THE MEXICO MOST OF US DON'T SEE

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, we frequently cross over the bridge about 10 miles from here to go to the town of Progreso, where tens of thousands of Winter Texans do their shopping, go to the dentist, buy from the pharmacies, and get a bite to eat.  Progreso is one of the few border towns that is relatively safe, with no incidents there for several years.  As I understand it, there is only one road into Progreso from the Mexico side and it is controlled by the Mexican army, who have a checkpoint there and carefully screen all who come in.  As a result, the town has been able to set up a nice little main street that attracts those from the US and is a fun place to visit.  Tom and I have gone there five or six times and really enjoy going.  The people could not be nicer and depend so much on the tourists to help them to eke out a living for the 5-6 months that tourism is good.
Our Spanish class recently got to take a tour of the area outside of Progresso, behind the scenes, so to speak.  Over the years the Winter Texans have contributed monies to fund a clinic there that was founded by an American woman named Mabel.  Having worked there once with the Red Cross after hurricane Buleah, she was struck by the poverty on the other side of the border and spent the rest of her life there trying to make things better for the people. I have included a picture of the gravesite of her and her sister.  She started a free clinic that since her death has been funded by Winter Texans.  There they do free dental clinics, medical clinics and eyeglass clinics.  There are local doctors that work there as well as having help from people here in the parks that provide assistance, such as nurses and construction workers, etc.  The winter Texans have helped in the schools and have even built quite a number of small homes for the people who have been living in homes with no doors, windows or floors.  The poverty is striking and reminded me a lot of some of the living conditions I saw on my trips to Sri Lanka.  And this is only a mile from the US border.  What a difference on the other side of the river.
So we loaded up the van with school supplies, fruit, toys and games and miscellaneous items for those that we would meet.  We went to the clinic, which is equipped with all that is needed to do what they do, although the equipment appears to be rather old, by our standards, but in good working condition.  We then went to visit a school with one row for each grade, 1-4.  The kids were so pleased to see us and recited their multiplication tables for us and read for us.  We took a tour of some of the "colonias" or small housing developments, where we saw the homes that the people live in, and were so saddened by the conditions.  It is not hard to imagine why many are willing to take the risk to cross the river in search of a better life.  Many will never see anything better than what they have now.  But as in Sri Lanka, the people were all smiling, waving and so nice to us.  And the kids were kids just like anywhere else, playing happily with the little that they have, not really realizing what they don't have.  I have included a picture of the basketbll hoop that is their playground.
There are people here in this park that spend countless house during their winter vacation serving and working in these neighborhoods trying to help where they can. 
I have included some pictures of our trip...I am so glad that we got to go.  And I am glad that there are people on this side of the border than care about those on the other side.  I know that their efforts are not in vain.

 Mabel's Clinic

 Students Grade 1-4

 Elementary teacher on left and Spanish teacher on right

 Student

 Ran across a man herding his goats

 Elementary school

 Basketball hoop

 Homes

 Main Street

 No matter where you go the children are beautiful

 Backyard

 Stopped at home of pinata maker

 Our Spanish teacher Marina is a wonderful singer

PS...we ended up having lunch in the town of Progreso where the contrast in conditions are so striking.

