The "Rules" of Monteria

So while in Monteria, we have learned a few things about at least what is acceptable here:

1)  NEVER take your kids out in the middle of the day.  It is acceptable to bring them out in the early morning or the evening.  Even the children's park is locked until 5pm each day.  The Colombians consider you to be bad parents if you do and will give you the most evil of looks and stare you down the minute they see you, pass you, and even after they pass you.  We break this rule almost everyday, so we have learned to just smile at the evil looks, say hello, and go on our merry way. 

2)  Babies and toddlers apparently don't play with toys here.  We have tried several places to find sensory toys for the girls, and Exito had a TINY toy section, and a BABY store has little to no toys.  They don't even sell rattles.  It's crazy!

3)  When there is a narrow section of sidewalk, Colombians get the right of way, and the Americans (loaded down with two kids, groceries, and a diaper bag) must wait for them to pass before they can go.

4)  The people here are quick to help each other.  If we drop a toy or a kid, they are quick to pick them up for us and seem happy to do so!

5)  People live in the 80's here.  I don't remember much about that decade, but it was a happy one!  They love the ponytail holders that are big and fluffy and they listen to American music from the 80's.

6)  Iguanas rule the park here.  We went there today, and there were about a dozen monster-sized iguanas all suntanning on the steps and in the grass.  Apparently, humans can't walk on the grass, but these giant iguanas can!  I guess there are monkeys and a sloth in the park, too, but it's too hot right now for them to come down, even at night.  But we are enjoying the iguanas!

7)  Crossing the street here is like playing Frogger.  You have to wait until your perfect opening to dart across the street before the taxis and motorcycles hit you.  I swear they aim for you, too! 

8)  Something cool is that they can choose to put a transaction as one total payment on your credit card OR you can choose to break it into monthly payments.  Example:  If I spend 30 dollars at the grocery store, they will ask me how many payments I want it to be broken up into.  I can have it as one total 30 dollar payment, or I can say "3 payments" and have 10 dollars paid off each month over a 3 month period.

9)  People don't tip here.  We still do because we are just used to it, and we get a great response as a result.  For example, at the pizza joint today, we started off with one waiter (who is different from our normal one) and before we knew it, we had our normal waiter coming over to wait on us.  He likes his tips!

Anyways, we are getting used to life here.  The Colombian culture is pretty neat, and the people are wonderful.  We are going to miss it when we leave!