♫ Me Gusta Maaanngooo ♫

Sunday, a small group of us went to the river (that I think was in the Guacimal region) and enjoyed some down time away from campus. On the way, we stopped at a small pulperia with a very interesting business plan. For every drink a customer purchases, the customer also gets a small plate of food like an appetizer. By the time everyone had bought their drinks for the day, we had earned approximately 20 small meals! So we sat under the hot tin roof, surrounded by risque Pilsen advertisements, and ate and ate and ate. Total, I had a chalupa, some rice soup, a bit of a pork sandwhich, and a bite of chicharones (essentially, fried pork fat).

We arrived at the river ready to relax with our very full bellies. Our first sight was a family of about 9 monkeys crossing the canopy at the water's edge, which was more than I've ever seen outside of a zoo. There were some very young ones, and I thought how nice it would be to spend a childhood jumping from tree to tree in such a beautiful area.

Here's Sheldon surrounded by the few butterflies that were left after we scared the majority away:

My favorite part of the day was learning to fly fish with Buck. I am by no means a pro, but together we caught (AKA he caught) cinco peces pequeños.

 Here's the biggest fish he caught:

It was also the cutest fish he caught:

 Walking upriver, I saw this little guy relaxing in the sun:

And to finish the trip, Jenier collected some fresh mangos, about which Sheldon was very excited! She began to sing the most beautiful song, entitled  ♫ Me Gusta Maaanngooo ♫. Expect the international release of this hit in the coming months.

After such an amazing weekend, it was difficult to get working again (especially without internet or connection to the server). I wonder if Ticos have a hard time working in such a beautiful place. I kind of just want to frolic all day every day! My motivation needs to kick into high gear pretty soon, here...as does my Spanish learning.

Oh well, Pura Vida!