Eruption!

After an exhausting day of torch-running and kid-tossing, we finally got back to NPH. As soon as I walked in the door I was accosted by a groups of little ones. "Did you hear we're in a Code Red?!" I had no idea what that meant (and at first worried that it had something to do with a war or uprising or something), but they quickly filled me in on all the action I missed while I was gone. Fuego, the volcano that overlooks NPH, erupted during the morning! Fuego is one of the most active volcanos in Guatemala and almost daily has a bit of smoke coming out of it, but this was a full-blown explosion. Luckily Nate was able to grab this photo while it was happening. This is the view from the front of the clinic.

By the time I got home, all you could see was a ton of clouds surrounding it and a lightening storm starting (I wonder if that's somehow caused by the volcano?). We're far away enough that lava isn't a concern, but they had to evacuate 30,000 people from surrounding villages. The one thing we do have to watch for is smoke and ash, but luckily the wind tends to blow in the other direction. Hopefully we won't have to worry about 400 displaced children anytime soon.

I went down to my house, ready to call it an early night. As I was laying in my hammock, we got word that the director was going to drive over to the other side of the volcano to see if there was less cloud cover there. Jose and I were the only people home, so we jumped up, threw on clothes and ran up the stairs just in time to jump into the back of the truck and head off.

The ride was gorgeous. It's starting to turn to fall here so it's brisk at night, especially with the wind whipping around. There was hardly anyone out though, so it was quiet and dark, we got to lay in the back and watch the stars while drinking beer (totally not illegal here). It reminded me a lot of being in high school and driving around aimlessly with my friends at night just to pass the time. It's almost a weightless feeling, it's really easy to just focus on the moment and forget about your stress.

After about 45 minutes of driving around, we got to the other side and saw this

(photo credit to Elena, because an iphone just doesn't cut it when it comes to volcano pics)

It was absolutely amazing. We laid in the back of the truck and watched the lava spew out of the top and creep down. It was like watching National Geographic, lava would spit up towards the sky every few seconds and we'd cry out. It was incredible. We watched it for about an hour, driving around to different spots to get better views and I eventually fell asleep while watching it.

It's still erupting and no one knows how long it'll go for or when people will be able to go back home. We have plans to climb Acatenango (the slightly taller volcano that's attached to Fuego and offers views down into Fuego's cone) in a few weeks, so hopefully we'll have some awesome photos from that trip too :) It was a great experience and today in general was great for getting me re-enthused for the rest of my time here.