Reunion in Ensenada
(Originally posted December 2017)
Three years ago we formed our little friends’ circle, Mandy, Ale, Vicki and I. Our friendship grew over evenings of laughter and tears, trips to Chapala and the beach, and several bottles of wine. At the time I was new in Guadalajara, but I knew I found a family away from home with these fabulous women. At the end of our first year of friendship, Ale and Vicki moved off to Ensenada and Colorado to continue to take on the world, and this recent trip was our first reunion back together again for a few days in Ensenada, Baja California.
Landing just past midnight in Tijuana and driving past the US/Mexico border brought back memories of many previous trips to the city with the Casa YMCA, conferences about immigration and the immersion social justice trips. This time, I was just passing through, past the crosses on the border monument, past the fluorescent flood lights and the heights of the massive metal fence of the US border, down the highway through the ocean fog, past the Casa YMCA, that for the last decade has defined my experiences in this area of Mexico. But this time, we drove south for a weekend of reconnecting with our little circle of friends.
We stayed Ale’s new place on our first night, who hurried to unpack her moving boxes in time to be such a welcoming host. We stayed up until 6 am laughing and catching up, but it felt like we hadn’t ever been apart. The next morning, we laid around in our pajamas, watched the Packer game on TV, ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, chorizo, homemade hashbrowns and coffee prepared by Ale and Miguel.
Over the next few days we toured around Ensenada and were quite busy doing not much at all, as long it was together. During our days together, we fell right back into our routines and roles and our days together felt just like our old times.
We spent an afternoon touring around the vineyards in the valley. Our first stop was Vinesterra, the vineyard owned by Ale’s family. Ale showed us the rows of grapevines, the presses to squeeze the fruit and the barrels piled high in storage to age. She explained the labels and the personal history behind each one. She also taught us the fancy words to use when attending a wine tasting. Yes, this is very crispy, oaky, brute, nice body and has the nice legs. Give it a little spin and sniff before taking a sip. We dined at one vineyard with a delicious spread of tapas to share; croquetas, duck, patatas bravas and a cheese plate. We felt pretty fancy.
Ensenada offers a beautiful view, anytime of day. The main road hugs the Pacific coast around a quiet bay. The highway rolls over the hills and the rocky ridges plummeting into the ocean offer the most photogenic sunsets each evening. One evening we snapped a few pictures at the classic “ENSENADA” sign and then parked up the hill. We crossed a barbed wire fence, comically placed along the roadside as if it were slowing down the two dozen other people that had climbed past it to reach the lookout. Sipping wine from plastic cups we picked up at Soriana on the way, we watched the sunset over the ocean.
One afternoon, we drove forty minutes around the bay and down the coast to the famous blowhole geyser in the rocky oceanside cliffs, known as the Bufadora. Basically, the waves go in and every once in awhile the water shoots out and sounds like, “bufffff.” Geologically, this is quite a unique happening. Touristically, the three blocks of Tijuana style vendors are most notable. The stalls proudly sell everything you’d never need and some stuff that you actually may; NFL ponchos, pharmaceuticals, Aztec statuettes, churros, and musical instruments for children. We received several offers for boyfriends and to take our picture with a zebra painted burro. All in all, an entertaining afternoon.
During our time together we ate well. Really well. I may have come back with a few extra kilos around the waist. One evening we sat at an Italian restaurant for over four hours as we drank, dined and laughed the night away, even grabbing a couple of additional bottles of wine from the car as the night went on. Resulting from our elegant wine education, we paired our sips with the appropriate cheeses. Just kidding, we just ordered wines and cheeses because we like them, they’re delicious and we were on vacation.
All in all, it was a beautiful few days; relaxing and touring around with these amazing friends. I feel so fortunate to have these strong, intelligent, hilarious women in my life. I can’t wait to see where we end up next!