JEFF STONE'S EATING TOUR OF TEXAS

Last week Texas was host to the Jeff Stone (son #2) tour of eating places....you would think that he was here for the Food Network!  It was so good to have him here.  He had never been to Texas and wanted to check it out while we were here.  Knowing that Jeff is a connisseur of good food, I was a little nervous as to where to take him.  So we tried a little of everything.  Here in the Rio Grande Valley, we thought he would like Gonzales' Burgers.  Unfortunately so does everyone else. The Winter Texans will stand in line for however long it takes to get one of the amazing 3/4 pound burgers.  They are SO good.  The three of us waited for two hours for a burger.  They open at 12 and close when the meat is gone.  They actually grind it in the back and bring it straight to the grill.  The burgers are about the size of a small pizza.  I asked Jeff if it was worth the wait and he actually said yes...which really impressed me.  It MUST have been good.
We also stopped to eat the next day at the Longhorn Cattleman's BBQ and Steak House.  He liked it too....it had really good brisket and the best pinto bean soup anywhere.  The ambiance there was truly Texan.  The iced tea was served in pitchers!  We also got to eat at the El Dorado, a really good Mexican place here in Donna that he liked.
In San Antonio we had to do the Riverwalk where we ate at the Saltgrass Steakhouse.  Although Jeff liked the steak, it was not on the top of his list of best meals. 
Jeff's favorite meal was experienced west of Austin after an afternoon of checking out the music scene in Downtown Austin, which was really cool.  It is easy to understand why it is the Music City....Willie Nelson wannabes everywhere.  Willie still lives on his ranch just west of the city.
The Salt Lick BBQ is about a 20 minute drive outside of Austin in the country.  You come around a bend in scenic Hill Country and there it sits, and it is huge!  There were hundreds of cars in the lot and all you could smell was BBQ.  The place seats 1,000 and we waited about 45 minutes for a seat.  It was Jeff's favorite meal of all and was it ever good.  Everything is smoked to perfection.  No wonder so many people make the drive...it is well worth it and it is a Hill County experience that all should try.
We stayed in a timeshare just 2 miles from Canyon Lake and got to drive through some incredibly beautiful countryside.  It was so great to have Jeff here....I hope that he enjoyed the few days as much as I did.  Texas is a beautiful state and there is SO much to see. 
Below are some pics of Jeff at Padre Island, at the condo, at the Riverwalk in San Antonio, the Alamo, the state capital in Texas and finally at the Salt Lick BBQ.  Texas rocks!

 Smokin' da meat at the Smoke Lick BBQ

 Padre Island...34 degrees in Ocean City and 84 at Padre

 Tom and Jeff on the Rio Grande

 

 Our digs

 The Alamo

 Deciding what to eat on the Riverwalk

 I definitely had the goats' attention!

 The oldest dance hall in Texas

 Jeff in Austin

 Smokehouse at the Salt Lick BBQ

 State Capitol grounds



A NEW EXPERIENCE! AND FUN!

While we were still in South Carolina last September, we were camping at the Air Force Base and ran into a camper who was heading to South Texas, to the exact same place that we were going.  A coincidence, to say the least.  He goes there every year and just loves it.  He recommended a number of things to do here, and some were a must, including going to a ropa.  I had never heard of such a thing, so I was anxious to hear more.  Was it some sort of rodeo???? 
I was told that Winter Texans have a love/hate relationship with ropas.  They seem to either love them or went once and will never go again. Here is what they are:
There are a number of very large warehouses strung along the road between McAllen Texas and the Mexican border.  In them are VERY large piles of clothing, and I mean large...,up to 8-10 feet high.  The clothes are hauled in bale-style to the warehouse and dumped on the floor.  Where they come from... I don't know.  Most of them are used, some are new and some are well...who knows.  People then come in, prepared for an adventure, and climb over, under and around the piles for treasures.  The clothes are not sorted, so clothes for men, women, and children are all fair game. 
We were told to take off all jewelry before we go so that they don't get lost in the piles....heck, I would think that you could lose a child in one of these piles!  Bring a large plastic trash bag, and start digging.  On your way out, your bag is weighed and you pay 25 cents a pound for your treasures.  Many of the items carry very desirable brand names and are in very good shape.  It is much like shopping at a thrift store, but on a much grander scale.
I had a blast and so did the gals I went with......fellow workampers here at the park.  I found some really nice clothes for Tom, including 2 pair of shorts, a pair of Eddie Bauer jeans, a golf shirt and two t-shirts.d  I found some cute things for two of my grandsons and an item or two for me. 
Here at Victoria Palms, there is going to be a Ropa Style Show later on this month with residents wearing their treasures for all to see.
As you can see in the pictures, it is hard to maneuver around the piles and some of us land on our backs.
I hope to make one more trip to Ropa before I leave......it is too much fun to miss!

Lylia becomes our first casualty!

TRIP TO BORDER PATROL STATION

 

 

 

 

Our tourguide, a Border Patrol Agent originally from Boston!

The arsenal

Tom, wishing he had a gun...

