How to Play Chicken with Waves that Can Kill You

How to Play Chicken with Pacific Ocean Waves that Can Kill You
Monday Jurubida, Choco

Playing Chicken with Pacific Ocean Waves

For awhile I watched from the beach as Doris played “chicken” with the waves. When there was a lull in the heavy waves, I slipped out of my cap, shoes and T-shirt to slide into the water myself. It was surprising how warm the water was. I have taken many baths in water that was a lot cooler than this and I don’t take cold water baths by a long shot.

“The water is really warm”, I said to Doris.

“Yeah, isn’t it great?”

I couldn’t believe how warm two sunny days had made the surf.

Heavier Pacific Ocean Waves Begin Rolling in

Higher, heavier waves now began to roll in. We played chicken with them, running to the water’s edge when the waves crested more than about six feet in height.

“Don’t go out too far”, my wife warned.

The undertow from the breaking waves told of an outgoing tide. With higher waves, it could easily carry a person out past the breaking point with potentially disastrous results.

A Nealy Fatal Case in Point

Minutes later, barely 20 feet from the waters edge, we turned to see a towering wave of turgid water bearing down on us. In unison, we bolted for the shallows with Doris a couple of steps ahead of me. I high-stepped like a football tight end through a sea of opposing team tacklers to get speed through the waist-deep swell. It was a race to beat the slam of that monstrous wave and its terrible undertow.

I lost.

A Mack truck slammed into my body from behind to send me tumbling helter-skelter in the bubbling brown sea soup. Emerging from the froth to the sounds of Doris’ laughter, I struggled to get upright. But before I could regain my feet, the dreaded undertow began dragging me seaward like a limp rag doll. Doris splashed over grabbing my arm to try to prevent me being swept out further. The undertow started taking both of us. Fighting to break free, we pushed against the receding sands finally getting a foot hold. The sea lost this battle. We dried off deciding to take another dip the next day in calmer waters. Still, it was amazing how warm the Pacific Ocean was with two consecutive sunny days to warm Jurubida’s Bay.

I hope it’s still that warm tomorrow. Unfortunately, the unpredictable sea had yet another surprise waiting for us all the next day. And this time it was much more serious than we could have imagined.

Teach English in Colombia: They Accidently Got Out

A Jurubida, Colombia Salt Water Fishing Day

The Still Sleeping Fishing Village of Jurubida

Dawn broke about 530 am. For the first time in days, it wasn’t pouring rain, unusual for the Choco, the wettest region in the world. Instead a lazy pink glow began growing in the eastern sky above the rainforest behind the still sleeping fishing village of Jurubida on Colombia’s Pacific coast. Almost all the fishermen had long since braved the waves of the incoming tide and headed out into the arms of the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes fishermen like Heriberto, didn’t come back, locked in the sea’s embrace forever. His wife still waits to this day for news that will likely never come. The sea doesn’t like to give up its secrets, you see.

Gliding across the glazed surface of the Jurubida River, I glanced over at the simple houses that lined the shore. They were mostly wood and Cana Brava construction, typical of the region. The materials were relatively cheap, readily available and the most weather-resistant of the regions nearly forty feet of rain annually.

Looking for a Passage through the Waves

My neighbor and local fishing guide, Pepe slid the wooden launch back and forth across the shallows of the incoming waves, left and right, looking for a passage through the waves to the open sea. Pausing the outboard for a few seconds at one point, he then suddenly throttled up, breaking through a low-riding wave front and we were free of the incoming tide’s onslaught. Not more than ten minutes across the blue green waters low swells, we dropped in 40 lb. test mono trolling homemade stainless steel spoons with wire leaders for saw-toothed Sierra. It didn’t take long for the first connection which violently jerked Pepe’s arm backwards, partly spinning him around at the helm. He pulled in the first hit of the day hand-over-hand, swinging the silver cigar-shaped predator into our 16-foot locally-carved wooden launch. Half a dozen fish later the action slowed and we moved on, circling the group of morrows just over two miles off Jurubida’s shoreline. The thousands of sea-going birds that inhabited Morrow Pelau complained noisily at our disturbance flying low across the waters where they themselves fished.

We anchored half an hour later on an undersea plain about 60 feet deep.

Bottom Fishing for Roaming Schools

“Lets bottom fish for roaming schools” I suggested.

Pepe reluctantly agreed. Were it up to him, we’d troll the whole outing. But gas prices had shot up and a day of trolling would be a costly one. Better, I thought, to troll between fishing spots, then let my Penn reel do its work. There were actually three of us in the launch, Pepe’s early-twenties son was also along for the Day. Mute from birth, he had a sign language system worked out so almost everyone in the village “understood” him when he “spoke”.

