“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

-Ancient Internet Proverb

We’ve all been learning Spanish for the past several months, and making good progress, but I really wish we had started sooner.

As new Spanish students we’ve had to grapple with some shocking truths. Did you know that sombrero means ‘hat’? Or that salsa means ‘sauce’? All this time I’ve been wearing sombreros without realizing it and pouring salsa onto virtually every food.

Our Spanish training would soon be put to the test, because on October 31^st we arrived at Cruiseport Marina in Ensenada, Mexico!

The check in procedures for a boat entering Mexico are intimidating, but the marina staff escorted us to the correct authorities, did all the paperwork for us, and babysat us for the several hours it took to work through the bureaucracy. Every now and then our helper would present me with a form and ask me to sign my name. If I hesitated, he would gently remind me what my name was. I can’t overstate how helpful he was, or how useless I was.

After we cleared customs we started to settle in to Mexico. First stop, the grocery store. All the things are a bit different here. Buying eggs, for example, is complicated back home. Cageless, free range, grass fed, or organic. Where does your conscience intersect your frugality? In the Mercado Mayorista in Ensenada the choice was simple: Do you want 30 eggs, or not?

After a few days and a few grocery stores, I observed that local people would often chat to Sarah, sometimes offering her advice about a product or a sale. This never happened to me. When I complained of this to Nyah she didn’t hesitate. “You’re too scary looking. You’re a foot too tall, and your beard is too long.”

I’ve always considered myself to be quite adorable and perfectly sized, but maybe she had a point about my beard? It was too much Alaska, not enough Acapulco? I went home that afternoon and trimmed it, endeavouring to style in an air of approachability with hints of Latin American relatability. Clipper attachment no. 3 met all these requirements.

The very next day in a department store, a woman approached me in the toy section and began chatting. Operation Mr. Nice Beard was a success! After apologizing lamely that ‘no entiendo’, I told Sarah and the kids of my achievement.

“She’s a Lego employee”, said Sarah, “trying to sell you Lego.”

“What? No.” Why was Sarah lashing out like this? “Why would you think that?”

“Because she’s wearing a Lego uniform, standing in the Lego section, and trying to sell people Lego.” The kids thought this was quite funny.

But she was definitely not a Lego employee. Operation Señor Beardo Bueno had been a success!

Ensenada is also a busy cruise ship port. There would be 2 new ships there each day, parked next to the marina we were in. This was a fascinating opportunity to observe cruise life. Norwegian Cruise Line would run different theme cruises featuring live bands who played concerts outside on the top deck. They did a rock-a-billy cruise, and we could hear Social Distortion play a set as we ate dinner in the cockpit. The lead singer was dropping f-bombs that travelled easily to the Disney Wonder ship parked right next door.

The next day we saw a crowd of emo styled people departing from an emo themed cruise. This was pretty intriguing! How do you reconcile the infinite angst of emo culture against a literal pleasure cruise?

We spent 10 days in Ensenada total. We felt lucky to be able to observe some Dia de los Muertos celebrations. We sampled some tasty street food, and we learned that if you walk around carrying 30 eggs people treat you like a local.

On to the Baja!

Photos…