Friday Family Newspaper #4
This week, our newspaper offers four sections. A food section (by Harper) highlighting fresh juices of Colombia, Local Crime Report (by Ruthie), Sports (by Tommy, of course), and Parenting (by Anna) sharing 10 very random ways to entertain your children in the jungle.
Delicious Fresh Juices in Colombia
By Harper
One of my favorite things about Columbia is all the fresh juice. Because they have so much fruit growing within the country, everything is fresh and delicious. There are many flavors I have tried, so I will list them here: Strawberry, Blackberry, Pineapple, Raspberry, Orange, Watermelon, Mango, and Lemon. My favorite flavors are Blackberry, Pineapple, and Raspberry. Different places we have stayed have had different juices too. For an example, the Mora (Blackberry) juice is better at the resort in Santa Marta than our Eco Retreat in the jungle. Juice is also not expensive. In Santa Marta, Juice was $1.00 a cup. They also blend juices in a blender, making a foam on top of the juice. It is very good, and if you come to Columbia make sure you try some juice!
Terrifying Animals in the Jungle
By Ruthie
This article is about all the scary animals, according to everyone.
Nenna (Mommy’s cousin Jenna who is traveling with us right now) told me that the scariest animal she has seen in the jungle is the cicadas waiting outside the outdoor bathroom at this eco-resort.
Theo was scared of the big brown dog who stuck his face in Theo’s lap during dinner at the hotel.
Daddy was scared of the mosquitos because they were biting him.
Harper was scared of all the 21 hotel dogs that we have met in Colombia. There was a little dog who was jumpy and playful (scared). The big dog walked around and chased Harper because she was running away (scared). The brown dog was under the table (scared).
I’ve many animals I was scared of in the jungle. I was scared of geckos in the outdoor bathroom. I was scared of the big moth in the outdoor bathroom. I was scared of the mosquitos. During dinner one night, there was a frog that jumped on me and I’m scared of him. There was a bat in the outdoor bathroom and there was a different bat flying around under the roof at dinner. I was scared of a donkey walking down the path to go tubing while we were hiking up. That was the worst..or maybe the gecko was the worst.
Overall, I think the jungle is not my favorite location. I prefer beaches.
Surfin’ - not in the USA
By Tommy
In November of 2011, I signed up for my first surfing lesson. We were in Bali, on the beach and it seemed like the thing to do. And then Anna got sick, I canceled the lesson to take care of her and we watched 100 episodes of Chuck on illegal bootleg DVDs instead. So when Anna saw that there were surf lessons offered 15 minutes from our hotel in Tayrona, Colombia, she suggested I try again.
Jenna had surf lessons on her lifetime to-do list, so she joined me for a private surf lesson. For a private lesson for 2 people, it was around $45 US. Pretty sure that’s not the price we’d be getting in California (though probably more than Bali in 2011). The surf school was on the grounds of a gorgeous hostel, which was perfect because they had a pool and a bar to deposit Anna and the kids during the 2 hour lesson. Their 2 English speaking instructors were out of town, so we got 19-year old Julian who’s English was marginally better than my Spanish… but it was largely a visual lesson anyway, so not a big deal.
After 5 minutes of instruction on how waves work, we were ready to head out. We got very long, wide boards that are easy for beginners. But very difficult to carry. The lesson was going to be held 15 minutes walk down the beach, at the mouth of a river that meets the ocean. This was clutch, because it allowed us to practice paddling and standing up in the slow-moving river, before trying it in the waves of the ocean. But it also meant carrying the long, wide board 15 minutes through the sand. Julian offered to carry Jenna’s board and I was stuck struggling with mine across the beach. Women are all about equality until it’s time to carry a heavy surfboard for 15 minutes…
Julian had us lay in the sand as he showed us paddling – getting the board up to speed to make it stable enough to stand up. Then he had us practice on the board in the sand,. “Mastering” that skill, he showed us the three ways to get up. The three methods varied from slowly standing up to jumping straight from your belly to your feet and landing in your stance. I’m guessing that one is best for actually surfing, though I found it to be physically impossible for me, even on the sand. I guess I’ll never be a professional surfer. I was able to do the other two on the sand, though it was a different story in the water.
After practicing in the sand, it was time to get in the river for more practical paddling and standing practice. And it turns out standing up on a board in the water is a lot harder than in the sand. Hmm, who knew. But we were able to see how much easier it is with forward momentum than just a floating board. If we paddled fast enough, the board actually felt super stable when going through a 3-step standing process. If the board was still or going slow, the first step sideways would send us head-first into the water.
We had to show Julian that we could stand up a few times before we moved to the ocean. He took us to an area with fairly small waves that would break and run for quite a ways and we were ready to go. Julian set up and Jenna and I would bring our boards to him. He’s hold them in place while we would lay on the board, facing the shore. There’s be no paddling – he would hold us in place, waiting for the right wave or right placement – I don’t know. I asked him what he was looking for, but he wasn’t able to articulate it in English, so that remains a mystery. But he’s say “This one – get ready” and I’d put my hands by my shoulders in a pushup position, ready to push up into Cobra pose. The wave would hit and take the board a few feet, then Julian would yell “Now” and I would push up before planting my right foot at the back of the board and bringing my left foot to the center. I managed to successfully stand up and ride the very first wave without falling. When I lost momentum and jumped off, it was into about a foot of water with a very rocky bottom. That was the worst part of the day – my big toe was cut and bruised, which would hinder my surfing for the rest of the day.
The other worst part was trying to get back to Julian. It would take about 5-6 minutes after each ride to maneuver the board through the waves back to him. The longer we stayed out, the more tired we got. I had an easier time than Jenna since she’s about a foot shorter than me, so I guess there’s some equality in Julian carrying her board in the beginning. My form was shot after about 6 runs that took about an hour. My final total was 3 successful rides, 1 almost successful and 2 total catastrophes that had me in the water within seconds of Julian letting me go.
Not too bad for my first effort. I was exhausted by the end of the lesson, but I definitely want to try surfing again. I’m not too old to move to the beach and be a surf bum, am I?
Ten Random Ways to Entertain Your Children in the Jungle (or almost anywhere else)
By Anna
I’m not a parenting writer, so you know, probably take this list with a grain of salt. Also, Theo was up all night feeling a little under the weather and so I’m tired.
Send them out to gather leaves to trace into their journals (or whatever paper you have lying around). Require at least 5-10 different leaves.
Take a random coffee table book from the hotel “lobby” and look through the pictures, making up captions as you go.
Snacks?
An empty water bottle can be a dive toy. Or a shower. Or to create a rain storm. Really it’s a versatile and underestimated pool toy.
Make them brush their teeth. This will require at least 30 minutes of crying and whining so it does kill a lot of time. But you will need a consequence for not brushing teeth ready so plan ahead. Why is this so hard? If this is too easy, there’s always showering. Two of the three kids also hate showers.
Ask them - “is this clean?” about any item of clothing. You can go through all the clothes checking each one. They have no idea and everything is damp from jungle humidity so it’s really hard to tell or remember.
Numerous games of hide and seek, I-spy, Simon says, rhyming game, concentration, 20 questions, and every other possible game that requires no equipment. First you have to argue about which one to play, which takes five minutes. Then play for one minute. Repeat.
Dance parties.
Snacks?
Peak and pit. Discuss what has been the best of the trip or the day. And the worst. It’s fascinating how each person experiences the same trip really differently, even though we are on the same journey.