The Celebrities See Monkeys and Play in the Sand

The park at dusk

Tonight was a GOOD night.  We seem to be having more of those as time goes on.  Praise God!

We decided to spend an evening in the park again.  This park is truly amazing and unlike most parks in the U.S.  It is kind of like a mini central park with a beach!  They have a bike trail, several different outdoor areas to eat, lots of wildlife, a great kids' play area, and masses of people at night.

We went to the beach first and hung out there for awhile.  Katie decided to throw a couple of tantrums, but it was hard to be phased by it because we were on the beach watching people swim, folks play soccer, and the night was breezy and cool.  Poor Rosa did a face plant in the sand, putting a quick end to her sand time.  Poor thing.

Then it was time for a stroll.  We walked farther down the park than we have gone yet, and we found several different places to buy ice cream.  We were actually trying to find a new place to eat dinner because the local joints are starting to wreak havoc on my head (I'm getting migraines everyday...ugh).  We decided to go down just a bit further, and finding another ice cream place, we turned around.  Then, a couple of girls followed us and spoke to us in Spanish.  I sighed and said I didn't speak much Spanish, and they said, "In English?"  My eyes grew wide.  They then explained that they were taking English at the local college, and they wanted to talk with us.  We shrugged and said, "Why not?"

Excitedly, they ushered us over to a huge table of college students who all grinned at us like we were celebrities.  They talked for a bit and then asked us to help them with a video they were doing about why people should visit Monteria.  We taped a short video, and you would have thought they had won a million dollars.  Before we knew it, they were doing a huge group picture with us, and they thanked us profusely.  It was funny to be stared at with such "Awe"!  My sixth graders never did that with me unless I dressed up as a crazy grammar character.  We asked them if Americans came to Monteria, and they told us that we were the first Americans they had EVER seen here.  Wow!

We left the table feeling really great.  But things were about to get even better!  I have made a habit of always looking up in the trees while we walk in the park.  I was told by other adoptive moms that there were INDEED monkeys in these darn trees and by golly, I was going to see a monkey before we left Monteria!  Of course, that has almost gotten me run over by bicycles, almost running into people, etc, but it would all be worth it if I could see a monkey and get it on video for my girls. 

Our new college friends in Monteria

The girls look soooo excited

A miracle happened as we walked along...I saw movement in the trees!  And this time it wasn't another iguana...it was a monkey - no several monkeys - swinging around in the trees!  You would have thought I had found a stash of gold, I was so excited.  The girls weren't as into it and pretty much looked at me like I was nuts as I got the Flip out and taped it and then scrambled for the camera to take photos.  They were cute little monkeys, too!  We are going to bring bread with us next time and hopefully, those little cuties will come down and eat from our hands. 

We ended the night with a change in eating.  Instead of hamburgers...drum roll please...we ordered hot dogs!  I know, that was majorly exciting for all of you.  We are definitely getting the meat out of our systems.  You have never seen two people miss eating vegetables so much.  I can't WAIT for my veggie shakes.

Now if only we could just end the night there and fall asleep peacefully to the sounds of construction, whistles, and car beeps outside, it would have been perfect.  But no...and that's for another blog on another day.