An amazing place...

It's raining. Not surprising, I guess, as we near the end of the rainy season, but rain is so calming. A gentle rain, like we have here - mostly, anyway - slows the heart, makes the eyelids heavy and quiets the spirit. It also waters some of the most plentiful vegetation I have ever seen. Like the garden of Eden. Our landlord told me a story about a time when he stacked some fence posts in a shed during the rainy season. There was a "skiff" of dirt on the floor. When he came back a few weeks later to install the fence posts, they had sprouted roots!

This week I was taking a closer look at some of the plants in our garden - our yard. I noticed that some of the blooms had insects on them, munching their way through the petals. I figured they'd shortly consume all the blossoms on the plant. What I didn't realize is that the plant would sprout blossoms faster than the bugs could eat them. Amazing! The bugs get their fill, and there are still dozens of blossoms covering the plant for us to enjoy. No insecticide needed. There's plenty for all. I think that was God's plan all along. I love it when a good plan comes together.

Today was "gringo" day in Antigua. Apparently, a Holland-America ship docked on the west coast of Guatemala, and hundreds of toursits boarded buses and came to our little berg. We've only been here a month, but have walked nearly every calle at least one time, and are pretty good by now at figuring out north and south (the volcano is south, the cross is north). But many of our visitors were losing their way and, seeing us and realizing we spoke English (which we plan to maintain, by the way), were asking us how to get back to the square and their tour bus. As the seasoned, one-month residents we are, we helped them find their way, which can be difficult since few of the streets are marked. So it's more a matter of counting blocks..."go three blocks this way, go right and then go four blocks to the square." On the map, the streets are marked, which is totally misleading. In reality, I would guess fewer than 12 street signs exist. The good thing is, the streets of the city are all cobble stone. So we warned the people, "if you start walking on asphalt, turn around...you've gone too far." Probably sage advice for us all.

The best tip for directions is, go into one of the many travel agencies lining the streets here. Many of the Guatematecos there speak pretty decent English, and they are pretty good at giving directions...even when clouds hide the volcano.

We are having a blast here...meeting new people, discovering new things and testing our limited Spanish skills. So far, we haven't hit "the wall" people predict will come. When it does, I'll share that with you, too. More mas tarde.

The First Posting

Okay. I'm here in a foreign country where no one has heard the term "carbon footprint." Well, no one but the gringos, that is. It's wonderful to be able to breathe again without all the guilt associated with it back in Boulder, CO. Which makes me wonder how all those people there can be running, jogging, biking, hiking and all that other stuff that requires even heavier breathing. Don't they know they're destroying the planet?

I considered proposing a breath tax to the city council, to try to cut down on all the unnecessary breathing. I have no doubt it would have passed, the city council being the feeling people they are. But another group beat me out with their Kyoto tax. I have to admit, Kyoto does have more zing to it - not to mention it just feels better.

The Boulder Kyoto tax, according to the proponents - several of whom are receiving a sweet salary from the tax money - is going to clear the air in Boulder and provide free energy audits for residents. I sent them an Email asking if they had set a basis point for the air quality in Boulder, just to make sure they could tell the difference between now and when they can all see the sun again through the heavy haze. I also informed them that Xcel, the local, publicly regulated energy company, already provided free energy audits - for every customer anywhere in the state. I got a nice form letter back thanking me for feeling good about the Kyoto tax.

All this makes me think: I wonder how much carbon dioxide the billions of prairie dogs in Boulder are emitting. And the college students. Do you realize how clean the air would be if the University of Colorado moved to, say, Beijing? It would also drastically cut the number of DUI arrests for the Boulder police department - but it would cut into the tips the pizza delivery people make. So I guess there has to be a balance somewhere. Nature abhors a vacuum.

That leads directly to another revelation. A vacuum is probably what accounts for Boulder's winds - 50 mph sustained with 90 mph gusts. It's the air trying to get to the vacuum between the thousands of ears in that city! No wonder the wind drops off in the summer, when all the students and faculty are off in Third World countries somewhere doing highly-funded research on the local beers and chicas. Good work if you can get it, I guess. But, somewhere along the line, we all need to grow up - or become life-time students or tenured faculty.

Okay. Enough stream of consciousness. More later...and maybe a photo or two also. I would have put one on this time, but I don't want to scare you away so soon. It's great to live in the Third World! Next time I'll tell you about this place.