Welcome.

Hello. My name is Laralynn though many people call me Lynn. I live in Berkeley, CA with my husband, toddler daughter, and five-year-old stepson.

I started this blog as a way to share my three biggest joys in life: family (this includes friends!), travel, and writing. I invite you to look around, make comments, and enjoy, and request only that you ask permission before using any of my photos or writing.

Why monaloca?

Monaloca means “crazy monkey” in Spanish. I was inspired to choose this name by the Nazca lines in Peru, and specifically the drawing of the monkey, a rough sketch of which I also have tattooed on my left ankle.

I began traveling extensively in Latin America after a three-month language immersion program in Ecuador many years ago, and eventually broke free from my Web media job to teach English and travel through the continent for a year. Latin America, with its vastly varied cultures, friendly people, rich history, and mystical landscapes, serves as continual inspiration to me. So does travel itself.

No, that’s not snow. It’s salt.

I took the header image photo on the Salar de Uyuni salt plains in southwestern Bolivia. Visit my Latin America photo gallery to view more.

Names by which you may know me.

Lynn Rapoza. Laralynn Rapoza. Laralynn Weiss Rapoza. Lynn Weiss. Laralynn Weiss. Lynn Weiss Rapoza. Melina’s mom. Kai’s stepmom. Phew!

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