe as long as you are not a fucking idiot. There are laws in Tijuana. Cops make their laws as they feel like. Avoid those bullies. Besides that, be who you are when you travel. Don’t break any laws. Don’t pee or drink in the street. Tijuana is lawless until it isn’t.

This is a new Tijuana. It’s bigger. It’s more Mexican than before. But it’s still the hedonistic libertarian paradise, still trying to move forward but stuck in the same rhetoric of shootings, prostitutes, drugs, and more. 

Tijuana will be Tijuana.

Come visit!

The dollar is losing power, and now the current exchange rate is at 18. I conducted a poll on my social media, and most people think it will go back up, while staying the same or going down was tied.

Food places!

Innato tried inviting me into their restaurant, offering me one free meal. What an offer guys! Like my time is worth a free fucking meal. 

But hey. At least I’m getting that offer.

I like Morris Wine Bar, and I want to learn more about wine. I’ve only tried their food once, but it was on a positive note. I need to try more, but it’s also expensive.

Everything is expensive. 

I spent $190 on a meal for 4 adults and three kids. Not bad. Especially because my brother covered half. That was at Dimitri’s Greek Restaurant. It’s been around in Tijuana for 40 years.

I’m no expert on Greek food, but this shit was delicious. Their only mistake is that  they forgot the tzatziki, which in turn made me think the skewered chicken and beef were a bit dry, as well as the shaved lamb. But the lamb shank in red sauce was succulent. Oh, and the kibbeh nayyeh was fantastic. It is my brother and his wife’s favorite for a reason. Not necessarily Greek but fucking delicious. The spanakopita and the moussaka were fair standard. 

All of that and a bottle of wine and a jar of lemonade for almost $200 plus tip. I’ll be back. There is a reason Dimitri’s has been around for 40 years. It’s in a strip mall, and the inside is terribly cheesy Greek. Makes me want to dress in a toga and go. But yes, I’ll be back.

Dimitri’s Dionysus platter!

I didn’t have my camera, sorry for the iPhone X quality. I didn’t plan on writing about it. I didn’t do a video for it. But I enjoyed writing it and I hope you did as well.

Happy Birthday, Tijuana!

You are 136 years old.

That picture is from New Years 2022. I have a massive hard drive with thousands of great pictures of Tijuana and I’m going to exploit them in this Newsletter.

I’ve been reading “Tijuana La Horrible” by Humberto Félix Berumen. It confirms a lot of what I already knew. And it expands on it. It’s a great informative book on the history of Tijuana as we know it and how misrepresented it is. And I’m here to help misinterpret it once again.

Or interpret it as I see it. 

Welcome. And thanks for reading.

It was a full moon yesterday. I drank a bit too much and didn’t have plans to shoot it. I shot it drunkenly from my window. This is the result:

I cloned the moon to give it that silly effect.

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The Tijuana Newsletter is written by Matingas, an independent writer in Tijuana.

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