Lava... y más pollos

Intellectually, I´ve understand since second grade that lava was quite hot. Until this weekend, I don´t think I appreciated quite appreciated how much heat is really required to melt rock. Early sunday morning, I went with a group of other students to the top of Volcán Pacaya, which is one of Guatemala´s three active volcanoes, and one of the most impressive displays of nature I´ve ever been close to! I was literally able to stand on a rock that was hot enough to boil the water I poured on it, while watching rock ooze down a slope and while poking a stick into a tiny rivulet of lava closer by. Of course, after the photo op, I quickly jumped off the rock for fear of my shoes melting! I´m fairly sure that there is nowhere in the US where someone would be allowed to get within a hundred feet of lava, let alone five. It makes driving through a country without guardrails (and with very steep cliffs) completely worth it!

A lava flow from about 10 feet away.

Me on top of vocán Pacayay. Look closely at where the stick is pointing.

The trip to Pacaya and back to Xela was a study in the contrasts Guatemala has to offer. To get to the volcano, four other students and I spent Saturday in Antigua--a gorgeous colonial town, about 4 hours from Xela--that doubles as the tourist capital of the country, where I ate in a German restaurant, complete with weinerschnizel, a German language menu and a Guatemalteca waitress dressed in leiderhosen. The hike to the top was similarly tourist friendly--horses walked up and down the (very) gently sloping trail to pick up any travelers that might have grown a bit tired.

The trip back to Xela was 100% Guatemalan, and my most exciting experience on a chicken bus to date! This time around, I didn´t just get to see Guatemaltecas standing in the aisle while each seat was filled with three people... I got to spend the first half hour standing in the aisle, where I learned that the handhold that run along the top of the bus are less useful for keeping one´s balance (the throng of people on all four sides of my took care of that no problem!), but far more valuable for using to pull oneself towards the back of the bus through otherwise impassible spaces! After three bus changes, two completely unexpected, we made it back to Xela just before nightfall, completely safe and lava-burn free!

¡Hasta pronto!