La Vida Jena de Gracia: 5 Years Later...

September 21st was my and Cito's 5th anniversary. I realize that, in the scheme of things, it's really not that long, but considering the things he and I have been through in that short time, it feels like so much longer.

Our options were kind of limited, so we decided to meet up at the border in Nogales (on the Mexico side, of course), and celebrate there. So Huerita was sent off to grandma's house, and I spent half of Saturday driving through the desert, this time with valid vehicle registration ;-) I crossed the border without being stopped, and saw my love waiting on the other side. I quickly gave up the driver's seat as I refuse to drive in Mexico any more than is necessary, and we headed off to explore.

My man and I both have only ever really seen Nogales as we've been passing through, so this was an adventure for both of us. The part of town that I had seen looked fairly Mexican, although there were a few fast food places with signs that shocked me until I started acclimating to prices in pesos. I never expected, however, to see a (huge!) Super Wal Mart right around the corner from street vendors, nor did I anticipate eating our anniversary dinner at Applebee's, but it was cool. We even had the opportunity to watch '¿Qué Pasó Ayer?' (The Hangover) at the Cinépolis and it was in English with Spanish subtitles.
We found a nice hotel, the Hotel Fray Marcos de Nizo, right next to the border. I was pleasantly surpised by our room, and even more so by the price. It was $600 pesos/night, which came out to $55 USD, which was much better than the $90 that Fiesta Inn was quoting. We even had free wifi, and as my man was excited to learn, we also had hot water in the showers. Oh, I ask myself, what am I getting into? Will I, too, one day be grateful for hot showers? Is that a bad thing? (I always wonder how the hell they do it in the winter)

So, anyways, we had a great time- I brought a big bottle of Hennessy, and some recent purchases from Frederick's, and a new going-out outfit (complete with some killer heels!), and we really had a blast. It's the first time we'd been together without my daughter since he went down there in June, so it was some much-needed quality time together. The fight was on in the bar downstairs (and every other bar in the neighborhood), there were leftover fiestas in the streets from the celebrations of el 16 de septiembre, and there were more cocteles de elote than we knew what to do with. I guess it's a good thing they don't put nutrition labels on that stuff. I probably don't even want to know... but it's soooo good, and I have yet to find it here in the States.

When all was said and done, we had our tear-filled good-byes at the Tufesa station (I really think Tufesa sounds like an insult <"Ay, mira esa tufesa chingada">), and I sat in the 2 hour line to get back across the border. Fortunately they felt no need to hassle me this time, and asked no questions about why I was there, and thus, I began my 3 1/2 hour journey back home. But ahhhhh, it was so worth it.