Culture —– Ensenada Mexico
To celebrate my 11th anniversary with my wife we went on a cruise to Ensenada Mexico. I learned a lot of new fun culture information that I would like to pass on to you this week. Hopefully this will help you in your journey to learn Spanish and give you a few more Spanish culture tips.
To start out, I learned that the latest word for “cool” in Ensenada is “chilo” [chee-low]. I asked our horseback tour guide Miguel if that word is used just in Ensenada or in all of Mexico. He said that in Mexico City and the interior of Mexico they say “chido” [chee-though] instead of “chilo”, but in Ensenada and many coastal areas and border cities they say “chilo”. In Latin America, the traditional word for “cool” is “chévere” [cheh-beh-ray]. Just to clarify, this is not the type of “cool” to describe the weather, but the exclamation.
These are a few of the interesting facts I learned about Ensenada. It’s a coastal city about 63 miles from Tijuana which lies on the border of California and Mexico. It has great weather, 65° – 80° (Fahrenheit) in the winter and 92° (max.) in the summer. They also have a rainy season in January and February.
There are 400,000 people that live in Ensenada; I was surprised to learn that 10 percent are Americans; approximately 40,000 Americans live in Ensenada! I can understand why so many Americans live in Ensenada with the weather being so nice year round. Ensenada also has a very friendly environment, great business opportunities (which I’ll talk a little more about next week), and new homes that cost only $60,000. If I could get my wife and kids to go for it, I would seriously consider moving Ensenada.
Let’s get back to one of my excursions in Ensenada. After getting off the cruise ship, we took a small bus to a horse ranch located about 30 miles north of the city (which overlooks the ocean). The terrain had a bit of a desert feel to it, but it was beautiful. We mounted the horses and rode up to 1,000 ft. above sea level. At the top of the mountain was a spectacular view of the ocean, Ensenada, and an island in the Ensenada bay. It was breathtaking—beautiful and did wonders for the mid-winter blues. We had a great ride and after returning to the ranch we ate carne asada (roasted meat) with homemade tortillas and mango juice prepared by the some native Mexicans. We had a great time; I highly recommend it.
I found out later that the owner of the ranch is an American woman who now has about 50 guide horses. She will be constructing a bed and breakfast which will be completed in the near future.
Sneak peek at next week: More fun Ensenada info!
¡Hasta la próxima semana! (Until Next Week!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
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