Little Moments

The boys and I go back in a week. We are all a little depressed about it - except for Giancarlo who is really looking forward to a glass of cold chocolate milk. We are all trying to savor the little moments that make camp life so special. To that end I am posting a picture of dawn in camp. In the morning before breakfast the jungle feels cool and tranquil, and the trees are full of birds enthusiastically greeting the sun. It is a wonderful time of day.

Miracle from the Sky

Camp has been busy, and some of these next posts may be out of exact chronological order. Last week some people came to visit San Bartolo. They came in by helicopter. This usually happens a couple of time each excavation season. It is always fun to watch the helicopter land, and usually the pilot lets the boys play in the chopper for a while. This chopper visit became unique when our guests unloaded their cargo. For the first time in camp history WE HAD ICE CREAM!!! It was such a fun treat, and it wasn't just our boys that loved it. Everyone in camp giggled and laughed as they stuffed their faces. There were six glorious gallons of vanilla, strawberry cheesecake, chocolate and coffee ice cream. It was a beautiful thing.

3 Little Tarzans

We haven't posted in a while, but we are still here. We left camp to meet Bill at a hotel for a few days. We enjoyed the food and the pool but, boy, was it good to come back to the jungle. And what is the use of living in the jungle if you can't swing on a vine every now and then? One of the men who has been working here for a while is really great at finding good swinging vines, and he found one for the boys just the other day.

Giancarlo Rides a Horse

Here in camp we keep horses and mules. These animals haul things where cars cannot go. In the wet season, that is everywhere, but in the dry season it is to the more remote parts of the site. We try not to cut down any trees we don't have to, so if we can avoid cutting a road to somewhere we avoid it. Giancarlo loves the animals. And Eric, who takes care of them, offered to let him ride "Bartolito". Bartolito was born here several years ago. His mother died just several weeks after his birth of an infection. Those of us in camp fed him with milk made from powdered cow's milk, we also fed him oatmeal and incaparina (a nutritional drink for children). Bartolito made it through that season and was brought out to Uaxactun - the village nearest to us. He has come back almost every year since. He even has a son of his in camp with him now. Giancarlo has been able to ride him twice, but asks everyday. Most of the time Bartolito is working, but I am sure Giancarlo will ride him a lot more before we go.

A Nice Walk

Walking in the jungle everyday is always enjoyable, and it always has its little surprises. So far it has been a good year for wildlife. We hear monkeys in the trees all the time, and most days we even catch a glimpse of them. But the other day David and I were walking together and several spider monkeys stopped right over head and began shaking the trees at us. I grabbed a nearby vine and David grabbed a sapling and we shook right back. We had a conversation (or argument) like this for about 5 minutes. Now usually when one tries to photograph monkeys in trees they just come out looking like a black blur amongst the leaves, a black shadow cast by the bright sun behind and above them. These monkeys, playing with me and David, were pretty close, and they stuck around long enough for us to get a pretty good picture.

Life in Camp 2

We are continuing with our photos about what it is like to live here day to day. Today's photos have to do with personal hygiene. So included are pictures of our latrines and showers. We have to acknowledge that the latrines can smell pretty bad, but as far as latrines go, toilet seats are pretty fancy. The showers don't look so fancy, but they do the trick. Everyday trucks go out to the river and men fill up 5 gallon jugs of water (we call them "tambos"). Then they deliver them to outside the showers. You need to fill your bucket( no more than 2 1/2 gallons per person please), pour cold river water over yourself, soap and shampoo up, then rinse by pouring more cold river water over yourself. It is still cool here at night, in the 50's, so the washing water is very chilly. Later in the season when it is so hot all day and night the water will warm up to tepid. The river water is really pretty clear, the tea color it has comes from leaves that have fallen into it. For this reason it helps to use a sieve to filter the water before you bathe.

Life in Camp

We have had a request to post pictures about camp life, so here goes. Over the next week or so we will try to post pictures of what how we are living looks like. Today we are posting pictures of our tents. The internet here is slow so we can only upload a few photos at a time. Bill and I live in the small tent and the three boyos live in the big one. We don't have a lot of "stuff" here, but as it turns out, we don't miss all the things we left back in Boston.

Cool Things in Nature this Week

What we all love about being in the jungle is that everyday is a new discovery. Everyday here nature shows us something amazing. It is apparently baby making time for some things in the jungle. Spiders are carrying egg sacs. And birds are making nests and laying eggs. We are posting a photo of a wolf spider moving her eggs, and two photos of a hummingbird nest that David and I came across on our walk. We used my thumb for scale so everyone could see how e the nest and its eggs are so tiny and perfect.

