I spent most of my childhood years up to the age of 12 at home. Although I did have friends and I saw them every day at school, I never spent time with them outside of it. I preferred to be at home and to be honest, I did not know of anything else besides my home and I was okay with that.
However, as I reached my teenage years, I began spending time with my sisters' older friends. They hosted gatherings at our place and their friends would come over to enjoy each others' company, watch movies in the living room, drink tea, and talk for hours. I would sneak out of my room and join them on the couch, begging them to let me watch R-Rated films with them. I badly wanted to be with them and I was envious they spent so much time together, even though they did not see each other every day. All I wanted was to be a part of their friend group.
Now that I am older, I realized this was dangerous territory to tread on because as I frequently spent more time with my sisters' older friends, who naturally became my friends, I lost interest in people my age as a consequence. Conversations with my peers about the newest tv shows, or latest trends were boring to me. I instead craved stimulating conversations with my older friends, who were much more experienced in life, since they were already driving, attending college, seeking jobs, and being adults.
When I graduated high school, I felt like a thirty year old stuck in a child's body because I had grown up among adults and lived through things my peers had yet to experience. So, when the time came to choose a university, I chose UC Santa Barbara because this was a chance to finally be my age. Although I loved (and still love) my grown-up friends, I craved my own friends, individuals my age who were also about to have a fresh start in college.
It took time in Santa Barbara to make friends, but I met a solid group of people, who I connected to and fast-forward to three years later, our friendship is still strong.
My ride-or-die, Daisy, spontaneously suggested we travel to Ensenada, Baja California for a short vacation, to which I agreed. I was nervous because I have only ever traveled with my older friends, who made all the decisions for me and I never had to do much. However, this trip required that we plan everything, from our Airbnb, to the activities we would do in Ensenada. After school ended, the day had finally come for us to depart.
The five of us hopped into Daisy's car and drove to the US-Mexico border, where we then crossed on foot. From there, it was up to us to figure out how to make it to Ensenada. We found a taxi driver along the road that took advantage of our tourist appearances and we paid a much higher price than what the drive to Ensenada was worth, but after a full day of travelling, we were just happy to be in Mexico. We took a breath of fresh air once we reached our Airbnb and saw how cute our humble abode was. We were ready for the next three days!
Day 1: Valle de Guadalupe
The night before visiting Ensenada's wine country was hectic, since we just arrived to Ensenada and did not know where to begin exploring. However, our research showed that visiting Valle de Guadalupe, which is also known as the Napa Valley of Mexico, was a must when in Ensenada.
We organized a tour with The Wine Route to explore four wineries in the valley. Luigi, our driver, picked us up and led us through the wine country. This was our first time wine tasting, so we were excited to learn about wine from different winemakers and explore this unique part of Mexico.
In fact, we learned about the history of the wine country from Daniel, a sommelier at Sol y Barro, which was our favorite winery out of the four we visited. The winery's rustic and homey architecture made our visit very pleasant and warm. Plus, Daniel taught us historical facts, such that Russians originally cultivated the valley's land after their arrival to Mexico. These Russians called themselves, the Molokans, and they harvested grapes which they sold to locals, since the Molokans did not consume alcohol due to their faith .
Because of my Russian roots, my friends joked I should do an ancestry test to see if I also have Mexican blood, since according to Daniel, even my taste in wine was similar to most locals.
After many sips of petite syrah, we headed back on the dirt road through the valley. We drove along, taking pictures of the vineyards and ourselves, especially when one of us snoozed from too much wine.
Our last stop was for dinner at Fam Samarin, a Russian-themed restaurant that gives an ode to the Molokans of 1905. I was excited because of the various Russian items on the menu, like piroshki and borscht, but I was slightly disappointed when instead of receiving meat filled with dough in a classic Russian style, I just got an empanada. Still, I appreciated the restaurant's effort in creating a menu dedicated to Russian cuisine and filling the interior with Russian-nesting dolls, which reminded me of home.
