Hi everyone,
Its been nearly a year since I've blogged. That's because its been over a year since my last international travel.
I'm headed to Argentina for three weeks. I know I will spend some time in Buenos Aires and then be traveling from there. Look for photos to come.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Ultima dia!
Ahhh,
Tengo mucho Espanol viajando en mi cabeza. Este noche voy a ensuenar en Espanol.
I have no idea how to put the accents and n -ays on the letters so Im not even gonna try.
Speaking of try, it was a trying last couple of days. All is well, but its been a long week of a lot of work.
Andrew and I went out on Saturday to collect water samples in the field for the last time. We went to some of the poorest places I have ever been. We found a few mothers who didnt speak any Spanish, only Mam, with a sick baby. This family didn't even have a latrine, they used the bathroom in any of the trees around their house. We collected a sample of their water from their well. It was filthy. I pulled up the metal container while Andrew watched. I said to all the little girls that were watching, "las mujeres hacen todo el trabajo". They laughed. They got the biggest kick out of us white folk getting water out of the well.
After we did the sampling, the mother asked me about her sick child. This baby was 3 months old and had a cough and fever. I listened to the baby's lungs although it is extremely hard for me to assess a child. I dont have any pediatric training, and part of the culture is to keep the babies covered so they don't get evil eye by being seen by a drunk man. I heard some coarseness in the left lung and advised the mother to go to the clinic. We brought her, the 3 month old and another young child of hers to the clinic. They prescribed Amoxicillin, which I guess is standard here. She was very appreciative as she had had a baby die in her arms before.
Pretty heavy.
We went to a few other homes and certainly made the most of the experience. It's simply amazing to see how people live and what they live with and the depth of culture. I can't say enough about it, but because I've already said a lot about it, I'm not going to write more here.
Andrew and I finished up the bacteria counts in the lab and were stoked to have been able to do this project to meet our expectations. Woo hoo!
We enjoyed some Gallo beer with Maya, and Carolina made dinner for us all. We were really happy to be finishing up.
Today we woke up at 5am so Carolina could bring us to Xela, and then we took a 4 hour bus ride to Antiqua, and then another hour ride to Guate City.
Currently were here at a "home stay". Its been an amazing way to end this trip. We're staying with the sister of one of the ladies that works in the office that we were in in San Lorenzo. This family is lovely! The whole family lives here, Grandmother and Grandfather with the grandmother's son and his family, as well as 3 Spanish veterinary students. We spent some time hanging out with the family and the 3 month old dog with endless energy. We went to the local mercado and just debriefed and relaxed. Later, Andrew and I had dinner with the vet students and spoke Spanish Spanish. It was great practice and very fun.
By the way... Dad, I ate the steak and it was really good.
Ok, one more day of traveling and were home. Both of us are looking forward to being home.
This whole experience was amazing. It was a lot of work, but it was truly unique. I learned so much about the Mayan culture as well as Guatemalan culture. I was able to practice my Spanish and learn about collecting data in the field.
This experience gave me a new appreciation for research and cross cultural relations. I also have an even deeper respect for water, the source, collection and its cleanliness. I will continue to work towards greater environmental and public health through nursing.
Hasta luego amigos! MANANA!
Tengo mucho Espanol viajando en mi cabeza. Este noche voy a ensuenar en Espanol.
I have no idea how to put the accents and n -ays on the letters so Im not even gonna try.
Speaking of try, it was a trying last couple of days. All is well, but its been a long week of a lot of work.
Andrew and I went out on Saturday to collect water samples in the field for the last time. We went to some of the poorest places I have ever been. We found a few mothers who didnt speak any Spanish, only Mam, with a sick baby. This family didn't even have a latrine, they used the bathroom in any of the trees around their house. We collected a sample of their water from their well. It was filthy. I pulled up the metal container while Andrew watched. I said to all the little girls that were watching, "las mujeres hacen todo el trabajo". They laughed. They got the biggest kick out of us white folk getting water out of the well.
