July 19,

We were up and about by 0630. Then able to connect with my mother and her husband. We
updated them of our Amazon start and they updated us of their “goings-on.” By 0740 we went
out and about, finding a little park area, Parque Santander. People were setting up for a stage
and booths for an event. Jeff looked it up…today is Festival de la Confraternidad Amazonica.
This is a celebration of tri-border folklore. In the parque area we saw a Monument to the Fallen
Soldier, one to the Pink Dolphin, and a mural titled #Festival del Jaguar.

We walked over to the canal where our water taxi first went yesterday. Then we happened upon a “parade” setting up. It started and was of little kids schools(?), maybe. They were cute. Some  participants were louder and were actual bands. One girl was on a float vehicle by herself. She was dressed up, maybe the Princess of this parade. They started and we watched for a while. One girl was on a little powered three wheeler. What fun the kids were all dressed up. Some of the littlest children were crying, others enjoying themselves, some showing off. What fun! We left and happened upon
another parade, much the same, but teenaged kids. The drums were reverberating from their
enthusiastic poundings.

We came back around to our place and stopped at a cafe that was serving a rice stuffed pig. We
got two orders and took them away to our place- ½ a block. We had this for our breakfast. It was
mostly rice with some beans, olives, and shredded pork. The lady put in a cassava(?) biscuit
and a bit of the crackling pork skin. It was okay tasting…presentation was the main draw. Then
we connected with our church back home and watched the service.

For lunch we decided to heat up our corned beef we had bought. But the plug-in for the stove
doesn’t fit into the wall outlet. It is a gas stove, but there needs to be a spark to ignite. There
weren’t any matches or a lighter. So Jeff went and bought one. The stove burner lit and we fixed the corned beef. Then we watched the Argentina vs Spain match. That was exciting. Afterward,
I blogged and Jeff planned. Both of our sisters were busy so our connection day was complete.

At 1700 we went back out to see the show of the daily flying of the White-winged Parakeets.
We stopped at a rotisserie chicken place and got a fried thigh and leg of dark meat with fries for
supper. It was different breading but was good. Then we relaxed and settled in for the evening.
We saw more fireworks and around 2100 the music from the park started up. Then we went to
bed with our earplugs in.