additional pics/memories

We have been home a few days now, and starting to hammer out some type of routine. The weather is vastly different then what we experienced in Colombia. I feel like my first cold is coming on. Ruben is doing great. He is a real Ham, when it comes to being around people, especially girls. I might have to start calling him "pork chop", instead of pequeno hombre "little man". Tenley's class at school has been following the blog and pictures and Tenley had a "show and tell" day. We brought Ruben in and the kids loved it (so did Ruben). Kids just tell it how it is. We answered a bunch of questions at the end. The first question was "how long did Ruben play around the toilets". The picture I posted in Cartagena with the budee (sp) really caught their eyes.
A few things I might have forgot to mention, that I thought were interesting points about our trip.
1. If you go anywhere in Colombia, you might want to make sure you have some toilet tissue or tissue handy. Colombia's sewer system is not what we Americans are used to. Generally speaking, you roll up your tissue or toilet paper and put it in the garbage (not the toilet). Also, some public facilities will charge you to use the bathroom. Just by chance at the bus station, I had some spare change in my pocket. They willingly let me in, but there was a girl at the exit and wanted me to pay 700 Colombian pesos to leave.
2. Population: I asked our interpreter's about the populations of cities we were in during our stay. Monteria had a population of around 600,000 . Cartagena was somewhere between 1-2 million, and Bogota has roughly 9,000,000 people. That is almost 7-8 times as many people as live in all of Montana.
3. Traffic, seems to be my favorite adventure topic in Colombia. Colombians drive on the right side of the road. However, they often drive on the left, middle and all directions as well. A majority of the taxi's we were in had their gas meter on "E", empty. I finally asked, and at one point a taxi went to a gas station. The taxi's often times use natural gas and it is piped in to under the front end of the car. Apparantly, it is quite a bit cheaper and those little cars can go a long ways.
4. Food, generally another favorite topic of mine. As mentioned prior, "Mexican" food that we are use to in America is hard to find in Colombia. I did not once see a Taco Bell. Eggs, empandas, fruit, soups, bbq meats, and of course Coffee are very popular in Colombia.
4. Construction. except in the very large cities. You generally don't find the large technical equipment that we are use to in America. In Monteria, the roads were taken out and replaced, mostly by hand and a lot of tears and sweat. That is one job, I would not want to do. TOO HOT. However, the work hours are a bit better. They start early, often before 7am and work till 11:30, then have a "siesta" time until 2:00 and work until 6:00 or 6:30.
5. The people. even though the language is often fast and difficult to understand. If you make an honest effort at trying spanish, they make a honest effort to try and figure out what you are saying. In general, Colombians are very warm and affectionate. It was very common once somebody enters the room to greet and kiss everyone on each side of the cheek as you hug them. I would strongly recommend for anyone adopting, to try and learn some basic spanish. I had rosetta stone I and II edition. This was more then adaquate to get me by. Adult education spanish I class's are also a great refresher.
Well, that is my top 5 for the day. I will start cutting back on blogs, and just do updates time to time with of course new pictures. Our adoption travels were a great experience and we have many memories to look back on with Ruben. Someday, he will probably like to go back for a visit to his homeland, and if possible, we would love to take him. (in the winter here in Montana of course).

Looking Back...

