Hibiscus Tea

http://www.dragonwater.com/product_detail.tf/325_hibiscus_tea.html

This was the tea Anthony's mother kept making...it's called Rosa de Jamaica in spanish otherwise known as Hibiscus Tea. She would add some cinnamon and maybe another thing or two. It was absolutely soothing and wonderful. It's known for lowering blood pressure. I brought home a huge bag of it. When I made it at home, I may have steeped it too long because it was a deep red and tasted way too tart. But I will play around with the amounts and steep time to get it better. It makes for a nice bedtime tea when done right.

More Abu Pics...

Abu, The Capuchin Monkey

We recently returned from a 10 day trip to Nicaragua. It wasn't my first time, although I haven't been there in a few years. On the road from the airport to Esteli, there are usually people selling birds, iguanas and other creatures but on this particular day as we were driving, we happened to spot a man selling a small capuchin monkey. Some impulsive moments later and we were en route with this little guy in tow. We thought of many names...some very humorous, but ended up with "Abu" like the monkey in Aladdin. How original!

At first we did not have a cage for him, so to my displeasure, he stayed in our room for the first few nights. Then Anthony, his brothers and Lebeau built a fine monkey cage fully equipped with branches, a hanging toy and a little house/box where he can sleep at night.

He grew on me rather quickly. He made this little barking noise whenever the dogs would come near, sounded like "arf". I found it adorable. He's very sweet and loves to be held. When we got back we made it a point to go to an exotic pet shop that sold monkeys. We asked if they had a Capuchin monkey. The lady who owned the shop said "You don't want a Capuchin! They may look cute in movies but they are a lot of work and can rip your nose off!" Uh-oh we said. Abu is really sweet and you can tell he was raised constantly held by humans. I'm going to do a bit more research about them but I have a feeling Abu will be alright. He stayed behind in Nicaragua with Anthony's family. Every now and then we will call to check up on him and hopefully we'll see him again soon. :)

At the supermarket...Lebeau got lots of stares, lol.

Trip

I'm going on a last minute trip to Nicaragua this Wednesday. I haven't been there in over 4 years...our friends who moved to Costa Rica last year are going to send their kids on a bus to meet us. Now I'm looking forward to my trip even more because this was at first a "strictly family" trip, now at least I'll have someone English to speak to...

These trips to S. America are pretty adventurous...visiting his grandmother is a trek up the mountains. At least now with Lebeau and Beaudine for company, I won't be the silent observer. I'll be sure to post some pics when I get back. The funny thing is when we leave, their mother is coming to visit FL and stay at our house.

Relief...

...I just finished my taxes.

Sigh...