A Day Trip to Tijuana, Mexico

 I took a day trip with the Mingei Museum, San Diego's museum of folk art and craft.  Our outing began at CECUT (Centro Cultural Tijuana).  This complex has art galleries, a museum of Alta/Baja California history, an IMAX theater and more.  The primary focus of the trip was to see the rest of the "La Frontera" (The Border) exhibit.  Half is located at Mingei and the other half at CECUT.  The exhibit focused on interpretations of the border through the medium of jewelry and craft.  We also saw an exhibit of the art of Jose Hugo Sanchez.  One large piece is in the form of a bee and has scenes of the migrant experience.  The artist compares bees, which travel to gather pollen, with migrant workers, who leave home for work.

                                                        

                                                        A large mask from "La Frontera"

For lunch, we stopped at the world-famous Caesar's.  Because we were a big group, we had a multi-course feast, including bread with tapenade, a table-side-made Caesar salad, roasted marrow bone on a sope, many types of tacos, beef filet strips and much more.  The restaurant easily accommodated vegan and vegetarian eaters.  The service was amazing!

We also visited an artist's studio.  Enrique Ciapara was kind enough to invite us.  His large vibrating paintings were a treat to see.  Our last stop was OBJECT, a design shop.

Taking a bus tour was so convenient!  At the border, in both directions, there a lines designated for people on bus tours, so crossing went fast.

One very interesting thing I observed was that at CECUT, there were signs in pa ipai, the language of the indigenous people of the area.  

                                                        Crab-stuffed roast red pepper

                                                Classic Caesar salad

                                                        Roast marrow bone