East District


In a month, I’ll start my undergraduate at Tijuana University, on the West District, past the other side of the huge wall that splits the city in two. Anyone living in my district who wishes to work, study, or even visit the West District, has to undergo an investigation to guarantee the safety of the westerners, because, according to the West District authorities, anything wrong starts East: crime, sickness, poverty…

The wall was erected 30 years ago, when social problems in my district started to explode. After the separation, the situation has only worsened.

On the other side, they boast being closer to the First World. Here, people die every day, and those who are born, can’t even think of a future. They don’t give a damn about this, they have forgotten we once were one.

They didn’t approve my permit. They say it’s because of my father’s crimes, but he never was my parent, I never even knew the man. It looks like I won’t be able to move. It looks like I’m here to stay.


By Christian Campos
Translated, from the Spanish, by Pepe Rojo


DistritoEste

 
Pepe Rojo (1968) has published five books and more than 200 texts (short stories, essays and articles dealing with fiction, media and contemporary culture). He cofounded Pellejo/Molleja (with Deyanira Torres and Bernardo Fernández), an indie publishing firm, and edited SUB (sub-genre literature), NUMERO X (media culture) and PULPO COMICS (mex-sf comics anthology) for them. He has produced several interactive stories for Alteraction, and published two collections of Minibúks (Mexican SF and Counter-versions) at UABC, as well as the graphic intervention “Philosophical Dictionary of Tijuana.” He is currently an MFA Candidate in Writing at UCSD.
 
Omar Campos:  Former student of UABC, never a writer as much as a reader. Born in a city in the south of Mexico, he has lived in Tijuana for about 18 years. High school teacher and guitar player in a band that cannot play.