WE MADE IT... One month to the day, and we our back home in Montana. Friday was a very long day for various reasons. Looking back, I have very different emotions, most of which are positive. I won't kid you, Tracey and I are pretty exhausted. Living out of suitcase's for a month is not an easy task. However, it is all worth it. To get off the plane and come down the escalators and see the smiling faces of Ruben's sisters at midnight made it all worth while.
The first thing we did is go through a drive through and eat a late american dinner. Our day on Friday started by getting up at 4:45 am in Bogota to be picked up at the adoption house at 6:00am and off to the airport with Andres. We made it through ticketing, and 2-3 more screenings and we lifted off at 9:30 am. The first flight was suppose to be the easiest, but 4 out of 5 hours was spent with Ruben screaming, restless and wanting to get down and run on the plane. One hour he slept in Tracey's arms. We landed in Atlanta and to hear people speaking in english was incredible. We were told that we needed 3 hours for immigration and customs. However, we made it through in less than an hour and had plenty of time to eat lunch at 4pm and catch the connecting flight to Salt Lake at 7pm eastern time. This flight went good. There were about 4 other babies and toddlers on board. All of us were in the back of the plane. Coincidence? I think not. A family behind us were returning from Alabama with a 7 day old baby girl they just adopted. Ruben did great, he flirted with the girls and ladies on board. We landed in SLC with one hour to hop into a different terminal and catch our last flight home at 10:00pm. No time to eat dinner. We got on board a small plane. As soon as we took off, a slight change in odor presented. At first, we thought it was the guy behind us that drank pretty heavily before boarding, but it didn't take long to realize that all the cherrios we gave Ruben decided to leave him. We, and the rest of the plane waited it out and we landed at 11:45.
I didn't blog yesterday, mainly because we were just exhausted and just spent time visiting with family and letting Ruben get to know his new surroundings.
I think my brother said it best, "to think what a life Ruben would have had in Colombia, versus the new life and family and opportunity he will have now, is amazing". It makes you wish you could help others, and hopefully there will be other families doing the same. Tracey and I have been asked a lot in the past, and maybe even in the future," why don't you adopt kids from America". I hope some of those people can see the pictures and conditions that Ruben left behind, and realize that it doesn't matter what color your skin is, or what money you come from. We are all human and start out with nothing. We are very fortunate to live in America, where opportunites and rights are easier for us to obtain, because of the surroundings around us. Tracey and I have not been any happier in our lives, then now. To see Ruben's big eyes light up today at his sister's cheerleading during a basketball game was incredible. It's like he was in a trance staring at all the lights, kids, and balls. You could just tell that he is going to be very happy in his new life.
As you can tell from the various posts. I took a lot of pictures. I added a few of various places and events. I will add a few more tomorrow.

Museo del Oro

At last, the last full day in Colombia. We have been here a month. Tracey was a little tired and didn't feel like any more adventures. However, there was one last thing on my list of must dues, while here in Bogota. I took a taxi across town about 20 minutes without traffic. I made it just in time for the english tour. I haven't been this lucky the whole trip. Me and a couple from England had a tour through the whole museum. If you are a history buff, or interested about the early colonization times, then this would be well worth your time. Gold "oro", was very valuable to the various inhabitants. Not only for the monetary value, but for the spiritual value. The ancient civilizatons believed that the sun was the "all powerful", god, and the shamens were very powerful and used various plants "coca", and different allows of metal ie. gold, copper, and silver to grind down into powders to inhale to tell the future. This was used before battles, and other important events to accurately forsee the future.

After the tour, I walked around the nearby shops, then waved down the first taxi I could see. Little did I know, that my last day here was about to take a very different turn. Traffic seemed to be getting worse. The horn honking was picking up. After about 15 minutes, and only going 6 blocks, I made my best attempt at asking how long it would be before getting to the adoption house. The driver, which did not speak english, said about an hour. A few minutes later, I noticed many people holding picketting signs up in the road. The local public school system was striking.Traffic went to a dead standstill. We started going the opposite direction and then there was a loud thump that I could feel on my rear passenger door. My first Colombian taxi accident. We had been hit, at first it seemed bad, but after my driver got out and stared down the other car. The car backed up. My driver didn't even look at the damage right away. We drove a few more blocks, then he pulled over. He shook his shoulders and got back in. It must not have been too bad, or the driver didn't own the taxi and really didn't care. After an hour more in the taxi, we finally got closer and I started recognizing buildings and the grocery store "Pomona" that we have been using. I told the driver "aqui, aqui". He pulled over, I paid him the 15,000 peso's, and walked the last 3 blocks to the house. Again, I just looked up and said, thanks God for getting me home in one piece. I walked in to our room, and got that oh too familiar look from Tracey. I tried to explain, but she didn't really want to hear my excuses for taking up half the day. After about 15 minutes, I brushed off my taxi jitters, and we called another taxi and went to the mall. Nothing like a trip to the mall to get out of the dog house.

After shopping, we caught another taxi, and home in one piece. We had some good laughs with our French family friends, took plenty of pictures, and exchanged emails. Bags packed and paperwork in order for our very long day of travelling home to Montana in the morning. We leave the house at 6am. Leave Bogota at 930. Land in Atlanta around 330pm. Hopefully, get through immigration and customs with out difficulty, then connect to Salt Lake, then home to Billings around mid night. Well, better get to bed. We are excited to bring our son home, and some great memories and pictures of our adventure.

Excitement in la casa

Last night our social worker from Children's Hope International flew in. We finally got to visit face to face with Nichole. It was a short visit has she had to fly out to Medillion to be part of another families court process in the morning.

