Really . . . A Tropical Storm . . . Really!

You would think a volcano erupting would be enough.

You know there are only so many natural disasters a girl from Saskatchewan can take.

But just to put some peanuts on top of the cherry, on top of the sundae of a disastrous week; Tropical Storm Agatha decides to touch her ugly face on Guatemalan shores yesterday.

Honestly, I was still a little freaked out by the whole volcano erupting thing that I really didn't think much of the incessant rain all day yesterday.  I figured it might cause some problems with the sewer system because of all of the ash still on the streets but I didn't think it would end up being the national disaster that it is.

Most of the day yesterday was spent in my apartment.  A Spanish lesson in the afternoon ended with the sudden blackout across the city at 6 o'clock.  No power means no Internet, means no connection to the outside world, which leaves 2 Canadians and 1 U.S.-ian in a state of distress.

One quick call to our Guate Knight in Shining Armour (who's power was still on).  And we were on our way to Zone 16 to ride out the power outage.  Unfortunately, upon our arrival at his casa, the power outage had made its way out to Zone 16.  Which left us without power up the side of a mountain during a tropical storm.  Fabulous.

We were not there long before receiving a call from our school caretaker who said "You are going to have to make a decision right now: go home now or stay there because there are mudslides and roads being washed out where you are."

The power was back on and the TV said the worst of it was going to be tomorrow.  So what do we do:  stay on the side of a mountain where there are mudslides or try and drive home where there could be mudslides?  We chose to brave the mountain side, being assured there were 5 other routes to our place besides the one that was already washed out.

The ride home was quite interesting . . . we ended up taking this cobble stone road down the side of the mountain.  I am pretty sure it had a grade of 75%, this would scare me on a regular day let alone in the middle of a tropical storm where trees are falling left and right and the roads have the sides of the mountain on their back.  Katie didn't breath the entire ride home, and Miguel and Kara danced to Reggaton.  It was quite the contrast in moods. 

I don't think I could have been happier to turn onto Reforma and see my home away from home the El Cortijo.  Needless to say I was prepared to be stuck at home all day due to the massive rainfall and winds that were supposed to be on its way.

Waking up this morning to no rain was a bit of a shock.  I figured for sure we would be getting the worst of it today, but Tropical Storm Agatha has been downgraded and we seem to be in the clear.

The government has however said that school will be cancelled for the week.  I do believe that the final say will be coming from the devil herself (our school director) and she likes to take her time making these types of decisions.  Plus she is like 180 years old so she never thinks anything is a big deal because she has seen worse.

Next blog . . . happy!

Not gonna lie . . . this $#!| ain't nothing like snow!

So we survived the night.
No tremor through the night and I managed to sleep after a 1:30 AM chat with the mom.
After waking up this morning I decided I needed to walk around and check out the streets.
Here is what we observed:


I took this photo a couple of weeks ago . . . I thought it was a pretty view.
The second peak/mound from the right is the Volcan Pacaya.

I stole this one from Katie, this is Pacaya a couple of days ago.
It was already becoming more active than usual.

This was my balcony last night during the ash/sand rain.

Parking lot behind my building.  Clean up crews going hard already.

A car in the parking lot behind the building.
When we were walking later this morning we saw people pressure washing the ash off of their cars.
I'm pretty sure that has got to be something like sand blasting, probably not the wisest decision.

A little ash isn't going to stop the chicken buses. 
Although I did notice much fewer on the streets than usual.

This roof top is normally red.

More people working hard on the clean up.

A little Canadian shout out in the ash on Reforma.

Clean sidewalk . . . Ash sidewalk.

Well these chloroplasts are going to have a hard time performing photosynthesis.

More working hard while I took photos.

I have much experience with snow ruts, ash ruts are definitely new to me.

I thought I could rotate this one once I put it on but apparently not.
This is a giant pile of ash on the sidewalk. Tilt head left!

Truck full of ash.

Bags full of ash.

So apparently the worst is not over.  Another violent eruption is a possibility.

The big worry here is the sand/ash getting into the Guate sewers.

To much ash in the sewers makes a major risk for flooding.

And with rainy season in full effect this possibility is much higher.

Anyway, my bag is still packed.  However, the buses are sold out to El Salvador so I am not sure if I need to leave I will be making it anywhere.  I will be safe from the flooding on the 13th floor, not so safe from an earthquake.

Life is never dull in CA.

More updates to come.

"Look it's Fire Snow"

Going back 3 months: "Okay kid I will give my number in case of emergencies."

Tonight: "A la teacher, I know I am not supposed to call you but its raining sand"

             "Raining sand?"

             "Ya, raining sand.  The volcano is erupting and the rain is black.  Go look outside!"

Upon walking out on my balcony, what was normally a lovely brownish/orange was black.  At this point in the evening I am still calm.  Didn't think to much of it at first.

Later: "A la teacher, my mom says that there will probably be another tremor around midnight and it could be a bigger one.  You should pack a bag with water, clothes, a flashlight and anything you might need."

So at this point I begin to freak out, good thing I called the mom after the first phone call because I imagine the second would have caused a little bit more stress. 

Unfortunately for my P.I.A.C.s I was freaking out whilst sending Skype messages to them about the risk surrounding us.  It is the first time since 1998 that the Volcan Pacaya which is continually erupting has erupted in this magnitude.  Parts of the city are covered in up to 3 inches of ash, people have disappeared/died near the volcano,  and the towns near the volcano have been evacuated.

On the plus side of everything school is cancelled and I get to sleep in after a brutal week of school.  So we have decided that we shall ride out the eruption together in Kara's apartment on the 10th floor, the lowest of us three.  So after packing my bag and heading down to Kara's I come to realize I am the only one prepared for the potential evacuation. Katie brought beer, Kara is in boxers and I have my pillow, computer, flashlight and world in my backpack.  Apparently I was quite the site walking into the apartment, I was immediately ridiculed by the P.I.A.C. who laughed at me upon my arrival.  My response:  "Well somebody has to bring the flashlight and granola bars."  Always a control freak . . . never in control! 


With a call from our school caretaker Ana saying "school is officially cancelled stay calm. Are you doing alright?"


"My bag is packed"

"And where are you going?"

"I don't know but I am ready to go there."

So the news updates have been pretty cool, provided it doesn't get any crazier.  In all of the excitement of the evening, the only excitement from Kara has been "Look its fire snow!"    Its nice to have the calm side to my excited, all I ask is that she put on some pants and put her passport in a bag!

I will keep you all updated to the events at hand.