Six hours after leaving the bustle and midday heat of the center of Mexico City, with three hours of soaring through the high blue atmosphere above Mexico, I found myself on the bleachers of Cougar Stadium at the very new San Ysidro High School, facing a breathtaking sight.
The wide golden Pacific on the horizon in front of us, the crumpled beauty of Tijuana to the south, that red sunset, everything in view for hundreds of cheering friends and relatives. Representing: TJ people, South Bay people, Pinoy San Diego, African American San Diego.
Sharp ocean breezes.
A cousin I haven't seen since he was a kid was graduating. I was given video-camera duty. Wild hollers, noise-blowers. The principal talked tough, and people listened. But the families ignored pleas to stay in their seats during the recessional, rushing out to meet their graduates at the gates. There were photos to take.
By nightfall, tables were hard to come by at all the South Bay franchises of Hometown Buffet.