The last four days we have been eating a lot, exploring the town some more, trying to take care of some preliminary life chores that will make settling in at San Diego easier, and socializing. The weather has gone back to normal, which in the early spring means sunny and clear, but cold and windy. It looks like it should be warm outside, but it isn’t. We are running the heat in the morning and have to wear long pants and jackets when we go out. On one hand, it is a nice change of pace from the perpetual summer, but on the other hand, we are not used to cool weather and are having trouble adjusting to it.

Two things that are significant to Ensenada happened on the same day, three days ago. One, the news reported for the first time on the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico City. We are kind of shocked at how out of control the story has gotten in such a short time. You would think the world was ending because a few people got sick. Why does it affect Ensenada? Because the media is warning people not to go to Mexico. Ensenada is thousands of miles from Mexico City and there is not one single case in the entire state of Baja California, but for some reason the entire country has been deemed unsafe. That is a horrible blow Ensenada’s already depressed tourist industry.

The second is traffic signals were installed along the main drag. This was desperately needed. There were crosswalks along the boulevard, but no stop signs or traffic lights. When pedestrians used the crosswalks, it was something of a chicken run and cars often did not stop and would bare right down on the pedestrians. Likewise, when you were driving and wanted to go straight or left, that was also a chicken run. Usually it was easier to make a right and go around the block than it was to try to fight traffic on the road. The lights haven’t been turned on yet, but when they are, it will really help make that road safer for all.

Eric got the bikes out and we have been going out for a ride every day. Ensenada is a great place for the bikes. The outer areas are hilly, but close to downtown it is flat enough land that riding isn’t painful. One day we rode along the boardwalk. We got busted by a cop who told us we had to walk our bikes. Oops! The boardwalk is scenic. Here are a few shots along it.

Interestingly it looked like there was some kind of cheerleading competition going on. There were dozens and dozens of cheerleaders from several different schools walking around along the boardwalk all in full dress. Here and there, we would see a group practicing assorted routines and stunts. It was fun to see.

We went to the northern downtown area, which is even more touristy than the southern end, where the marina is located. Somehow, we never made it that far north last time we had Kosmos here. The northern end is mostly souvenir shops and nightclubs, but visually is just as charming as the southern end is. The big name places, like Hussongs and Senor Frogs, are at this end.

We have also explored more of the city beyond the downtown tourist center, going to restaurants recommended by the locals and to assorted non-tourist businesses as we do our life chores. The rest of Ensenada, visually speaking, is an ordinary looking city with little unique charm. It is not especially clean, nor is it dirty. Few buildings stand out as being either run down or super nice, most are pretty average. And, like the rest of Mexico, there are quite a few half built buildings dotting the town. And we haven’t seen a single military person patrolling at all.

We have had some great food. We have found that non-tourist restaurants have big portions at low prices. One morning we went out to breakfast and had Mexican eggs benedict. Instead of English muffins, there is a tortilla, and instead of hollandaise sauce it is a cilantro cream sauce. Yum. It has the usual poached eggs and ham, of course. Our breakfasts were served with a basket of assorted pastries, which Eric loved. Christi finds Mexican pastries to be too dry for her liking. Here are what Mexican pastries look like:

We had lunch one day at a sushi restaurant with some very creative rolls, using ingredients like spicy mango salsa, bananas and cilantro sauce to jazz up more traditional rolls. They were great.

We went to a mom and pop restaurant that only serves one thing a day, with the menu changing daily. That one thing was chicken enchiladas accompanied with beans, rice, salad and vegetable soup. Man, was it good. Enchiladas are one of Christi’s favorites. Seasoned meat or cheese is wrapped in corn tortillas and smothered in a smooth, spicy sauce, then baked. It is topped with cheese and sour cream. The vegetable soup was clearly made from scratch, with big chunks of assorted vegetables. Mmmm”¦.

We tried chili peppers stuffed with some kind of tuna concoction that were also really good. Chili peppers stuffed with cheese and deep fried are a popular Mexican appetizer, but this is the first time we have seen them stuffed with tuna.

We have hung out with Stephanie and Lance some more, as well as made some new friends in the marina, including a couple who have also circumnavigated (on a sailboat). We have also befriended a couple security guards at the marina, too. We definitely spend a good chunk of our days socializing.

As for chores”¦ we hired someone to wash and wax the boat. He didn’t do the greatest of wax jobs, but he was cheap, so we got what we paid for. The important thing is that he got out all scuff marks from the paravane chain that we got on the run to Nicaragua. It amazes us that no matter how much we beat Kosmos up, she always seems to clean up just fine.

We went to the dentist. The dentist here is cheaper than it is in the states with insurance when you factor in the co-pay and deductible. The cleaning was exactly the same as what we get in the States. We wonder where we can hunt down a dentist who does the amazing hi-tech cleaning like we got in Singapore?

Christi is desperately trying to get caught up on blog writing, knowing she won’t have time once she goes back to work.

We are also taking care of lots of little things that we know we’ll never get to once we are working again. Like what, you ask? Oh, just odds and ends. One example is writing a complaint letter to AT&T to try to get a refund for the phone fees for the last couple of months since she still has no service. Another is looking into plane flights for our upcoming trip to Greece. Yet another was arranging a slip in San Diego.

We are enjoying the slow pace of life here and wish it could last. We are living in first gear right now, and when we get home we will have to jump to fifth gear right away. Now that we have slowed down, we can’t imagine going back to the hectic pace of life we used to live. We know adjusting back to that pace is going to be really hard for us.