It has been 3 1/2 weeks not working or having to use our medical background. That changed abruptly. We were in the main living area, when one of the kitchen staff came out of the kitchen in a hurry, and I could tell it wasn't to ask me if I wanted any more eggs... One of the staff was dizzy, and slumped over. Quickly myself and another person got this person to a nearby bed. The person was not responding and had an erratic pulse. I found out a short while later, that this person had a heart history. I asked someone to call an ambulance. Tracey came in as well. My natural instinct kicked in, but I was a long way from home and any medical equipment that I was use to. We were just hoping the ambulance with come and take over. This person did not worsen, but with the history we received, new they needed a further work up. The ambulance showed up 25 minutes later. I gave them a report through another staff that could translate. The translator told them that we had medical background and what had occured. By this time the patient was doing better, but I was expecting a gurney and a trip to the local ER. Some basic tests were done, they showed me the rhythm strip, and the paramedics left and said the patient was ok. Tracey and I couldn't believe with the history on this person, that they would just leave. I forget that we are not in the states, and things are done quite a bit differently. I checked on the person and later family came and I was told that they did take this person to the hospital. Tracey and I felt relieved that finally this was done. After all the excitement, we didn't get a chance to say good by to Nichole, as she was rushing to the airport. Tracey and I took Ruben and went for a walk. We found "El Corral", a good burger joint. Where was this in Monteria? Burger, fries, onion rings, and a chocolate shake. Not something I want to do every day, but boy

did it hit the spot.

We walked the 4-5 blocks back to the house. Andres picked me up and another trip to the US Embassy. After a short wait, I went to the window, and received Ruben's passport, and the "packet". Basically, this is all the paperwork needed by immigration in the US for Ruben to be a citizen and enter the US. The most important thing, is NOT to open this. Immigration in the US would not be very happy, and who knows what they would say or do. Now we just wait and pack tomorrow.

Plaza de Bolivar

Yesterday afternoon, Andres our driver took us to the Plaza de Bolivar. Tracey and I really didn't know what to expect. Bogota is the capital of Colombia, and just like our president lives in the white house, the Colombian president lives inside the gates below. We walked in the plaza and the statue of Bolivar is in the center. Pigeons are all over , with people feeding them corn and other edible items. Many museums and church's surround the plaza. There are armed guards surrounding the presidents house. They reminded me of the guards you see at Buckingham palace that never flinch or move. I tried to get the two guards to talk or move. They held true. Andres took a picture of me making my best Colombian guard pose. We spent a little over an hour here, but one could spend all day looking at all the museums and history here. The streets are very narrow, just like in the old city in Cartagena. After our tour, we took Andres to Waffles and crepes. I strongly recommend this place to eat if you visit Bogota. The salad actually looked like a nice american salad, and the food was very good and flavorful. Andres was happy that we offered. Andres siad "muy bien".

This morning, David (Lucia's son) picked us up and we made our fifth trip to the passport office. This time we had success. Ruben got his passport. No time to celebrate, as we jumped the first taxi and off to the US Embassy for the visa. We were told that to expect about a 3hr wait. There were only two families in front of us, oddly enough, one family was our Boston friends from Monteria. The whole process was about an hour, and they told "your papers are in order". These are definitely the words you want to hear them tell you. We were told to come back after 3pm tomorrow. So we are finally almost finished. We were unable to move our tickets up a day, so we will stick to our Friday flight plan.

Monserrate

Today, like almost every day we had eggs for breakfast, and eggs for dinner to. If we don't see another egg for the rest of the year it will be ok. The kitchen staff are very nice, but we don't know how to tell them we don't want any more eggs. So, another trip to the Pomona grocery store. We bought some oatmeal, fruit, and granola. After breakfast, Andres picked us up for another adventure. Monserrate peak looks over the city of Bogota. We took a cable car up the mountain, then had to walk an additional ways over a uneven rock pathway. At the top is a white church, inside is a alter statue of the "fallen christ". I have never seen a statue of Jesus laying on his cross before. There was a full service going on while we were there. While we were overlooking the city, we heard someone speaking in english. I turned around and there were a couple of guys, and one had a Montana Grizz sweatshirt on. I thought to myself, what is the chance that two Montanan's would be on top of a mountain thousands of miles away in S. America. I should go buy a lottery ticket... This guy was from Butte, Montana and in Bogota as a contractor doing some building work. We laughed and took a couple of pics. After the surprise encounter, we walked down a path, which had various statues again depicting Jesus's last walk and crucifiction. The weather was overcast, but you could still see much of the valley. Ruben had on long sleeved clothes and a rain jacket, just incase the weather changed abruptly. This happens fairly frequently here. After a coca cola at the top of the mountain, we walked back to the cable car and road back down. Andres took us to the Plaza de Bolivar, where the president of Colombia lives and several museums surround the plaza. Time for little Ruben's bath, so will report more later.

