You buy a pack of cookies clearly marked chocolate, and they are in fact vanilla. You go running, and suddenly there is no ground beneath you, and you fall in a huge hole. You order fries and fried plantains because there is literally no other meat-free food option, and an hour later, you get just fries, because they are suddenly out of alloco (friend plantains). You start eating your fries with what you think is ketchup, but is really some sort of spicy tomato product. You learn to roll with things, because the other option is – oh wait – there is no other option.
And sometimes, the things that happen are amazing things. This weekend, I walked/climbed/scampered from one beach to another over huge rocks lining a retaining wall (maybe 10-15 feet up from the edge of the water, vertical drop). In the process, I got my hair momentarily stuck in barbed wire. Because everyone needs barbed wire. And it obviously keeps people off the rocks.
There was a tall building near the beach, so I ventured toward it, and was met by a MONKEY ON A LEASH tied to a tree. Like any sane person, I tried to touch the monkey on a leash, because hey, I had my rabies shots. He was timid at first, but when I offered to share my pain au raisin, he gladly accepted, and ended up climbing and grooming me. I named him Albert. His family calls him Bobo, so I will settle for Monsieur Albert Bobo.
Have you ever been groomed by a monkey? Or found a monkey just hanging around on a leash (despite repeated questions, I’m not sure if Monsieur Albert Bobo will be eaten or not)?
This is the beauty of living in a place spoiled by trash heaps, not lawyers. You are free to pet monkeys as you please.