Well we have been out of Canada for 46 days now and Sadie has completed 6 full weeks of treatments and 3 rounds of low-dose chemo. Under our original schedule, we would have returned home late tonight. We were talking this evening about what we missed most about home. Sadie misses her dogs and family. I am a little more practical - a dishwasher and a good office chair top my list. Currently we are enjoying a couple days off from treatments. As we have been at the clinic by 8am, Monday through Saturday for the last 6 weeks, the break is very much needed. Sadie has her PET scan on Wednesday and then resumes treatments on Thursday. Her final round of chemo will be next Monday and we hope to have the results of the PET scan by then as well. We are hoping to be home by next Friday night; exactly eight weeks from when we left Canada. And we are hoping to come home with Sadie in full remission. She is feel good, and looking healthy. The last round of chemo didn't seem to hit her as hard as the first two did.
The days are getting noticeably shorter now but the activity on the beach remains the same. There are a number of surfers that take to the waves each morning and evening. This dog waits patiently on the beach as his owner catches the morning waves.
There seems to be a lot of black sand washing up on the beach the last few days. I'm not sure if this is related to the wild fires to the north of us or something else going on out at sea.
Imperial beach runs about 6kms between the US border at the north end and an outcropping of cliffs on the south end. Our apartment is right around the middle. There is a popular tourist area on the north end. It is pretty quiet now with most public gathering areas being closed due to Covid.
The cliffs on the south end of the beach look pretty dangerous. The water is rough here and there is no swimming.
There are a number of restaurants and bars on the north end of Imperial beach close to the border wall. Like most of Tijuana, you will see nicely decorated and maintained buildings right next to ruins and shacks; or below them in this case. Its common to have upstairs residential units above the restaurants. This lucky one has a railing on the balcony, not as common as you would think. Safety regulations aren't quite the same here.
I thought the name of this bar paid tribute to Tijuana's checkered past as a place for partying and prostitutes (you know, "Hookahs" perhaps being a slang word for ladies of the night). Sadie informed me that a Hookah is an instrument to smoke tobacco with. I'm not sure how she knew that. I didn't ask as I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.
Now a days Tijuana is known as a medical mecca. There are supposed to be a hundred or more medical clinics and even more dental clinics. The medical industry ranges from cancer treatment clinics to high end spa rehab centres to plastic surgery clinics (we don't have to go all the way to Brazil Nicole!!). With the current focus on the health care industry, the locals seem to have a much healthier lifestyle than I have seen in other parts of Mexico. The beach is busy both morning and evening with health conscience people doing a range of activities from walking their dogs, to running, to doing some crazy CrossFit type class (I didn't take a picture of the class as that would be creepy). In the early mornings I tend to stand out from the locals on the beach - the crazy Canadian in a tank top and shorts while the locals are mostly in sweaters and long pants. It can be a bit fresh in the mornings as the temperature sometimes dips to a low 18 degrees C.
