reminder

This past Saturday, 02/02/08, when I got out of class at UTEP and since I was close to downtown El Paso, I decided to walk across to Juarez to buy a bottle of liquor as a birthday present for a party I was going to that night. This is something I have done so many times in my life I didn't give it much thought and figured it would be as easy as the hundreds of other times I've walked to Juarez. After being in class for three hours I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and buy a bottle of liquor for a lot less than it would cost me here in the U.S. and get some authentic mexican food to eat.



The only problem was that starting this year a passport is now required to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico. If you don't have a passport you can still get back using your drivers liscence and your birth certificate. After so many years of going to Juarez and only having to say "American" or "U.S. citizen" to get back it totally slipped my mind that rules had changed. Needless to say I had neither my passport or my birth certificate with me.



The nice U.S. Customs official; after interrogating me as if i was a criminal and scolding me like a five year old, handed me a bulletin explaining the new rules and finally let me go. So let this serve as a reminder to anyone else who may be planning on going to Juarez in the near future, remember to take your passport or drivers liscence and birth certificate. Trust me, it will save you a lot of heartache and not mention time!