After weeks of daily rain we awoke to a bright and sunny day today! It was cool this morning, but the sky was blue and we were happy! Paul headed out early to look at cars (more on that later) and the kids and I ate, dressed, and headed out to the grounds of the Portal. This place is so great for kids-on Saturdays they block off the top of the street for kids to ride their scooters and bikes, roller skate, and run free. We visited watched the kids ride for awhile and then visited the aviary before heading to the playground.
Despite the fact we've been here for over two months now, I still stumble upon cultural differences daily-today I realized it was the playgrounds. We have 3 playgrounds here in Portal-one large one and two smaller ones. When we first arrived it was quite a shock to see these playgrounds filled with steep slides, metal climbing structures, and somewhat old fashioned looking equipment. It definitely was nothing like what we were used to back in the States. The swings don't even have buckles for the babies. Sometimes you see the babas bring cloth diapers to tie the babies into the swing, but mostly you just tell your child to hold on tight and hope for the best! So far we've only had a few minor bumps and bruises and everyone's done just fine. You just sort of get used to seeing the kids climbing high, jumping from rocks, and scaling trees. In fact, after reading this article and this book I feel really good about the whole thing. For being in the middle of a huge city, it is really amazing how much authentic play experience the kids get without even leaving the confines of Portal.
Sophie and her good friend Anais on our extraordinarily dangerous playground!
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