I have been a tourist for about 9 years. Sure it's strange but not uncommon. Truthfully, I have used various different visa types over the past 9 year but most were tourist.
METV is a better option. Then you only have to do border bounce (go have lunch in a neighboring country).
When I did this they were funny about paying in cash. They required crisp brand-new $20 bills. This was about 5 years ago. I would recommend bringing with you brand new $20 bills specific to pay.