Overall, it was an amazing experience to learn about the valley and explore the countryside of Ensenada, which is rich in history and delicious wines that only makes you want to explore more.
Day 2: La Bufadora
Our second day included taking a trip to La Bufadora, famously known as "the Snorter," which is a touristy spot. There, one can can view the waves crash into each other along a cave that then shoots water high up into the air.
We took an Uber to La Bufadora and marveled at how a body of water brought so much joy to tourists' faces. Everyone, including us, had their phones and cameras out prepared to snap a picture of the water in the air, which showered all of us in the blazing sun.
We sunbathed along the glistening blue water, people-watched, and took many polaroids together. After a couple of hours, we decided to head back to downtown Ensenada, but we were stranded because we did not have phone service and could not order an Uber.
We were a bit tense because we had no idea how to make it back. Our only option was taking a bus, since many tourists travel to La Bufadora on a tour bus. Dean spoke to one of the bus drivers and after seeing how desperate we were, he decided to take us for 200 pesos each. Our spirits lifted as we paid him and graciously repeated, "muchas gracias!"
We happily got on the bus, which belonged to a tour company leading events for tourists traveling on cruise ships along the Pacific coast. We sat in the back near the air conditioning and closed our eyes already falling asleep, when the man leading the tour bellowed, "So, what is your story?" We woke startled and began telling him how we crossed the border on foot and then took a taxi to Ensenada.
"You are so brave!" he told us. We looked at each other and laughed because our long journey here never made us nervous. Although our parents did wish us luck and constantly texted us to assure we were safe, we were fearless since the five of us had each other. Plus, all of my friends spoke Spanish, so I was confident we would not have any issues.
The tourists on the bus were impressed by us because we traveled to Ensenada independently and planned everything out without any assistance. A woman's eyes almost popped out of her sockets, when she learned we were college students on vacation. Up until this moment, our travels seemed trivial to me. However, seeing the impact that we had on this tour bus, including how Giselle's rendition of the Mexican ballad "Adios Amor" lit up people's faces, how people shared their food with us, and wished us luck on the rest of our endeavors, I realized we were in fact as brave as the tour guide described us.
Day 3: Playa Hermosa
As we reached the end of our trip, we spent our last day at the beach. Once we got to Playa Hermosa, we realized we forgot beach towels. Despite going to school by the beach and traveling to a beach city, we were unprepared.
Luckily, we bought some sarapes, which are classic Mexican blankets, so we got to bring souvenirs home with us. We then spent the day lounging in the sun, napping, and eating mangonadas, which are traditional Mexican fruit drinks with fresh mangoes, chili, lime juice, and a tasty tamarind-covered straw.
After our day at the beach, we headed to Asadero La Chispa for an early dinner, where we had amazing tacos and quesadillas. We paired our food with Coca Cola, which I will miss dearly because of its crispness and real cane sugar. The restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere, which we needed since we all got slightly sunburnt from our day at the beach. The interior of the restaurant was covered with stickers, featuring images of off-road vehicles that reminded me of home and the long journey we took to travel to Ensenada.
There, it finally hit me that the five of us have spent the past few days together non-stop. In fact, for the past three years of college, we have stuck by each others' side and it felt good to acknowledge our tight-knit bond that Ensenada revealed to me even more.
This trip taught me friendships are everything and that they take time to form and grow. When I was a young kid, I thought I did not need friends because I had my own self for entertainment. I spent most of my days reading and playing outside, without the need for much human interaction.
I later formed connections with my sisters' older friends, but I secretly longed to find my own people. These people are the ones who lived across the hall from me in my dorm. These people are the ones that then introduced me to their friends and together, we formed a group made up of unique individuals, who still connect through their similar interests and goals.
My travels to Ensenada with my college friends proved to me that friends are the people that you can rely on, those that make you laugh when things go awry, and even those that you do not see every day, but those you can still continue conversations with from where you left off.
And that is friendship.
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