Catedral De Sal

It is Sunday, and our representative Lucia here in Bogota arranged a small van to take the 3 french families and us to the catedral de sal, which translates to cathedral of the salt. This is a underground salt mine about 20 miles outside of Bogota. The two boys, Justin, Ruben, and the girl Camile are in the strollers. The fourth family gets their little boy on Tuesday. Tours alternate in spanish and english. Of course our luck, we got the spanish tour and surrounded by french speaking families. Tracey and my brain were on overload. The salt mine goes into the mountain and depicts Jesus's walk with the cross. There are several cross's carved or silloutes of cross's in the mine. The tour took a little over an hour. At the end each tour group sits in a long carved tunnel with a high ceiling and many chairs lining the tunnel. A light show with music appears on the ceiling of the carved tunnel. Variations of the Colombian flag and pictures of carvings and other figures appear. After the 30 minute walk back out of the mine, our driver drove through the nearby town of Zipaquira. The streets are very narrow and various traditional restaraunts have these large open ovens with large pieces of different types of meat. ie. pork and meat. We had a large table and two large platters of various meat, potato's, and corn bread were on the platter. While we were waiting, a man with a cowboy hat was singing to the patrons. The food was very traditional, and not too bad, except the pork sausage that had rice and pigs blood. It was a little more then I could stomach, but I didn't lose my cookies. It started raining, just as we finished eating, and Ruben and I took a snooze on the way home. All in all, the kids did great today, even us big kids dig ok too. Tomorrow, Andres is going to pick us up for another adventure. I think we will pay him a little extra for a drive through run to the "whopper king" or Mcdonald's".

Bogota for beginners

I am blogging from the adoption house computer. My laptop decided to go on the fritz, and not sure I can get her up and running again, so sorry no pics tonight. Today is Saturday, which is the first of three free days here in Bogota. We slept better last night, I think due to exhaustion more then anything. The staff here at the adoption house are great and go out of their way to do anything for you. I took a few pictures, but can´t post them at this time. There outfits kind of remind me of the michelen dough boy commerical. But they are all heart. We ate breakfast, which appeared to be french toast. However, we didn´t have butter or syrup. It was basically bread cooked with the egg batter. Lets just say it was a small breakfast. I asked one of the French families, sense ¨french toast¨should be popular in France. They told me that it is called ¨French toast¨, but they do not eat it there. Interesting...
Tracey, Ruben, and I, ventured out into the streets and walked about 8 to 10 blocks. Bogota has a lot of American food chains here. We passed a Mcdonald´s today. I think we may hit it tomorrow. I´m not usually a Mcdonald´s fan, but Tracey and I are sooo craving anything American right now. They have, what I think is similar to Burger King, but it is called ¨Whopper King¨, subway, domino´s, pizza hut are also here. I think it is safe to say we will not starve. I don´t know which is worse for my cholestorol, all the ¨huevos¨, eggs we have been eating, or all the american fast food I see here.
This afternoon, our representative here took us and one French mother to the mall ¨Unicentro¨, we both needed to pick up some clothes for our kiddos. Ruben is 22 months, but wears 9-12 month clothes, especially pants. Let´s just say the pictures we received before we left, made him look a whole lot bigger. It was another comical outing. Our representative speaks both French and English, but got mixed up, and some times she was speaking to us in french, and the french woman in english. All I know in french is ¨wee-wee¨, i think the french lady thought I was crazy, and my wife just thought I needed to use the bathroom. You just had to be in the car to enjoy the moment.
Tomorrow, we are getting a tour of the salt cathedral outside of Bogota. Apparantely this is an old church underground. Monday, Andres our driver is going to take Tracey, Ruben, and I to the ¨Montisorrie¨ sp. I know I spelled it wrong, but basically you take a cable care like at a ski resort to the top of the mountain and you can see all of Bogota and there is a church there, that is well known and some ¨miracles¨have happened there. I am just praying for one. Getting home safe and sound. Which, we were able to change our tickets today. We are now scheduled to fly home next Friday the 21st. We leave early and get into Billings close to midnight. I´m sure it will be a very long day, holding a toddler on our laps on three different airplanes with layovers in between. yikes... Well, I better get back to the room and help with Ruben. He is on day 3 of antibiotics and is starting to feel better.