After we did the sampling, the mother asked me about her sick child. This baby was 3 months old and had a cough and fever. I listened to the baby's lungs although it is extremely hard for me to assess a child. I dont have any pediatric training, and part of the culture is to keep the babies covered so they don't get evil eye by being seen by a drunk man. I heard some coarseness in the left lung and advised the mother to go to the clinic. We brought her, the 3 month old and another young child of hers to the clinic. They prescribed Amoxicillin, which I guess is standard here. She was very appreciative as she had had a baby die in her arms before.
Pretty heavy.
We went to a few other homes and certainly made the most of the experience. It's simply amazing to see how people live and what they live with and the depth of culture. I can't say enough about it, but because I've already said a lot about it, I'm not going to write more here.
Andrew and I finished up the bacteria counts in the lab and were stoked to have been able to do this project to meet our expectations. Woo hoo!
We enjoyed some Gallo beer with Maya, and Carolina made dinner for us all. We were really happy to be finishing up.
Today we woke up at 5am so Carolina could bring us to Xela, and then we took a 4 hour bus ride to Antiqua, and then another hour ride to Guate City.
Currently were here at a "home stay". Its been an amazing way to end this trip. We're staying with the sister of one of the ladies that works in the office that we were in in San Lorenzo. This family is lovely! The whole family lives here, Grandmother and Grandfather with the grandmother's son and his family, as well as 3 Spanish veterinary students. We spent some time hanging out with the family and the 3 month old dog with endless energy. We went to the local mercado and just debriefed and relaxed. Later, Andrew and I had dinner with the vet students and spoke Spanish Spanish. It was great practice and very fun.
By the way... Dad, I ate the steak and it was really good.
Ok, one more day of traveling and were home. Both of us are looking forward to being home.
This whole experience was amazing. It was a lot of work, but it was truly unique. I learned so much about the Mayan culture as well as Guatemalan culture. I was able to practice my Spanish and learn about collecting data in the field.
This experience gave me a new appreciation for research and cross cultural relations. I also have an even deeper respect for water, the source, collection and its cleanliness. I will continue to work towards greater environmental and public health through nursing.
Hasta luego amigos! MANANA!
Friday, October 2, 2009
3rd Day of Sample collection
Sorry for the less than glorious title of this blog. Today we went into the field, Tuichilupe, to collect more samples, surveys and GPS locations. I feel like we got into the routine today and it was a pretty incredible day.
I think the most amazing thing that I have seen in a while was the loom. We entered into this home there was this beautiful green light coming from the plastic fiberglass ceiling part casting onto the loom. There was a 16 year old boy working it, and he was spinning the "cortes" or the woven material that is used for skirts. I asked whose role it is to make the materials and it can be either gender and from what I've seen today, any of the children or mother's role.
They take about one day to make, but require a lot of pedal stepping and hand work to push the fabric through the threads. Its an occupational health nightmare! I suppose its my training, but I keep looking at the occupational, environmental and safety risks of jobs here.
I keep wanting to ask if they have musculoskeletal pain from their work.
In the survey questions we have been asking, people never talk about pain from the work they do. I wonder if they just live with it, or perhaps they don't associate the two. It would be an interesting study. 
Here are the ladies standing next to the loom, the threads are so complicated. 
I'm so fascinated by this work and how hard these people work here. The people that I have met here work so hard, especially the women. It is wonderful to be around a matriarchal society. The woman of the house is named on the study list for CRECER. It is the women who hold these families together.As for our work, we have been doing well. As in our controls have come out blank and there have been e. coli colonies to count. It seems that most of the sources are contaminated and that the boiled water may have colonies as well. The participants aren't necessarily suffering from diarrhea at the moment, but it is hard to correlate the presence of bacteria with illness. We know that this is just a preliminary study to learn more, and we are learning so much just by being here.
