Tijuana: Finding Freedom Where Least Expected

 

An unexpected place was where I went.
“Oh my, you’re going? No way!”
“It’s dangerous! Many people sell drugs there, don’t go! Cancel the trip!”
People found it hard to believe when I decided to spend a week at an atypical tourist place—Tijuana, Mexico. But there, I found the inner source that sets people free.

I joined an Alternative Spring Break trip with my school in Los Angeles, driving across the border to help build a house for a family to accommodate its growing members. Scattered Mexican citizens walked back and forth along the border line, looking over to the “free country” of America, hoping to catch a glimpse of what freedom, promised in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, tastes like. To them, it’s a dream, so close, yet so far.

With this surrounding and the mindset that I had left behind my freedom, I entered into the territory of Mexico for the first time.

The main goal of our weeklong volunteer trip was to dig a 44-inch-deep rectangular foundation for a house. By that, I mean literally turning a flat soil land into the foothold of a house, all with our bare hands.

It might be counterintuitive, but it was in this trip and under these conditions that I found myself free. There was no internet connection, no cell phone reception. Free, both mentally and physically. No more bondage, no urge to constantly checking on my notifications; pure enjoyment of nature, and more importantly, of the people surrounding me.

To do a massive task such as this one, it was not without help from people in the neighborhood who came to help whenever they could; soon after dawn, right before they took off for work, prior to dinner. The community came together to help this one family to build a shelter. And the children of those neighbors came to look at how this foundation was built, hoping that one day it’ll be their turn for people to help them build a house. This level of participation is something we don’t see living in a big city where people only mind their own business; it is already a rarity to have known the names of one’s neighbors.

Among those who came to help, there was one boy, Martin, that I particularly remembered. Just a few weeks into his ninth birthday, he already acted like a mature adult with a muscular physique. He brought his three young nieces to visit the digging of the foundation. He managed their needs effortlessly, whether it was changing diapers or feeding them. When asked which country he’d like to visit if he got a chance to, his answer left us speechless. “Haiti. I want to help those who are suffering from the earthquake.” His heart was so big, that no matter how badly his living condition might seem to be, he was thinking of others who were needy. People there also maximized their resources. Using a couple of strings, a twelve-year-old hung a chair under a tree to make a swing for her three-year-old cousin. So simple, yet so profound. There, I was free of language barrier; their actions were all that it took to feel the love around me, for love is a universal language. None of those living in the neighborhood was rich in a material sense, but their love and care for one another was overflowing; no vessel could possibly contain.

We also visited an orphanage. These children, despite being forced to learn the bitter reality at an early age, still kept their innocence. Very quickly, I was already piggy back riding them, playing hide-and-seek and jumping rope. When we left, the whole orphanage thanked our visit with a Spanish song. At that moment, my eyes streamed down tears that I could no longer hold back. There was always thanksgiving, in every corner of this city.

One of the other purposes of this trip was to inform others that Tijuana is not how the media portrayed it. This place is beyond what we heard on TV of hatred and violence; in fact, it is just the opposite. There is freedom, warmth and power. The power of love.

This was a trip where I was free of my preconceptions, of the cacophony in a city, of holding back my emotions, where I could truly express myself. But more importantly, I realized one thing—if you are content, you are set free wherever you go.

Little did I know that when I decided to visit Tijuana, it was already an act of freedom—unchained from others’ preconceived notions. I was already free and had a pair of soaring wings, meeting freedom where I least expected to find it.

About the Author: Farn-Ru (Sharon) Tseng currently resides in the U.S. and enjoys writing and traveling in her leisure time; she chronicles her life experiences at her blog. The fact that she was born and raised in Taiwan by a Cambodian Chinese father and a Malaysian Chinese mother helped cultivate her interest in accepting and appreciating different cultures at an early age. Always curious about the world, she’s traveled to 29 countries in three continents and hopes to continue exploring many corners of the world.

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4 responses to “Tijuana: Finding Freedom Where Least Expected

    1. Thank you very much Indra for your nice summary 🙂 I learned from them more than I could have imagined. They have such big hearts and endurance–breaking away from the materialistic world.

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