Cartagena, Day 2

After the last couple of blogs, I’m feeling a little pressure today because nothing very interesting happened. So if you were looking for a story about an earthquake, a trip past a stinky hotel, or a sudden addition of two more kids to a family, you are out of luck. Today was a pretty typical day for a Jensen family on vacation – and that is kind of the way we are viewing this portion of the trip.

We awoke at a good time and went down for the mother of all breakfast buffets described to us the night before. It was big, but it is hard to do much with breakfast that I haven’t seen before. Surprisingly, I haven’t seen any bacon in Colombia and after this morning I still haven’t. They did have some kind of weird, little, fat sausage links. The rest of breakfast was your standard pastries, fruits, cereal, waffles and made to order omelets. Now that we are a family of 5 people, there was a pretty good combination of everything on our table.

After breakfast we went out to the pool. It was still overcast but plenty warm. The major bummer of it all was that the little water slide was broken and being worked on. Traci did make the comment that it broke right after Maria and I went down and that maybe there was a weight limit. I don’t think that was fair. Maria isn’t that big.

It’s a real handful with Maria and Andres around a pool. Neither can swim worth a lick and neither appreciates the danger of water. We can’t take out eyes off of them for a second. We visited the kiddie pool for a bit and one of the two fell (I can’t remember which, but think this was Andres) and couldn’t get back up. I’ve seen this phenomena a number of times now and when they fall down in the water, they just kind of lay there face down like a piece of driftwood until you yank them back out into the air. Another time Maria was sitting on her feet on the edge of the big pool leaning in to try and get her hair wet. Traci told her a couple of times to “sit down” and “be careful,” but these warnings were not heeded. Pretty soon – “sploosh” – and Traci threw off her towel and jumped into the pool (still wearing a ball cap and sunglasses) to save Maria. At least they keep things exciting.

Luke II joined us again today. We learned that he lives with his grandparents on the Isle of White. I also learned that he likes soccer (Manchester United fan) and WWE wrestling which I thought was a weird combination. Nevertheless, he’s just an extremely nice boy. He played a little with Andres and Maria while we spoke with his mom. He also loaned Andres his little soccer ball and said we could just give t back to him in the morning when we saw each other at the pool again. His mom seemed like a nice lady too. I didn’t get to talk to her much, but Traci may have more to add about her if she ever resumes blog duties.

The reason why I didn’t get to talk much was that I was being pulled in several different directions. Well, mostly two – Maria and Luke (I also had back up duties on watching Andres and making sure he didn’t get into trouble). Maria wants in the pool and I have to carry her. Luke wants me to play “dive for the strange object hidden somewhere on the bottom of the pool” (today it was a little toy person that Maria keeps calling “muneca” which means doll. Oh, there is a tilda on the “n” so if trying to pronounce at home make it sound kind of like a “ny”). I basically took turns with each and tried to include Maria in the hiding of the “muneca.” In any event, neither was really happy with this arrangement, particularly Luke who is used to all of my time. I was glad when it came time for lunch because I knew that meant naps afterwards and a little peace for me.

We let M&A have extra long naps because we figured to be out late for dinner. So, I got first shift of sitting in the room while Traci and Luke went back down to the pool. When Traci came up to relieve me, Luke and I went out onto the beach to play catch (we brought our gloves and a ball). This got a few looks and comments from locals working the beach, but everyone was friendly. This is the second time in as many years that Luke and I have played catch on the beach in a foreign country (last year was Mexico).

Even after extra long naps, I think the fresh air and exercise had kind of caught up with everyone (even Luke with no nap). The kids were a little touchy and quick to begin pouting if things didn’t go their way. Also, the sibling rivalry was in full bloom between Luke and Maria. Each is jockeying for space and attention with mommy and daddy.

Things we learned/concluded about the kids today: They are extremely stubborn, which is no different from anyone else in our family. However, the addition of two more stubborn people adds a whole new dynamic. Also, at times it appears that Maria and Andres have never heard the word “no” before. Every time we say “no” they go into this pout which often times turns into a cry. Finally, Maria likes to be the helper. If she sees us cleaning up, she will help. If I am giving Andres a bath (as I did tonight) she will want to help. I think this is great, but sometimes help from a 4 year old can be a bit of a hindrance. No matter how nicely I say, “thanks but I need to do this” it sends her into a pout and usually a cry.