Today was market day in San Lorenzo, and after seeing the most amazingness of the cortes work, I had to buy one. I went with Domi, our field worker, who bargined up a storm for me! She spoke Mam to those selling the materials and got me some good deals. I am one of 3 white people in this town now. The others are Andrew and Abby a Peace Corps volunteer that I met yesterday at the cooking party. I dont think I mentioned it because I was a bit tired after all the hiking yesterday. Carolina set up this big party for anyone who wanted to come. She invited a food company that sells healthy food at a good price. They taught the women cooking and it was great for them as it was a day out of the house and a chance to meet other people. It should also help improve the health of the families here with added protein and fortified minerals and nutrients. We only caught the end of it because we were out collecting samples.
So, we're off to cena in a few. I'll wrap this up with one more photo of me and Andrew wearing our UC attire. Go Bears? (UCSF doesn't have any sports, but COEH should have its own team)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The smell of diesel at 2500 meters
Hola,
I dont know how much I have to write in this blog. But, we'll see. Last night we had fun at the local cantina and we talked up a storm! It was pay day so the beers were flowing, but there is only one choice of beer and that's Gallo. I'd compare it to a Natty Light in a really heavy brown bottle. We had lots of fun talking about everything from futbol to why English words are spelled they way they are to nuiances of the community. Good people!
We had another day in the field today. Got up early and headed to Tuchilupe. Today it was just Andrew, Eduardo and Domi. We worked great as a team by going out and getting water samples, today from some wells, and springs as well as stored water. This is so much work! I took vacation days for this week, this is not a vacation. Vacation would be sitting by the ocean in a hammock with a cold drink in my hand, or swimming with fish, or going to see some music with friends.
I've been working really hard this year and I care so deeply about the health of the planet and the people who in inhabit it. I know that it shows, but sometimes I get down on what kind of difference I and "we" can make when I see babies with snot dripping from their nose in the dirt playing with small plastic pieces. I try to understand why there continues to be a skin color discrimination between people of the same ethnicity. I struggle to know what keeps people oppressed. I understand but can not rationalize why culture superceeds science when there is proof.
Anyway, I'm having one of those moments when I'd like to be surrounded by some really old friends, one certain new one, and some live dancin' music. Thats not possible, so Im going to share some photos of our work today.
This is the view of San Lorenzo where we are staying.
One of the wells in the community of Tucihilupe. I'll tell you tomorrow if its colonized with e.coli.
Eduardo getting a sample while Andrew takes a GPS reading
Eduardo in front of another well, with cabbage like crops in the background. My favorite of the homes we have visited so far.
Toothbrushes outside of one home. Note the census papers that have been stapled to the home for research purposes.
I dont know how much I have to write in this blog. But, we'll see. Last night we had fun at the local cantina and we talked up a storm! It was pay day so the beers were flowing, but there is only one choice of beer and that's Gallo. I'd compare it to a Natty Light in a really heavy brown bottle. We had lots of fun talking about everything from futbol to why English words are spelled they way they are to nuiances of the community. Good people!
We had another day in the field today. Got up early and headed to Tuchilupe. Today it was just Andrew, Eduardo and Domi. We worked great as a team by going out and getting water samples, today from some wells, and springs as well as stored water. This is so much work! I took vacation days for this week, this is not a vacation. Vacation would be sitting by the ocean in a hammock with a cold drink in my hand, or swimming with fish, or going to see some music with friends.
I've been working really hard this year and I care so deeply about the health of the planet and the people who in inhabit it. I know that it shows, but sometimes I get down on what kind of difference I and "we" can make when I see babies with snot dripping from their nose in the dirt playing with small plastic pieces. I try to understand why there continues to be a skin color discrimination between people of the same ethnicity. I struggle to know what keeps people oppressed. I understand but can not rationalize why culture superceeds science when there is proof.
Anyway, I'm having one of those moments when I'd like to be surrounded by some really old friends, one certain new one, and some live dancin' music. Thats not possible, so Im going to share some photos of our work today.
This is the view of San Lorenzo where we are staying.