We needed some bait, so we jigged light lines with three dropper hooks twenty feet or so down. Results were immediate and we pulled four inch long baitfish in by twos and threes for the next hour. Then, apparently noticing the commotion, predator schools of Champeta moved in and we were now pulling in edible game fish. Then it got even more fun as Sierra now moved in after the Champeta and baitfish. These tended to be smaller than we normally caught trolling, but were a pan-sized pound or two pounds. We rode out the flurries of action and lulls for more than two additional hours before moving on, trolling to the next couple of spots. Shouted conversations with other fishermen guided us to a large swale of mixed bag predators and other game fish.

My Penn Reel Sings

My Penn reel sang as something different grabbed my scared live baitfish. My rod tip bowed until it nearly touched the water.

“What is that?” asked Pepe.

I fought the fish to the surface and Pepe’s son whistled in astonishment. The fat, three-foot long caramel-colored eel surprised me too. Fatter than my forearm, it was in a foul mood to boot.

“We have to kill it right away” warned Pepe in his excitement.

Not only was it a line-tangling menace, but the teeth made it far too dangerous to be safely boated without first dispatching the creature with a couple of quick machete blows to serve the spine just behind the head. The cold, emotion-less eyes said nothing of its thoughts or intentions, even after death. I’d no sooner bagged it and re-cast when its even larger mate again set my reel to singing.

Later action on the part of all netted us more than 50 fish, including several beautiful yellow-finned “Bobos”, before we called it an early day and headed back to port. By now it was nearly 11:00 am and the sun was starting to take its toll. It never clouded up all morning and the tropical sun can fry you like a piece of bacon if you’re not careful. By 11:30 were back in Jurubida, fish divided up amongst the three of us and fish-cleaning, for a fresh seafood lunch, was already underway. We had enjoyed yet another successful, typical fishing day in the tropical waters off Colombia’s Pacific coast. The region is one of abundance in its extensive variety of flora, fauna and sea life. I marched triumphantly into the kitchen but was stopped short. They were everywhere.

They Were Everywhere

Mud-covered legs were scurrying all over the place. Scratching, clawing and climbing over any seeming obstacle.

“Where in the heck did all these come from?” I asked my wife Doris. Looking up at me with saddened eyes, she said, “They accidently got out”.

"What accidently got out?, I blurted.

So I went from one episode almost immediately into the next, but that’s another story.

An Unusual Recipe from Colombia: Cow’s Eye Soup

Teach English as a Foreign Language Abroad

One of the benefits of teaching English as a foreign language abroad or living abroad in general, is the ability to prepare or at least try out some unusual recipes and foreign dishes you might never experience at home. Why else would one venture thousands of miles from home, brave storms, earthquakes, the elements and lord-only-knows-what else to teach English as a foreign language abroad? Okay, maybe for love (more than one English language teacher has married a foreign national or a stent), money or experience in one way or another. Nonetheless, you’ll still need to eat though, right?

Not in Colombia? How to Get Cow’s Eyes

First, truck your bunnies over to your local butcher and request from two to four cow’s eyes. I seriously doubt your supermarket ever carries them but a good butcher can get them for you if they are not readily available at a farmer’s market.

From these Colombian cooks can whip up a savory stew or soup dish for an unforgettable lunch.

Here’s a recipe on how you might go about it yourself:

Colombian Recipe for Cow’s Eye Soup

First, rinse the fresh cow’s eyes under running cold water

Then, place them in a pot or pressure cooker with lightly salted water

Next, add chopped onion, oregano and spices or your preferred spice bundle to taste as desired

After that, pressure cook for about 30 minutes or until the eyes are well softened

Finally, take out the cooked cow’s eyes when done

Colombia: Cow’s Eye Soup Stock Recipe

Add two or three diced yellow potatoes, two large white potatoes, one grated or chopped carrot and fined minced or grated arracacha to the cow’s eye liquid stock
Add in a coarsely diced Yucca as well, if available
Simmer the stock for about twenty more minutes or until vegetables are cooked and soft.

In a Separate Pan

In a separate pan, sautee together a small chopped onion, a whole scallion, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and a large chopped or grated tomato in a little oil until softened

Now dice the cooked cow’s eyes and add these to the sautéed mixture
Sautee for an additional few minutes until flavors are melded together
Everything should now be ready to serve

The final dish is often served with white rice, freshly made fruit juice and the enriched cow’s eye stock in a bowl on the side.

Teach English Vocabulary

Why a Colombian food recipe on this blog? Well, food and drink recipes are an excellent way to teach vocabulary in English as a foreign language. There are the action verbs, words used to express a sequence of events, and of course, vocabulary of food, seasoning and drink ingredients which may or may not be familiar to your English language learners – or you at first, for that matter. So, go ahead and pull out or request some favorite food or drink recipes from your co-workers, English as a foreign language learners, friends, neighbors or staff and get busy.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.