For dinner we went to the historic old section of Cartagena. This place has to be on the list of 1,000 places you see before you die. I’ll have to do a quick history check later, but the old section of Cartagena has an old stone wall around it. Although a large section of this walled off area used to be a military installation well over a hundred years ago, it looks like most of the city was within this walled off section as well. Inside, it kind of looks like the New Orleans French quarter except with narrower streets and no drunks stumbling around. They even had a couple of those guys painted up to look like statutes who would only move if you put money in their buckets. Also, the buildings are kind of a stone and stucco and painted very brightly. There were a couple of old churches, but today these streets are lined with shops and restaurants. I only saw a couple of cars on the streets, and it generally appears that cars are not allowed in the area. There were lots of horse drawn carriages which added to the allure (and scent) of the area. We entered with the thought that we would just look around a bit and then find a place to eat. Unfortunately, the place is kind of a maze and one street can look very much like the next to the first time visitor. We first encountered a square park area (Simon Bolivar Square) where they had some sort of traditional dancers and musicians doing their things for tips. We watched that for a while and moved on to look for food.

A little deeper into the maze and we found another square (the Santo Domingo square?) which had similar “entertainment” going on in various places. On one side of the square is a large church, but the other three sides is pretty much filled with restaurants. In the center of the square are tables and chairs. There are people with menus walking around and you kind of pick a table and a restaurant to serve you. This is where we ate and where we learned that Maria and Andres are not real fond of spaghetti. When we get home, I can start buying/eating more fruits and juices, but they are going to have to learn to like spaghetti. Andres was being a particularly difficult child this evening. He cried at just about everything. At one point, Traci picked him up and walked him around. I guess our waitress tried to tell Traci that the reason he was crying is that he was cold. It was 78 degrees out and he was wearing a sweater vest?!?! So, Traci was again annoyed by unsolicited parenting advice. Andres did get a little bit of a sunburn today and I have a feeling that was his issue.

It wasn’t long after we were done eating that it began to sprinkle. Naturally, we forgot the umbrellas back in our room. I even carry a back pack with me every where we go. I don’t know why they don’t just stay in there. Anyway, guided by my acute sense of direction, we wound ourselves out of the maze and back to the entrance without a single wrong turn. I am sorry but most of my pictures from the old historic part of Cartagena didn’t turn out very well. We already plan to go back (when it isn’t raining) and I will take more pictures then.

Tonight’s TV: Chinese martial arts movie, dubbed in English, with Spanish subtitles. They almost need a different Academy Award category for this. I have also been watching a lot of soccer. Tonight is the Copa Santander/Libertadores semi finals between Boca and Fluminense (not full names just what is in the score box of the upper right corner of the TV). I think these teams are from Argentina and Brazil, respectively. I probably would have been done with this blog an hour sooner if the game wasn’t so interesting. It just ended n a 2-2 tie. The semi-finals ended in a tie? I feel let down.

We’ll try to make tomorrow more interesting.


Andres put up a little fuss this morning during breakfast but was nothing we couldn't handle.


Maria got to have another granadilla for breakfast this morning. I sure hate to disappoint her when she learns that these things do not grow in Kansas.


Maria stiking a pose in her new swimming suit.


Kids messing round the kiddie pool. That is Luke II in the background.


Traci in the pool with the kids. We have kind of an unspoken agreement that no pictures of either of us in bathing suits outside of water will make their way into the blog. Sorry, ladies.
"What a drag it is getting old." - Rolling Stones.


A new Andres face. I am not sure what is going on here but it looks like he is sitting at the business end of a shotgun. Either that or a beer bong. Both are a little worrisome for a parent.


The Hilton playland which beckons the kids every morning. It's still a little too wet to go out there (or so i tell them). It's right next to our pool and once in a while they will wander over there and just stare at all of the equipment - like a kid looking through a candy store window.


Sorry this is washed out a bit. I think this must be Luke's favorite meal at the Hilton. It's the "sausage" and fries. Nothing like a good hot dog to remind a guy of home. I'd probably order it myself some time if I didn't have a hang up about ordering off the kids menu.


A couple of handsome men getting ready to hit the town. Maria is behind them somehwere in a full blown pout and not wanting to be pictured. This happens so many times during the day, I can't recall what the problem was this time.


Here's my only picture from walking around historic Cartagena that doesn't totally stink. this is the dancers getting ready for another performance. I'll try to get some better ones in the coming days.


Luke trying to show the kids how to suck spaghetti into your mouth. He's kind of got the Pop Eye look going.



Maria's and Andres' spaghetti sucking attempts didn't work out so good.


The four of us, sans Traci, at dinner. you will notice the spaghetti on Maria's nose. About the only way we could get them to eat anything was to dangle spaghetti above them and drop it into their mouths. They kind of thought it was funny if i wrapped it around their noses instead (see Andres in previous picture). Also, the big orange fruity looking drinks on the table are Maria's and Andres' mango juices (non alcoholic). I don't know why they served them in this glasses, but i didn't want anything thinking Traci and I were getting loaded at dinner on some kind of exotic drink. finally, Luke got a 7up and it came in a real glass bottle just like the way we used to buy pop when i was a kid (before 2-liter bottles). I didn't know they still had those anywhere.