Mexico -- Algodones, part 2

When I posted about the first trip to Algodones, I did so knowing that we were coming back. I also knew that I wanted to venture away from the tourist center with the dentists, eye doctors, snowbirds, and trinket sellers.

With the ease of getting in and out of Mexico the last time, Brenda and I determined to leave at six in the morning. The trip to the border would be quick, but Brenda worried about me. While she would go to the pharmacia, my plan was to venture seven blocks into the residential area to get to a small veterinary clinic where I hoped they'd have Buena's eye medication for sale.

Brenda suggested we take the car into Mexico, but I didn't want to deal with border patrol and vehicle inspections.

"Parking might also be difficult," Brenda said, noting the lack of parking in the snowbird part of town.

"I'll be fine," I said, reassuring her that I'd share my geolocation with family and exchange everyone's phone number in case I didn't show up at the agreed-upon restaurant we'd meet at when finished with our errands.

We arrived at the border a little before ten o'clock. Outside of Brenda's car, I lamented about the cold and wondered if my flannel shirt and vest would be warm enough. Brenda took the walker from the trunk. "In case I need to carry anything heavy," she said. We zipped through the parking lot on the U.S. side and crossed over.

Brenda said she needed to find a bathroom. So did I.

"Donde esta el bano?" I asked a woman who was trying to sell us some beaded hummingbird keychains.

She pointed to a long hallway at an eye clinic. Brenda followed her inside, and I told Brenda I'd see her at the restaurant in about an hour. I figured I could find a restroom along the way.

At the main intersection, I paused beside an elderly woman seated on a stone bench picnic-ish table. "Hi," I said, resting my purse on the table and digging out my phone. "Is it okay if I stand here a minute? I don't want to be accosted with trinket sellers and dentist hawkers."

She laughed. "That's why we're here. I just had a bunch of dental work done. My husband is getting the prescription filled for me now."

"I just need to get my bearings and pull up a map," I said. And--per usual--I over-explained my situation, pointing in the direction I'd soon be heading. "I'm going about seven blocks that way and need to get my bearings before venturing away from all this."

"What's over there?"

"A vet. I'm hoping that they sell pet medications because I need eyedrops for my dog." I looked into my phone, found the map, and charted my course. A few blocks this way. Take this street until it ends. And, the vet should be right there. "Thanks for letting me stand here for a minute!"

"Good luck!" she said, waving me off.

The snowbird area covers only a couple of city blocks. Soon, the hawkers gave way to empty streets. Other than the sound of a dog barking and a car engine as it passes, the area was quiet. I stepped inside a cute little coffee shop on the edge of the business district, but the line seemed long and slow, and I didn't see a bano anywhere in sight.

Stepping from the shop, I checked my map again, counting the blocks until I turn off onto another street.

The houses in this area were stacked tightly together with lots of tired-looking vehicles clustered in courtyards and on the street. Colorful clothes hung on a clothesline from a second-story dwelling. The clothes and the house paint offerrf the only color on this otherwise cold, grey day.

The wind picked up, blowing a gust of dust across a vacant lot.

I sunk my hands deeper into my pockets and turned onto another street, pulling out my phone and checking my geolocation to ensure I was at the right place.

Yep! Just two more blocks, and I should be right in front of the veterinary clinic.

Only...

When I reached the end of the street, I didn't see anything that looked like an animal hospital. On one side was an Oxxo convenience store, and on the other side there appeared to be a house and an empty storefront.

Now what?

I went into the Oxxo and asked the woman at the counter, "Hablas ingles?"

She shook her head.

Oh boy! My mind raced through my Duolingo exercises. "Donde esta el hospital de mascota?" (Where is the pet hospital?)

She nodded and said something quickly.

I heard the word girar. Knowing that word means "turn," I pointed to an adjacent street. "In esa calle?" (In that street?)

She nodded brightly, and I felt elated, like I wanted to do a hundred more Spanish lessons on Duolingo when I got back to Havasu. This was one of the reasons why I enjoy coming over to Mexico: trying out the language. :)

I made my way across the street and down the side street.

A man with a mop and bucket scrubbed the tile walkway in front of a building with an open door. A few large bags of feed sat beside the door, and the place had a clean-animal smell.

"Es el hospital de mascota?"

The man smiled widely, pulling his mop away from the walkway and gestured to the open door.

The first thing I saw was a little brown rabbit pawing at a wire cage to find the way out. With front paws against the side of the cage, his back legs kicked the small amount of alfalfa into the trap area beneath the mesh flooring.

As I looked around the room at the various pet supplies--a large spike dog collar, bags of food, a few cages--I listened to the short man at the counter talking quickly on the telephone. While he talked, I watched a happy blue parakeet chirp as it climbed around its cage.

When the man got off the phone, I went to the counter. "Hablas ingles?"

"Yes," he said.

I showed him Buena's medicine and asked if he had it.

"I have it in a drop, not in the gel. Other than that, it's the same thing." He showed me one of the bottles. It was in a sealed container and had an industry label with the medication information imprinted on the side. For the most part, understanding the medicine is pretty easy. For example, amoxicillin in English is amoxicilina in Spanish. Neomycin and neomicina are the same thing. For five U.S. dollars per bottle, I bought four bottles. The one tube at my Utah vet cost me $20.96.

Leaving the veterinarian, I determined to take another way back to the restaurant where I'd catch up with Brenda. Checking my geolocation, I planned my return route.

Along the way, I stopped at the supermercado and perused the aisles, looking for interesting things to buy. In the end, I only bought some tea and a few packets of moist dog food.

Again on the outskirts of the commercial area, I walked past a few buildings where the odor of Fabuloso hung heavy in the air.

I finally found a bano at the edge of "Snowbird Alley," a tightly-packed area with lots of street vendors and people milling about. The bathroom cost 50-cents to use, but it was right there and clean, so...why not?

When I returned to Brenda at the restaurant, she asked: "Back already?"

"It wasn't that far really," I said.

We debated whether or not to do more trinket shopping, but in the end, we determined we were both too broke for trinkets and agreed to return once more before I leave the area.

We were back across the border around 11:30 and returned to Havasu before nightfall.