DAY FIVE FALL 2025 TIJUANA IMMERSION - OCTOBER 11

For breakfast this morning we started off with chilaquiles which is basically cut up tortilla with red sauce, we were served this along with beans and eggs. We got ready for the long outing to a park in downtown Tijuana and on the way, we dropped Alethea off for her journey back to Santa Barbara. The park was full of trees and greenery and accompanied by people who sold products and came to the park to play chess; it was great for taking b roll. For lunch we made our way to Comida Calientita where we met Esther. Esther shared a story about her deportation from the U.S. During her process of deportation she experienced hardships, Esther had gotten stabbed in the throat and had to be away from her daughter. Despite the obstacles she found a passion in making food for those in need here in Tijuana. Hearing this story made me feel inspiration in my own life. The determination and perseverance that was captured in her story had shown that even through our own obstacles we can find our own passions and do good things. I felt an impact in myself and how I could change after how nice she was even after all the struggles in her life. During our visit we made tamales. “Corn batter, sugar, and butter” were the only ingredients to the tamales we had made. We made these so that we could have them handed out to the less fortunate. We then ate tamales made by Esther and her team which were delicious. Our next visit was the Mercado which was filled with shops that sold all the souvenirs and delicious Mexican treats that we could get. At the end of the visit at the Mercado we all engaged in dancing with a music performer after Amauri sang thriller by Micheal Jackson.