We are right in the middle of the summer here in Mexicali, and even the crickets hide out during the afternoon when the temperatures reach 115 degrees or more. It is true that you get used to the heat, more or less, but we all try to stay where the air conditioning is blasting whenever we can. We can't run the air conditioning in our manufacturing area for several reasons, and the heat is palpable. Especially when the humidity is between 40-50%. Five minutes on the shop floor and your hair is dripping. Not exactly a pretty sight. The fans are blowing and keeping the air moving a little. In order to minimize the astronomical cost of electricity supplied by the federal government here in Mexico, the employees start to work at 4:00 in the morning and the equipment shuts down just before 2:00 pm. Since that is also just reaching the hottest time of the day, at least some of the workforce gets to go home early.
The heat is as much a part of life in Mexicali as crossing the border into the US. It's hard to say which one is the most difficult to handle but the latter is definitely worse when the weather is hot. If your car's air conditioning is good, the hour and a half wait is aggravating, but if you have to turn it off and open your windows, that wait can be hell. It seems to me that every week, the amount of time taken with each car gets longer, but I'm sure that's a relative judgement. I do remember that several years ago, the crossing hardly ever took more than 20-30 minutes, except at the peak hours in the morning and afternoon. Now I feel lucky if it only takes an hour. One of the most frustrating experiences is when you are almost to the crossing gate and the guards decide to take a break. They put a red cone in front of the next car and walk away, leaving whatever line is queued up waiting until an agent returns to take over. I have seen and heard angry, frustrated people futiley honking their horns and getting out of their cars to rail in useless anger at other drivers. I confess to holding on to my steering wheel and screaming inside my car, hoping no one actually hears me, in order to release my pent up rage for losing so much time waiting and waiting to get to the other side of the international border. Ah well, it's just something you have to deal with. . .
Here's a link to a posting that has some good information and pictures of the border crossing: http://www.ericrench.com/MEXICO/MEXICALI/BORDER/bordercross.htm.
