Part One

I like to trick myself in to believing I’m adventurous, I’m not.  I like to trick myself in to believing I’m daring, I’m not.  I even like to believe that I’m smart on occasion, I’m not that either.  What I am, is determined and curious, and often hungry.

Rich left me alone at the hotel, we are at the Hotel Mission Santa Isabel in downtown Ensenada, Baja California.  For those of you not in the know, that’s really Mexico, not California as we know it.  I sat in the courtyard for awhile and decided I was hungry, so I grabbed my bag and headed out to find grub.  There were a number of different taco stands on the corners, I wasn’t brave enough to stop.  There are too many things I don’t know well enough, I don’t know the language, I don’t know the currency.  About the only thing I can do well is smile.  So I took myself down to a little stand that I have been to before and ordered “dos tacos camerones”.  I thought I did pretty well, but the cook asked me fish or shrimp, in English.  Shrimp
I headed back to my hotel, holed up in my room with my computer, I should be out exploring, but the practical part of me says, someone should know where I’m headed if I’m going out on the streets by myself.  Hmmm, maybe I am smart. , I repeated, sigh, I was sure I had ordered correctly.  The two tacos were delicious and I paid with my smallest American bill, the total was 42 pesos, I had a $5 bill.  I paid with that, and she gave pesos back, it looked good to me, but really, how would I know?

Part Two

Have you ever noticed how much better everything tastes in Baja?  Tonight we were treated to some carne asada by some local guys that are helping our race team.  The boys had spent the day at their shop working on various cars and trucks, by the time Rich came to get me, the wood had been lit on the barbecue.  Hector had picked up twelve pounds of carne asada sliced paper thin and was starting to grill that, the salsa, guacamole, onions and cilantro were ready.  The meat was grilled to perfection and then flour tortillas heated on the coals. Seventeen people were fed for at least an hour, one burrito after another fixed just the way we liked them, uno mas, was the only thing everyone thought, just one more please, they were delicious.