One of the wells in the community of Tucihilupe. I'll tell you tomorrow if its colonized with e.coli.
Eduardo getting a sample while Andrew takes a GPS reading
Eduardo in front of another well, with cabbage like crops in the background. My favorite of the homes we have visited so far.
Toothbrushes outside of one home. Note the census papers that have been stapled to the home for research purposes.So, you may have noticed that there are no photos of the people that live here. Because I am here under a grant from UC and COEH, we are under some regulations for human participants of research. We have an IRB, otherwise known as the review board, which makes sure that we are humanly doing this research. So, if I want to take any photos of people, I need to get extra consents, which may be tricky or outside the purpose of this study.
Maya just asked me if I wanted to get a choco banana! Of course. Catch ya later!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Mam
Hola!
Estamos en San Lorenzo!
Wow, another huge two days. Andrew and I were picked up by Carolina yesterday in Antiqua and we traveled about 6 hours west to San Lorenzo by CDC pick-up truck. Carolina is a biologist/researcher that has been working with the studies that have been going on here for three years. Its incredible how much work has been done here and I'll talk more about it a little later.
I was really impressed with the roads on the way here. We didn't even hit anything, no dogs or chickens or rocks for that matter.
We stopped in one of the bigger cities here, Xela, to have lunch and pick up a few items for the research study. We went to this BIG box store which was just like Walmart. They were even setting up Christmas items like fake trees and ornaments. Just like home right? This store was kind of shocking to me, as I know that the upper class exist in developing countries, however, I have never been to one. It just further exemplified the canyon between the rich and the poor all over the world. It gives me sadness to walk into a place that only some can go to. Its an interesting contrast visiting some of the poorest homes the very next day.
Which brings me to today! How lovely it is to be studying diarrhea and experiencing it at the same time! I totally have a gringa belly. It can't handle any of the real world bugs and things. I'm okay though, I had some yogurt this morning and some probiotics and some Coke to kill the bacteria.
The house we are staying in is lovely! It's where all the researchers are living doing this work as their career. This area, San Lorenzo and San Marco, is home to a big project which has been using GPS, overhead imaging and many research projects to understand about respiratory health, water and sanitation issues here in this region. I am not sure how many years this has been going on for, but at least 3. I'm so impressed by the work that the people here have done. One study helped place cook stoves with chimneys to keep the smoke out of the kitchens for better respiratory health of the mothers and especially the babies that ride on their backs all day.
So, today Andrew and I went out with Eduardo, Carolina, and Domi to collect water samples and do surveys with the community members. We aimed to get 8 surveys and a bunch of water samples, which we did! Most of the mothers and families spoke Spanish, however because we had a translator, Domi, who was able to speak Mam (the Mayan language as well as Spanish) the participants of the study went back and forth between both languages. It was very hard for me to understand their Spanish as they have an accent and it was complicated by words that I am not used to using of this region.
Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. They showed us their latrines and Andrew and Eduardo took a GPS recording, while Carolina, Domi and I did the surveys. We took water samples from their piped water and any water they had saved in the kitchen.
It was incredible to be reminded of how these people are living. I have visited homes like this when I worked with Shoulder to Shoulder in Honduras, and when I was in Rombo and Dar Es Saalam in Tanzania. But, its always incredibly humbling to see what these people do in their day to day lives.
For the people that we visited today, getting water was not very difficult, they all had taps near to their homes where when they turned the water on, it came out. One of our survey questions was if the water ever went out. And the answer for the most part is no. So thats very reassuring. Their latrines were near or a short walk from their homes, usually a cement raised seat covered by a tin roof with some wood around the outside.
The most shocking was a flush toilet! It most likely flushed into the nearby stream, but the funny thing was that next to the toilet was another closet that would have been a shower, but it was a potato storage area instead. I will upload the photo!
There were many animals, all which entered into the homes, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, turkeys. I didn't see any horses, goats, sheep or cows enter the homes, but they are close by.
