monkey business

I've just spent an amazing amount of time figuring out how to post photos to my blog. Because it's a time-consuming activity, I have just put two photos on to start (though when I checked, only one showed up). At Manuel Antonio yesterday, my mom and I walked a fairly quiet path and suddenly the jungle around us was full of white faced monkeys. They seemed to be young ones, playing and running around on the ground. The longer we stood there, the closer the monkeys came. A very nice one got right up next to us, playing on a big metal sign dedicating something to someone. He jumped up and down on the thing, rolled around on it, and generally captivated us. Then his friend came along. I don't know if the friend was older, or ornerier, or just had a low tolerance for tourists with cameras, but he came right to the edge of the little sign they were sitting on and, as the photo shows, gave me quite the look. He then barred his teeth at me (I was no more than 3 feet from him) so I stepped back. I think that encouraged him, because he began clapping his hands at me, teeth showing, and literally chased me down the path. He seemed extremely pleased with himself, too. I beat a hasty retreat.

I am alone here now. Lonesome for home. I will be sad to leave--floating in that warm water of the Pacific yesterday, I realized I don't know when or if I'll be back. But I know spring has started in Minnesota and I miss my house and my family and driving my car. My pets. But mostly my family. When my mom left I cried again, but not quite as hard as when Mike and Maggie left. I'm so conflicted: I have loved my time here in so many ways (where else would I get chased by monkeys?) but I am also homesick.

So: 8 days left. I can't believe it.