 

 

 

 

Well, today the workampers had a little field trip.  We got to go to the Border Patrol Station in McAllen.  There are nine stations in the Rio Grande Valley, and McAllen is the busiest.  They have 500 agents and are hiring 100 more.  Joe told us (in his heavy Bostonion accent, which sounded a little funny in South Texas), that McAllen is the busiest crossing point in the country. Last weekend alone they stopped 600 persons trying to cross the Rio Grande.  And he said that they probably only intercept about 35% of all those trying to cross.  I asked him why so many were trying to cross in McAllen and he said that there is no rhyme or reason, and that it was Brownsville before and now McAllen, which is the largest city in the Valley, about 12 miles from where we are and about 2 miles from the border.  The facility is huge and houses the holding cells where they bring the detainees, which we were not allowed to see.  They can only hold them there for no more than 48 hours, when they go before a judge.  The judge then decides whether they go to jail or get sent back to Mexico.  He said that many of those trying to get into the US have tried it 15 or twenty times, and that most all of them are just coming here for a better life, and normally are not dangerous unless they are trying to smuggle drugs, which is primarily done at border crossings and not by swimming across the Rio Grande.  It was interesting to know that the Border Control is concerned only with the Rio Grande and that US Customs is responsible for the border crossings at the bridges.
The arsenal was pretty impressive and the guys were ga-ga over the guns. 
It was sad to hear that they are all being asked to prepare themselves for a 25% decrease in their pay, which has been looming over their heads for years.  The morale is very low among the agents because of this.  When I think about all that we hear from the federal government about all that they are doing to secure the borders and then they take monies away from border security....it doesn't seem right.  Odd how that works.
All in all, the tour was great and we learned a lot.  It was an experience I did not expect to have here but was glad that I did.

WHERE WE ARE AND WHY WE ARE HERE.....

Where we are staying is about 20 miles Northwest of this spot, which is where a critical battle of the Mexican-American War took place called the Battle of Palo Alto. 

 

Some of you may be wondering how in the world we got to where we are in South Texas, I mean REALLY South Texas.  When we were looking for workamper jobs, we (well, I ) decided that we should go somewhere that we had not been before.  We had two very short visits to my step-daughter Lisa's place when she was here in Texas going to school.  She was in Austin and we have a few quick visits to San Antonio and surrounding areas and I really liked Texas and hoped to come back some day.  When a job turned up in Mission, Texas, we thought we would apply for it and got it.  (The results were not the greatest, as you would have read back in our October posts).  Anyway, we did not end up in Mission, but in Donna, Texas, about 14 miles east and still very close to the US/Mexico border.  As the crow flies we are probably only about 7-8 miles from the border.  I thought it would be really interesting to experience a different culture for an extended period of time and learn about that culture.
Well, we picked the right place.  The Rio Grande Valley is a perfect blend of two cultures since it actually was Mexico at one time.  When we first got here, I was so naive that I would wonder why there were so many Hispanics living here.  Duh!!!!  This used to be Mexico!  (See sign above).  I would go to the grocery store when we first arrived here and I would be the only non-Hispanic in the store...an eerie feeling.  But the people were all SO nice and friendly I did not feel intimidated.
This part of Texas is very poor.  Especially in the summer, when the Winter Texans are not here.  I honestly do not know how they survive from April-October.  Beginning in November, the Winter Texans begin to pour in.  Several hundred thousand people arrive from Cananda (about 60%) and the rest from the Mid-West and other various parts of the US.  The locals love us and could not be any more hospitable.  And they do not try to gouge us by raising prices during the winter months.  The cost of living in this area is very low which makes it very attractive to visitors.  The Chamber of Commerce in the Rio Grande Valley reports that Winter Texans contribute about $600 million to the local economy during the winter months.  This influx of people is truly the lifeblood of the Valley. 
Not only do the Winter Texans help the Valley financially, but they are very philanthropic as well.  They contribute large amounts of money and time to the poor families across the border.  They finance an orphanage in Reynosa, work at free clincs, and sponsor a Christmas for the children in Progreso where more than 2500 children receive food, clothing and toys. 
This has been such a learning experience for me and I am going to be sad to leave in seven weeks.  I am trying to take advantage of every opportunity to learn all I can while I am here and I am so blessed to have so many channels open for to me to do so.  On Tuesday we are going on a tour of the Border Patrol Station in McAllen, Texas.  Stay tuned!!!