Many of the homes were well kept, although some had trash everywhere. I think all of the homes had the special cook stoves, some had electricity and TVs, which was also incredible! I'm not sure if they were working, but a few had the radio on.
At the last home we visited, the mother of the family wasn't there but the grandmother was (most likely about 40 years old) and she offered us this sweet corn drink. We all had some and it was delicious.
Once we got back to the office, we processed the samples in the lab with filtration and are currently incubating the petri dishes. I think we got about 18 water samples in all, and hopefully the blanks don't grow any bacteria and some others grow e. coli. Its the end of the rainy season now, so we expect to find some. Once we are done collecting data we hope to relate it to the illnesses described in the study. This is a really really small study, a and most likely a pilot for future work if we find anything.
Its a really interesting experience and I am fascinated by people and cultures.
I am really interested in learning more about native people's rights and how they have been affected by modern society. I'd love to learn more about migratory paths of indigenous people that have traveled all over the world hundreds of thousands of years ago. The look of the faces, and the skin color and even the languages of these native people seem so similar to other cultures I have experienced. For example, the indigenous people I have met in New Mexico and Alaska. If you were to show a person's face (without hints of clothing or language) it might be very difficult to know exactly which part of the world they have come from. I'd also love to know how the language traveled and changed. But I guess that's a whole different master's degree.
I am truly realizing though that I don't think I would make a good researcher. I love to hear stories of people too much and am not good at filling in a 1 or a 2 into the boxes as much as I like to hear their perceptions of their experiences. I am confident that I am in the right space in terms of my profession and direction. I am eager to get back to learning about clinical work and how to be the best nurse practitioner as possible.
We're gonna head up to the house in a little bit, to relax and I will be doing homework, YES, homework, powerpoints in Guate! It's not all lava and glory, but its certainly an experience.
I will upload photos tomorrow! We are going to do more surveys and samples and of course, LEARNING.
Yours,
Truly
Estamos en San Lorenzo!
Wow, another huge two days. Andrew and I were picked up by Carolina yesterday in Antiqua and we traveled about 6 hours west to San Lorenzo by CDC pick-up truck. Carolina is a biologist/researcher that has been working with the studies that have been going on here for three years. Its incredible how much work has been done here and I'll talk more about it a little later.
I was really impressed with the roads on the way here. We didn't even hit anything, no dogs or chickens or rocks for that matter.
We stopped in one of the bigger cities here, Xela, to have lunch and pick up a few items for the research study. We went to this BIG box store which was just like Walmart. They were even setting up Christmas items like fake trees and ornaments. Just like home right? This store was kind of shocking to me, as I know that the upper class exist in developing countries, however, I have never been to one. It just further exemplified the canyon between the rich and the poor all over the world. It gives me sadness to walk into a place that only some can go to. Its an interesting contrast visiting some of the poorest homes the very next day.
Which brings me to today! How lovely it is to be studying diarrhea and experiencing it at the same time! I totally have a gringa belly. It can't handle any of the real world bugs and things. I'm okay though, I had some yogurt this morning and some probiotics and some Coke to kill the bacteria.
The house we are staying in is lovely! It's where all the researchers are living doing this work as their career. This area, San Lorenzo and San Marco, is home to a big project which has been using GPS, overhead imaging and many research projects to understand about respiratory health, water and sanitation issues here in this region. I am not sure how many years this has been going on for, but at least 3. I'm so impressed by the work that the people here have done. One study helped place cook stoves with chimneys to keep the smoke out of the kitchens for better respiratory health of the mothers and especially the babies that ride on their backs all day.
So, today Andrew and I went out with Eduardo, Carolina, and Domi to collect water samples and do surveys with the community members. We aimed to get 8 surveys and a bunch of water samples, which we did! Most of the mothers and families spoke Spanish, however because we had a translator, Domi, who was able to speak Mam (the Mayan language as well as Spanish) the participants of the study went back and forth between both languages. It was very hard for me to understand their Spanish as they have an accent and it was complicated by words that I am not used to using of this region.
Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. They showed us their latrines and Andrew and Eduardo took a GPS recording, while Carolina, Domi and I did the surveys. We took water samples from their piped water and any water they had saved in the kitchen.
It was incredible to be reminded of how these people are living. I have visited homes like this when I worked with Shoulder to Shoulder in Honduras, and when I was in Rombo and Dar Es Saalam in Tanzania. But, its always incredibly humbling to see what these people do in their day to day lives.
For the people that we visited today, getting water was not very difficult, they all had taps near to their homes where when they turned the water on, it came out. One of our survey questions was if the water ever went out. And the answer for the most part is no. So thats very reassuring. Their latrines were near or a short walk from their homes, usually a cement raised seat covered by a tin roof with some wood around the outside.
The most shocking was a flush toilet! It most likely flushed into the nearby stream, but the funny thing was that next to the toilet was another closet that would have been a shower, but it was a potato storage area instead. I will upload the photo!
There were many animals, all which entered into the homes, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, turkeys. I didn't see any horses, goats, sheep or cows enter the homes, but they are close by.
Many of the homes were well kept, although some had trash everywhere. I think all of the homes had the special cook stoves, some had electricity and TVs, which was also incredible! I'm not sure if they were working, but a few had the radio on.
At the last home we visited, the mother of the family wasn't there but the grandmother was (most likely about 40 years old) and she offered us this sweet corn drink. We all had some and it was delicious.
Once we got back to the office, we processed the samples in the lab with filtration and are currently incubating the petri dishes. I think we got about 18 water samples in all, and hopefully the blanks don't grow any bacteria and some others grow e. coli. Its the end of the rainy season now, so we expect to find some. Once we are done collecting data we hope to relate it to the illnesses described in the study. This is a really really small study, a and most likely a pilot for future work if we find anything.
Its a really interesting experience and I am fascinated by people and cultures.
I am really interested in learning more about native people's rights and how they have been affected by modern society. I'd love to learn more about migratory paths of indigenous people that have traveled all over the world hundreds of thousands of years ago. The look of the faces, and the skin color and even the languages of these native people seem so similar to other cultures I have experienced. For example, the indigenous people I have met in New Mexico and Alaska. If you were to show a person's face (without hints of clothing or language) it might be very difficult to know exactly which part of the world they have come from. I'd also love to know how the language traveled and changed. But I guess that's a whole different master's degree.
I am truly realizing though that I don't think I would make a good researcher. I love to hear stories of people too much and am not good at filling in a 1 or a 2 into the boxes as much as I like to hear their perceptions of their experiences. I am confident that I am in the right space in terms of my profession and direction. I am eager to get back to learning about clinical work and how to be the best nurse practitioner as possible.
We're gonna head up to the house in a little bit, to relax and I will be doing homework, YES, homework, powerpoints in Guate! It's not all lava and glory, but its certainly an experience.
I will upload photos tomorrow! We are going to do more surveys and samples and of course, LEARNING.
Yours,
Truly
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
No lava con lava!
I just washed all of the little lava rocks off my feet. What an incredible day! Andrew and I took one of the tourist trips up to the Volcan Pacaya and it was amazing. I have never been that close to an active volcano and it was simply awesome.
We paid 10 USD to get a ride up to the volcano and then another 5 to get into the park. We went through the usual tourist sketchyness of picking up people all over Antiqua and not really sure if it was really going to happen. But when we finally got to the park we were invited into the store (which of course was someone's home) to use the bathroom. The trick was to avoid stepping on the baby chicks and children selling you walking sticks. Once we managed to do that our group was introduced to Irvin a 30ish guide who was the shit! He lead us up the volcano and told us about the local plants. We tasted this plant stem that was like a lime that was good for digestion, and another one called cheese leaf that locals wraped cheese in to keep it fresh (it was also noted that its good to wipe your bum with). We saw the tree thats called egg yoke, because the inside is as yellow as an egg yoke. Another tree that smells like skunk, a flower that smells like jasmine and some lovely bay leaves! I really enjoyed how much Irvin liked his job. You could tell that even though this guy climbs the volcano at least once a day every day, he still enjoyed showing off his community and knowledge of the environment. The other mentionable people in our group were a couple guys from Argentina/Mexico. They were really funny chefs who shared incredible cheeses once we reached the magma! Pedro had brought a French brie, swiss and some gorganzola. Not to mention smoked salmon. He told us to always travel with a chef.
