Day 12

We decided to stop taking language classes, at least for a while, last Friday. The kids were burning out and Jim and I couldn’t absorb all the new information we were learning. Hopefully we can practice what we learn and then take more classes toward the end of the trip. I think we may get more out of them that way too. This past weekend we got to spend more time with the host family, and chatting with them seems to be the best way to practice, just trying to find words and make conversation.

Since we stopped classes our days have certainly been action and adventure-packed. On Saturday we went to El Tule, which is claimed, not correctly, to be the largest tree in the world. That said, it is monstrous—45 feet wide and about 150 feet tall. It is hard to take it all in and as you walk around it, it sounds as if a forest-full of birds is living in it. The town there was cute too and we found an open market with food stalls. We are getting braver and tried the sorbet there—guanabana (we couldn’t resist the name) and lemon. They promised it was made with purified water. We had fresh fruit too, pomegranates and mangoes. I don’t know if it was the sorbet or not (the rest of the family is fine though) but I’m having more stomach issues and today has been the worst day.

After we returned “home” we saw an enormous bald eagle fly over the house and circle the back yard a few times. It was amazing.

Yesterday was a truly epic day. We went to the Sierra Norte mountains with our host family. The drive up was beautiful (though a little cramped with 8 of us stuffed in a little Nissan, more later about senses of space and safety standards here) and it was nice to get away from the smog and grit of the city. We stopped at a hillside restaurant for hot chocolate, bread, and jam made from local fruits called membrillos. The bathroom was located out back on top of a steep precipice. Other than being a little scary, it was a great spot to view the forest and their back patio was home to quite a few lizards. The boys loved it and it’s amazing to see their instinct to just grab the lizard, not worrying about whether it might bite. From the restaurant we headed to a river with big tire swings that swing out over the river. We hiked over a small bridge to a marshy area with small fish and tadpoles swimming. It was neat to see Jasper speak some Spanish too. He told our host, Salvador, there there were “bebe sapos” in the water and he told there daughter that there was a lizard that was “mas grande” than the other one.

The Sierra is beautiful, everywhere you look there are different colored butterflies, bromeliads, lizards, fruit trees, and we drove from pine forest to scrub areas and back to forest. The river was so interesting to Jasper that without thinking he just forded a stream to get a better look at the fish and a lizard. Then he fell in, almost undeterred, just popped back up and went back in to look for tadpoles. He spent the rest of the day soaking wet.

From that river we went to another. We hiked down a long trail through some of the most lush and varied forest I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing to see pine and cactus growing next to each other, and wildflowers everywhere. At the bottom of the trail we hiked up to a cave and went in. Then a man that works in the forest at a fishery at the bottom of the trail offered us a ride up to the top in his pickup truck. All 8 of us piled in with the kids and dads in the back of the pickup. They all loved it, though I got a few more gray hairs worrying that one of the boys would bounce out of the back. At the top of the trail, after a meal, we watched people flying through the forest on a zip line 40 feet above the ground. Our hosts’ daughters, Salime and Romina, went on a ride on the line together. After Jasper watched them he said, “I can’t do that, can I?” I said he could if he wanted to. After a few minutes of deliberation he said he wanted to do it. I couldn’t believe it as I watched him get suited up in a harness and attached to a big rope line with carribeaners. The next thing we knew he got a big push and was flying through the woods on the line. It was amazing to see and I wondered if he’d scream the whole time, but when he finished I have never seen such a big smile on his face. He was exhilarated and did it 3 times.

Hugo, watching his big brother, considered doing it, even getting suited up once and changing his mind, then saying he wanted to do it with me. We were suited up together and stood on the big block, waiting for our push, when he changed his mind. I have to say I was a little relieved as standing on the big block looking down and imaging flying over the forest floor with my 3-year old was a bit daunting.

The day was capped off with a drive back high up in the mountains. The views into the valley were breathtaking, and we could look down on the clouds. All day Hugo was saying he wanted to touch the clouds, and finally he got his chance. As we ascended we drove right into a cloud and continued to drive in and out of them for quite a while. Jasper kept sticking his hand out the window to feel them and marvel at how soft and wet the air felt.