Big Wolf Spider

Yesterday we mentioned that we found a big wolf spider cleaning out the tents. Today I thought I would post the photos. We used Cenzo for scale. These spiders do have a venomous bite, but in ten years down here I have never met anyone who has been bitten by one.

We're Here!

We are finally here in San Bartolo! We are all SO excited to be here. We got in at dusk last night, but were able to get organized enough to sleep on air beds in our tents. When we woke up this morning I asked the kids how they slept. Cenzo said: " I slept great. It felt like coming home." In the end I suppose Cenzo and David have spent as much time living here as anywhere else. I know it feels like home to Bill and me. David and I walked for two hours this morning beginning around sunrise. We didn't see a jaguar as he had hoped, but we saw lots of birds, some monkeys, and a fox. It was lovely. We we got back into camp Cenzo and Giancarlo were playing with a young tarantula. And later we found a BIG wolf spider while cleaning out tents. It is good to be back in the jungle.

Fun on the Beach

I don't know why the last blog post had such huge type. We will see how this one goes. After our sunrise tour, the family and the BU semester abroad students spent the whole day at the beach, and the pool - which is on the beach. Giancarlo stayed in the pool all day because the surf is too strong for him. Cenzo and David spent a lot of time getting hammered by waves, but also found time to crack a coconut open with a rock and drag a partially burned drift tree down the beach. A good time was had by all and everyone in the family except Bill got sunburned.

Sunrise Tour of the Mangrove

On Saturday morning we took a sunrise canoe tour of the mangrove lagoon that separates the beach of Monterrico from the mainland . It was early and we were tired, but it was worth it. We saw lots of birds, mostly egrets. We saw a lot of men fishing - but got no good photos. This mangrove lagoon is a special ecosystem because in the rainy season it is filled with fresh water, but in the dry season the ocean water washes in and it is mostly salt water. It is home to turtles, caimanes and two endangered species of mangrove, all of which are protected here.

Still at the Market

That last post didn't publish quite as planned... The list of things at the market continued with fresh meat, fresh vegetables, candles, appliances, bicycles, beds and anything else you can imagine... and some things that may surprise you. Yesterday, While in the market without the boys I saw this. It is a box of rainbow dyed live baby chicks, "cinco la mano" or five for 5 quetzales, roughly seventy cents in US dollars. While I took the photo a woman bought a purple one just because she felt bad for it.

This weekend we are off to the Pacific coast of Guatemala, to a beach town called Monterrico.

Things You Can Buy at the Market

You can buy ANYTHING at the market. Here are just a few photos of your options. They include Fresh vegetables fresh flowers

In Santiago, Lago Atitlan

We spent this weekend relaxing in the town of Santiago, at Lago Atitlan with the students of the Boston University semester abroad program. The Lake is a caldera lake, which means it is a water filled cone of a huge volcano. This one last erupted 84,000 years ago. Around the rim of the lake are several smaller volcanoes. We have been taking all the boys to the lake since they were babies. It is a place to just soak in the beauty of nature. It is very hard to leave.

Trip to El Mercado

Today after school we went to the market to look for playeras de futbol or soccer jerseys (knock-offs, of course). The price started at around $8.00 US and we bargained them down to $5.00. Cenzo and Giancarlo chose Barcelona Jerseys. Cenzo got Ibrahimovic, Giancarlo got Messi. David chose a shirt from here in Antigua: Antigua GFC. See photos.

We took a tuk-tuk both to and from the market. A tuk-tuk is a cab made from a moped tricycle with a roof put on it. Our driver home was muy machisto. He was a very aggressive driver, cutting off buses and weaving through traffic. He was kind enough to let us take a picture, but David thinks he looks like a psychopath in the photo. Halfway through the ride Giancarlo shouted above the noise: "Tuk-tuks are the awesomest! When I grow up I wanna be a tuk-tuk driver! I think I'm gonna drive like this guy!" We all started laughing out loud and I made a parental mental note to keep Giancarlo out of tuk-tuks.

School in Session

Just so everyone doesn't think it is all just fun and games down here... here are some pictures of Cenzo and David ACTUALLY doing school work. David is with their Spanish tutor, Maestra Teresa. And Cenzo is working on his math and his book letter.