Back in Bogota...

At last away from the heat and humidity of Monteria. As usual, it wasn't a smooth transition. We took Ruben to the pediatrician earlier yesterday. We were told he had" bilateral ear infections and throat irritation". He was placed on amoxicillen and something for cough. Still running fevers intermittently. Our attorney made it back from Terrialta with the new birth certificates for Ruben. This is what we needed to board the plane for ID for Ruben, as well as in Bogota for his passport. Our friends from Boston were traveling on the same flight to Bogota. I couldn't transfer my phone picture of their taxi, but just imagine a chevy aveo with 3 large pieces of luggage and a stroller tied to the roof. I couldn't believe it, only here... We had to travel on AIRES airline, because it was the later flight, versus Avianca. If I could give any advise to future families, DO NOT use AIRES. We waited for almost an hour in the hot lobby waiting to board. Ruben had enough, he was crying, arching his back. We finally heard some electrical problems were being fixed. We boarded an hour late. The seating left very little room between passengers. During the flight we descended pretty rapidly, no explanation. Then something was said in spanish, and within 10-15 minutes we touched down and I don't think anybody knew we were landing. It was pretty bumpy. However, any landing you can walk away from, is a good one. Andres was outside the baggage area and we drove off to the adoption house. Tracey and I slept very little, but were glad to be one step closer. We woke up and had a small breakfast. Andres and Lucia showed up and we were off to the passport office (little did we know, it was the first of four trips for the day). It was a very long line entering the office, because school was out for the week, and it is Friday. Lucia's son David (who speaks english,spansih, and french) took us. We found out the birth certificate that our attorney went to get in Terrialta was missing the parents (ours) nationality. I don't know how this was overlooked. This was suppose to be faxed. We went back three other times and the fax never came through. Lucia contacted the attorney in Monteria and she had to drive another 2hrs down and back to get a new birth certificate, which will be over nighted , so we can go back again on Tuesday, because Monday is a holiday here in Colombia. Ok, the good news is the doctor agreed to do the medical exam without the completed birth certificate. We had to make one stop to the ICBF office to sign another document, then back to La Lanthana adoption house. We are the only american family here. Two other families from France are here and one more french family coming this weekend. Again, I used my chopped up spanish with their chopped up english and our mutual minimal spanish and we talked about our different journeys. The one french father asked me to have a glass of wine with him. I said "vino, beuno"...

Due to the three day weekend, we can't do anything else for the adoption. Our representative here is going to get a van for us and the french families and get a tour of some scenic sites in Bogota. This should be interesting. well enough for the soap box tonight. off to bed for some well needed rest.

Hotel Sinu

Our last day in Monteria and at the Hotel Sinu. yea....

woke up, knowing this was the last cold shower ( i hope) in awhile. Ruben and I had our usual breakfast of eggs, fresh juice, corn bread, cold cereal, and coffee. As mentioned in the recent blogs, Ruben has had an intermittent fever over the past few days. So, we made an appointment with a doctor at 11:30 today, This should be interesting. Hopefully Ameida our attorney is on her way back Terrialta getting Ruben's updated birth certificate. We purchased our tickets yesterday for a 7 pm flight to Bogota tonight. It feels so weird to be repacking our bags and throwing out the unnecessary items. We were told that with Aires airlines, we each get 40kg for weight limit, not 50 lbs per bag. I'm sure we will go over some. I attached a few pictures of our stay here at the hotel. construction has been going on for 3 months on the streets surrounding the hotel. they do almost everything by hand. It's like being in the dark ages at times. And they don't start at 8am, it usually acts like our alarm clock around 630 every morning. Tracey likes to sit from the balcony and supervise. She even has a fan base from the workers who like to wave to her. We will miss our hotel staff friends, especially jorge in the kitchen. he knows how I like my coffee, and we have communicated as best we can with each other. Jorge, and other kitchen staff found my pictures of Montana and snow very interesting. I'm sure most, if not all of them will never see snow in person. I'm sure Ruben will miss the routine of going to the park, dad taking pictures of complete strangers, running around our motel room pushing buttons to get our attention. He especially likes turning off the tv and seeing mom's reaction. I can't blame him, it is kind of amusing to watch her get upset and tell him no. It kind of reminds me of me when I push her buttons. I just get a good seat to watch it all now... I wonder if we will have the same room back at the La lanthana in Bogota. it is a little smaller room, but has a general family area, where I can practice communicating with the French families.