Irvin lead us to the top of the lava flow where the "sand" had settled. He asked us if we liked to ski, and of course I said yes. We jumped our way down the safe cold old lava and it was so fun. Yes, dangerous, but no more than anything else in life. See the photos of us jumping down the hill. From the top we could see the other volcano, Agua, which is not active.
We spent about an hour hanging out by the active flow while some folks roasted marshmellows, and the handful of dogs begged for food. I was impressed when Pedro rescued a plastic marshmellow bag that was about to be melted by the lava. We took a lot of photos which are posted on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisa22/
They speak a lot louder than anything I can write.
I am always moved by nature and how the environment is ever changing. I continue to think that people have to change their ways because we are no longer in the flow. Seeing the lava and how litterally the earth is continuing to be shaped was very real. The volcano is very much the real burn.
I am facinated by this community that is living next to the volcano. They seemed to be doing well because of the tourists. And the people are happy, at least outwardly. There has been a community living next to the volcano for thousands of years and it interests me how their lifestyles change along with society, culture and more importantly the ever changing earth.
Tomorrow we're off to San Lorenzo with Carolina to finally get down to some work!
We paid 10 USD to get a ride up to the volcano and then another 5 to get into the park. We went through the usual tourist sketchyness of picking up people all over Antiqua and not really sure if it was really going to happen. But when we finally got to the park we were invited into the store (which of course was someone's home) to use the bathroom. The trick was to avoid stepping on the baby chicks and children selling you walking sticks. Once we managed to do that our group was introduced to Irvin a 30ish guide who was the shit! He lead us up the volcano and told us about the local plants. We tasted this plant stem that was like a lime that was good for digestion, and another one called cheese leaf that locals wraped cheese in to keep it fresh (it was also noted that its good to wipe your bum with). We saw the tree thats called egg yoke, because the inside is as yellow as an egg yoke. Another tree that smells like skunk, a flower that smells like jasmine and some lovely bay leaves! I really enjoyed how much Irvin liked his job. You could tell that even though this guy climbs the volcano at least once a day every day, he still enjoyed showing off his community and knowledge of the environment. The other mentionable people in our group were a couple guys from Argentina/Mexico. They were really funny chefs who shared incredible cheeses once we reached the magma! Pedro had brought a French brie, swiss and some gorganzola. Not to mention smoked salmon. He told us to always travel with a chef.
Irvin lead us to the top of the lava flow where the "sand" had settled. He asked us if we liked to ski, and of course I said yes. We jumped our way down the safe cold old lava and it was so fun. Yes, dangerous, but no more than anything else in life. See the photos of us jumping down the hill. From the top we could see the other volcano, Agua, which is not active.
We spent about an hour hanging out by the active flow while some folks roasted marshmellows, and the handful of dogs begged for food. I was impressed when Pedro rescued a plastic marshmellow bag that was about to be melted by the lava. We took a lot of photos which are posted on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisa22/
They speak a lot louder than anything I can write.
I am always moved by nature and how the environment is ever changing. I continue to think that people have to change their ways because we are no longer in the flow. Seeing the lava and how litterally the earth is continuing to be shaped was very real. The volcano is very much the real burn.
I am facinated by this community that is living next to the volcano. They seemed to be doing well because of the tourists. And the people are happy, at least outwardly. There has been a community living next to the volcano for thousands of years and it interests me how their lifestyles change along with society, culture and more importantly the ever changing earth.
Tomorrow we're off to San Lorenzo with Carolina to finally get down to some work!
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