Translation of ridiculizar

At noon the oldest soon came home. He was a doctor and gave me some salt and other Cuban medicine. I was reluctant to swallow that stuff but the pain and the doctor's smile persuaded me in the end.
The climb was much exhausting than I had presumed. I had forgotten that we were at high altitude where there is less oxygen and that every step required double effort. It was a great exercise.
I was the only one at the beach, as it was too early and all the party people were still sleeping. After that I hired a motorcycle in order to drive around the island. I never drove before that.