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.