A whole week with out chica's 1 & 2 made for a long and peaceful one but rather strange too. They have just returned from school trips one to Iquitos (on the Amazon) the other Trujillio (north coastal area) and both with suitcases full of smelly dirty clothes. They both liked being away, not for the culture factor but merely the chance to bond with buddies and tell ghost stories at night! Both are whinging incessantly about the fact they have to re-pack for our next trip only a few days after their return, as we are off to Chile. Which brings me to the bone of contention.
I feel I am broadening their horizons with visits to weird and wonderful lands with exposure to culture and gastronomic delights. They feel I am foisting my desires upon them by dragging them across boarders and insisting they visit historical sights and soak up some culture. I do try to temper the forays to museums/palaces/cemeteries with fun outings too and bribes of gelato and shopping but I wonder if I should just give in and leave them at home to laze until noon or persevere whilst shutting out the drone of their litany. Yes I am a mother who confesses to not listening to every gripe.
I think back to my school outings and holidays and they cannot compare to those my chica's have experienced. I remember a trip to St Albans on a bus where the kid next to me threw up so I followed suit. Then my strawberry mousse melted inside my lunch box and made everything else soggy and inedible so I came home hungry. Did my mother really think that was ideal picnic food or did I sneak it in; I can't recall. Maybe she was doing my trick of cutting out all extraneous whinging and relented to, she knew not what. I spent most of my time purchasing useless tat from the gift shop for all family members, once and twice removed! Was it an enlightening cultural experience? Of course not, I don't remember a bloody thing about the Romans and their amazing underground heating systems so maybe my chica's have a point. "What is the point of making us go, we will never remember it anyway" One hopes at least some small part will remain with them even if it is only the hotel's continental breakfast/flight delay/boring bus ride or some other mundane thing like a mousse smeared lunch box!
So if anyone wants to house sit two sleepy teenagers and two even sleepier cats in South America sign up now so I can book my next trip sin ninas.
4 comments:
Blogger ate my very long comment to this one. Now it is my bedtime, so I will just say that I identify, totally, and so do my children. Sigh.
Bee sorry you lost your comments. Have just got back from what the chica's would describe as another wasted journey. Little philistine's!!!
Want to hear about Chile anyway, even if its charms were lost on the chicas.
Need to get my thoughts and act together on writing up my Chile trip. Neruda's house was the high light and I feel you would have enjoyed seeing La Sebastiana. He was also a Baudelaire fan.
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