Day One – Thursday, January 13, 2022 (Travel)
Today started early with a flight from Salt Lake to Phoenix at 6:35 requiring us to be up at about 3:50. We had a layover in Phoenix for about 3 hours but touched down in San Diego just a few minutes after noon.
Our driver was in touch with us immediately after landing before we were even to our gate. San Diego is a rather small airport. By the time we got our bags and got outside we only waited about 5-10 minutes. We were in a car and heading for the border within thirty minutes of arrival.
The drive to the border takes about
25-30 minutes. The border crossing into
Mexico is not really scary at all.
Mexico isn’t nearly as concerned about what is being brought into their
country as the United States is. There were
no long lines (there usually aren’t).
There are a couple of hairpin turns to keep traffic moving slowly as it
passes through the station. You will see
Mexican National Guard soldiers with assault rifles and other law enforcement
officials, but they seemed completely disinterested in us. We were through the entire crossing in less
than 90 seconds, our car never needed to come to a full stop, and we didn’t
have to show any paperwork at all.
The drive across Tijuana was pretty nuts. Traffic is a bit different down here. It’s not as wild as some places, but certainly a lot more wild and aggressive than most places in the U.S. We arrived at the Marriot about 20 minutes after the border. There were coordinators from GoLight and lots of helpful hotel staff to take our bags. Check in was easy and many of the staff members speak fluent English. I don’t stay in a lot of hotels, so this Marriot is definitely the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. I would imagine that it is on par with any American Marriot Hotel. This is of course my opinion. I’ve never stayed in any other luxury hotels before. People who are used to that sort of thing might find the place to be a dump (I don’t know). Most of the hotel overlooks a street and the busy city, but the back side of the hotel overlooks a golf course and is very quiet. The lobby is nice with a sports bar, gift shop, and a restaurant. There are also lots of places to sit. Upstairs, you can tell that the building is old, but it’s well maintained, and the rooms are nice (if not a bit dated). The hotel is also secure. They have a few guys out at the driveway to monitor who comes in and out. There are multiple staff members in the lobby and the elevator will not move without a room key and will only go to certain floors (lobby, floor one to access the pool, and whichever floor your room is on).
(Night View)
We were given about an hour to relax in our room before being taken for medical tests. An hour later we went down, loaded into a van and met a nice couple with a lady in town for surgery and her husband as companion. We were driven in a comfortable van to a clinic (not CIBA but nearby) for a CT scan of the abdomen to check for problems. The facility was super clean and not at all anxiety inducing.
Next we went to to CIBA where we had a blood draw, an EKG, a discussion of our health history, and weight/measurements. They couldn’t get blood from my arm, so I got stuck on the back of the hand. This was not fun, but I will discuss my bloodwork problems on tomorrow’s entry. Once this was done, we went back to the hotel. The entire trip for testing had taken about 3 hours because we were in that small group with the other couple and had to take turns doing the tests. You will be on a water-only diet until after the blood draw, but for the evening you can go back to liquid (protein shakes, jello, yogurt, broth, etc). Luckily GoLight had given us a care package even if we couldn't have the protein shakes until after the labs.
Back at the hotel, my wife and I
decided to walk to a nearby Wal-Mart.
The walk is about ¼ of a mile, but the first half is a moderate uphill
and there is a busy intersection to cross with traffic that might be a bit more
wild than an American is used to (pedestrians are an afterthought). There seem to always be lots of people out on
the street in this area. If you are the
kind of person who gets nervous that the person who has been walking behind you
for 5 minutes is up to no good, then this walk might be scary. That being said, nothing happened to us at
all. We walked, shopped, and walked back
safely (mostly in the dark). No one
seemed to notice or care about us being there at all. The shopping center is upscale and looks very
much like a small outdoor mall in any American city. Like most shops and stores in Tijuana they
happily take American currency, but probably will give you your change in Pesos
(which make cool souvenirs for kids since a $20MX bill is worth about $1).
We ordered some broth (each patient gets three bowls per day included with their stay). My wife had been here with her friend almost a year ago and loved the broth. I liked it (I’d had it a few years before), but wasn’t as nutsy about it as she was. We each had a bowl, and she ordered extra. They gave us some popsicles (not nearly as good as the broth). We were both tired and went to bed knowing that surgery was the next day.
TL/DR
We arrived in San Diego around noon. We were at the Tijuana Marriot about one hour later. We went for pre-op tests and blood work. We walked to a nearby Wal-Mart. We survived :)
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