Ensenada means “bay”.  That was the first thing I decided that I needed to know after booking a hotel in the town of Ensenada de Todos Santos and committing to a road trip down the Pacific coast and into Mexico.  Is Mexico safe to drive through with the family? Can we drink the water? These were secondary questions.  First things first, what the hell does Ensenada mean?   I had never heard the word spoken in Spanish before, but I had always admired the way it sounded with its double rhyme time presentation… (En rhymes with sen, na mimics da…ya feel me?)

About a decade ago Tania and I had gone to Rosarito, which is a half hour south of the U.S. line and the infamous border town of Tijuana.  On that trip I remember the thrill of hopping into the car in LA only to find ourselves in Latin America just two hours later.  The change in culture and economic conditions on our particular route south from LA can be particularly jolting as you travel through the mega-rich counties of Orange and San Diego before hitting Tijuana in one of the more abrupt transitions on the planet.  There actually is a wall on this portion of the border, which immediately stands out, although it is dwarfed by the largest Mexican flag in existence, which waves and works shadows across the closely packed buildings of Tijuana that run right up to the border wall.

The labels “first, second, and third world” always sounded sloppy to me while also seeming offensive probably to inhabitants of so-called third world countries.  Taken logically, this imagery of “worlds” stretching out in a linear fashion from 1st to 2nd to 3rd suggests a certain continuum.  So how is it then that you just go from the “first world” in the US directly into the “third world” in Mexico over the space of a border wall?  What about the whole second world thing?

But when it comes to crossing the border from Southern California to Tijuana, the metaphor of skipping an entire world to get there holds. Even at the end of a long flight, stepping into a foreign land can be jarring as you take in the new air and space, but the change is expected or at least makes sense given the distances covered with air travel.  But freshly here in Tijuana, there is an immediate vividness to the scene that smacks you present.  The other side of the fence in the U.S. is basically undeveloped up to the wall, but as soon as you cross into Mexico, the bustle of a Latin city engulfs you.  The obvious things are different on this side of the border – the language, the currency, the food – but even the hue of Tijuana has a different quality, a different vividness than in San Diego. Do you remember in the movie Traffic where the story played out over different scenes between the U.S. and Mexico, and how the director used a different lens and filter to film when they were in Mexico?  I was reminded of that here, because it seemed like the same filter had been applied to my glasses.  A natural sepia.

All of that said, we basically chose to drive through Tijuana as quickly as possible en route to our resort vacation!  Part of the appeal of a quick jaunt to Mexico is that everything is at least 50% off when compared to SoCal.  We had booked the nicest resort hotel we could find in the Ensenada area because why not!?  It was basically the same price as a Marriott in the States and we ended up having an awesome resort style vacation for half off without even having to pay air fare.  I definitely recommend a trip to Baja California (the state/province that begins in Tijuana and goes all the way down to Cabo) for SoCal residents, but the price is just an added bonus.  For me, the chance to travel in a foreign country is always the benefit in and of itself.  The subtle and not so subtle differences in language, food, smells, hues and human interconnectedness are the marrow of travel.  Taking these things in is a sensual rush, and Mexico feels so alive in these differences that the incessant hamster wheel of the mind is well enough exercised by the fresh reality of any given moment.  That flow, the flow of travel and newness – is awesome.  Literally, some awe was experienced, and I love that it can be so easily had for us here.

The tangible differences were tasty too.  As we all know, Mexico has great food.  Ensenada itself is supposedly the home of the original Mexican fish tacos, and the seafood just generally was so f’ing good as to be ridiculous.  Somehow it has come to pass that my 5 year old daughter’s favorite food is octopus, and if there is octopus or squid of any kind on any menu, that’s what she’s having.  Go figure.  Well, everyplace we went in Ensenada had octopus (pulpo in Spanish), so we saw quite an assortment.  And gosh darnit if the stuff wasn’t so fresh and succulent as to warrant its place on our table for every meal.  When we got to our resort hotel, we made sure that we didn’t let our fancy digs cause us to make the mistake of getting sent to trendy, nice hotel types of restaurants.  Instead, Tania went up to a few workers at the hotel and asked them where they ate, not where the concierge was sending people.  This was a good move.

That first night we ended up having one of those destined-to-remember meals at a place several blocks off the beaten path that the hotel staff recommended called El Primo Nava.  First off, the menu was huge with every variety of seafood from shellfish to Charlie tuna.  Normally, I can find big menus intimidating as my FOMO kicks in and I consider all of the things that I might like better than what I ultimately end up choosing.  But this time, I knew as soon as I saw Aguachile on the menu that was what I would have.  Aguachile is raw shrimp “cooked” in the acidity of fresh lime juices with onions and chiles added to the brew.  The mix is typically surrounded by slices of cucumber piled in such a way as to keep the lime juice in the middle deep enough to ceviche the shrimp.  Tania and I first had this dish in Cabo and came back to LA looking for anyplace that would serve it.  We did eventually find one place in Culver City, but it really didn’t compare.  But, here it was again – this amazing amalgamation of briny seafood with chile and lime – and man was it ridiculous.

If anyone could figure out how to make this dish taste like it does in Mexico I’m convinced it would be a hit amongst the sushi-loving LA LA landers, who are always on the lookout for locally sourced and “authentic” foodstuffs.  Jade, of course, ordered the octopus special, and Tania got some bouillabaisse that included every type of seafood in the restaurant that we collectively could only get halfway through.  We left with a doggy bag big enough for a full second meal for the whole family, all for under $50.

Lots of great meals followed.  Almost every time, we ordered more food than we could finish and ended up taking some out with us.  We never got it back to our place though, because invariably, when we left we saw someone who looked like they could be hungry and offered it to them.  Every time our offer was immediately accepted.  One time, it was just a single taco that had gone uneaten that we offered to a man sitting near our car, who thanked us and wrapped it up in a napkin before putting it in his bag.  When Jade asked us why he didn’t just eat the taco, Tania suggested that maybe he was saving it to take home and share with his family for dinner later, and that maybe that would be all they had to eat.

“Oh” Jade replied, eyes widening as she sat back in her car seat.   “Oh” I thought too.

There really is no way to fully “check your privilege” in life.  If your privilege has you eating food for example, where others can’t afford to, then the only way to check said privilege would be to starve likewise.  But we can be made aware of it, and certain moments are more poignant and effective at doing so than others.  For me, seeing my daughter contemplate her advantages made me see my own primrose path more completely.  In any event, such perspective is a lifelong endeavor to acquire and appreciate.  I was glad to be offered a fresh dose of it on this quick 4-day jaunt south of the border.  I think I’ve rambled enough about it for now.  If you enjoy ramblings that lead someplace though, served with a side of ceviche, you might let the road take you to Mexico.  I know that we’ll be back…