The border between the United States and Mexico is in the news every day, in ongoing debates about immigration and spending on security initiatives. But what is it like to visit destinations along the border?
We were both headed to the bridge, in her case so she could cross back to Mexico after a long day of work, and in mine so I could eat and drink at one of the places I used to go when people still did things like go across the international bridge to eat and drink. She was an older woman, maybe in her mids, and like so many others she lived in Matamoros and worked in Brownsville.
My sister, Sylvia, happened to be back in town teaching a cooking class at one of the local museums where the woman cleaned and today had stayed later than usual to help her pack up. Now my sister was asking me to give her a ride to the bridge. It was late afternoon and once she crossed over she still needed to grab a bus to the other side of Matamoros and then walk the rest of the way home.
I had pulled up to the curb expecting her to get in the front seat, but she opened the back door to set her purse and two plastic bags with leftovers down on the seat and then sat next to them. We were just going to the bridge. It was only a five-minute ride through downtown Brownsville.
Afterward the government announced the official death toll at six, while the media reported it at 47, but people living in the city, like the woman in my back seat, figured there had to be over dead.