MONTERIA

Our time here in Monteria is coming to a close. We never thought it would get here, but now that it has, it is with mixed emotions, as we have made friends with some staff, attorney, interpreters, and our new friends from Boston who have traveled step by step with us in this journey. I should say their journey has been a bit rougher with Sam getting up every few hours every night. We are very greatful that Ruben has slept through the night every night. The last two days he has had a fever and we thought that maybe he might get up. At home, we would just sit on this intermittent fever/cold. Over here in Colombia, we just want to make sure this wouldn't keep us from coming home any sooner. We will have to check with our interpreter to see what past experiences have been with families. Our interpreter called us last evening to tell us that she would be by at 11:00 today to go purchase our airline tickets back to Bogota for tomorrow night (thur). Also, that the ICBF is going to come by our hotel room tonight to make a visit. Our interpreter says that this is pretty routine before families leave Monteria.

One of the nicest, if not the nicest buildings in Monteria is the cathedral. It is located in a park right across from the mayor and governor's offices. They hold mass on Sundays, and I believe on Wednesday evenings. We took a few snap shots, but didn't want to interrrupt the paritionors. Well time for a quick walk in the park before our appointment at 11:00. We still haven't seen the sloths, but have had ample opportunities. Will report more later if time and internet availability permits.

Observations

Tracey, Ruben, and I are going on day #17 on our journey. We have been here long enough to make some observations and learn some interesting points about living here in Colombia.

1. It is a lot hotter and humid then nice cool, dry Montana. Monteria is about 90-95 degrees with 85% humidity. I take a walk in the park for an hour, and come back to the motel completely drenched.

2. It is a lot safer here, then is stereotyped at home. There are young police on every corner of every block, and that is no exageration here. I asked my interpreter, who told me that in Colombia, once the boys graduate 11th grade (high school), it is mandatory to give 2 years to their country and get trained to be in the policia. For those that's parents can afford it, they can buy their service off. This is based upon the parents income. Needless to say, there are a lot of young police everywhere.

3. The nurses here still wear the old fashioned nurses caps, and there are very few men in the field. I think it is safe to say, that this is no place for a male nurse, so I am safe to come back home for work. Plus, I don't think I would look good with those wings attached to my head.

4. A trip to the local grocery store "Olympica" is very educational. I don't know how people don't get more intestinal problems. The meat is not wrapped and just sits with refrigeration. No way of telling what the expiration dates are.

5. When it rains here, you need a life boat. We got stuck tonight in a very impressive storm. It rained so hard that the cars outside kept having their car alarms go off. That's pretty intense rain. we were in the restaraunt 3 blocks from home. We ran home and were completely drenched.

6. The people here are in general very nice and affectionate. It is very common to get

some form of affection for a good deed. ie. hugs, kiss's.

7. Politics are the same no matter where you live. The local elections are later this month, and the same political schemes and advertisement go on here just like at home. the current goverment are spending lots of money on local public works to show that they have done something, and their pictures are posted everywhere.

8. Traffic, what can I say. It's insane. Most streets have no traffic lights, and the ones that do have stop signs, no one stops at. Vehicles have the right of way, and pedestrians get out of the way.

9. Food; it is different then I expected. For some reason Tracey and I had it in our minds that there would be mexican food every where. There is very few mexican tacos and burritos anywhere. The fruit and fresh juices are awesome. it's like they squeeze fruit daily and the pineapple and other fruits are ripe. Fish on the coast and near rivers is fresh, but doesn't look appetizing on your plate with head and tail attached.

10. The park, "en parque", the park here is the longest linear park in S. America. And it is home to many different types of lizards, iquanas, monkey's and sloths. I still haven't seen the sloths, but my friends from boston showed me a picture of one. Nothing too impressive.

Well, that gives you a little flavor of happenings here in Monteria.

The picture of the hat is very traditional here. It is made from some type of plant that they let dry and then weave. This one I bought, and it actually is pretty comfortable. I might have to by the poncho to go with it and then I have my halloween costume for home. Watch out Clint Eastwood, there's a new kid in town.