Update

Sorry for taking so long to update the blog. The other day in field service a sister and I started a study with a man. Apparently he studied while he was in Bugaba. Other than that nothing really exciting going on here. But there are a few rumors that there may be protesting again. They say possibly on Monday the roads will be closed again. So we get to go through that excitement all over again. We are all doing good and staying safe.

More pictures!!!

I got some more pictures from Paul. And I have to explain a few of them, it was hot and the sun was starting to cook the top of my head. So I used one of my T-shirts to cover my head. So no, I wasn't going insane. And the trip in total was around 38-40 miles. The problem was it was up and down hills the whole way. Down hill was the hardest part.

Try to find the two chicks from the previous picture.

This is actually a well built bridge.

The ride back to Volcan.

                                           This is what we got to experience on the ride back

Alto Bonito, Canas Blancas trip and Volcan update

On Monday Luke, Paul and I went on a 2 day hiking trip down to Alto Bonito and Canas Blancas.(There suppose to be a tilde above the n). Last time Luke was here they came down with their bikes and did it in one day. This they said it was easier without using bikes and since we were going to camp out, we would be able to take our time. So we started out at 7 am. to make it to the river before night fall. We reached the river by 2 pm. We were able to chill out in the river for a while, and were we set up camp was right next to a bambo bridge. So during the night people kept on passing our tents. The next day while we were eating breakfast, people were passing by on their way to work. In 30 minutes time we placed about 16 magazines, without leaving camp. We walked up to Alto Bonito (a tiny town), and I was like civilization! The road out was actually a decently made dirt road, that was steep as all get out, with loose dirt and stones. On the way to Canas Blancas we had to climb 4 good size hills. On the top we actually cell service, so Paul and Luke called there wives to say Hi and see things were going in Volcan. That's when we heard that the protesters burned the police station and the judicial building. So we high tailed it (as fast as I could walk) back. We were able to catch a ride in the back of a pick-up back to Volcan.

Volcan News Update

 So Tuesday upon arriving to Volcan, it was pretty quite in town. Apparently Monday night the protesters burned a couple buildings. So everyone was at home and all the stores were closed. And the protest was very similar to the Occupy protests in the States. But, the Government and the Protesters were able to reach an agreement Tuesday night around 6 pm. We could hear fireworks being lit off in town for an hour. So everything is getting back to normal. This morning Luke and I went down to Romero's to see if it was open. And on the way we stopped at the Judicial building and Police station to take pictures. There was a fair amount of smoke damage at the Judicial building, there were a lot of people there helping out in the clean up. Some of the brothers in English were there also. And the police station had less smoke damage. So all in all a little nerve racking, but everything worked out and we are all safe and well. Oh, I got to see the new fire engine here, its a new International 4x4 chassis with a Rosenbauer box.

Exciting events

Last night there was another grass fire, this time at the Marcotte's house. They called us to help them try and put it out. So Luke and I headed over, and its about a 5 -10 walk there. We arrived there 10-15 minutes before the fire department did. But, it was nothing serious, the firefighters put it out in about 25 minutes. In other news Volcan and surrounding towns have ran out of gasoline. Because the Pan-American highway and the border has been closed. The Ngobe people are protesting a recently passed law allowing for mining on their land. And then today while I was in field service in Santa Marta, we heard news that they were going to close the road to Volcan. But, We were able to make it back before they closed the road. So its going to be interesting the next couple of days seeing what happens next.

Volcan Baru

On the 23rd a group of us climbed Volcan Baru. We met in town at Romero's(grocery store) at 5:30 am. The plan was to climb all day Monday and camp the night in the cauldron just below the summit. Then Tuesday morning at 5:00 climb the last 200-300 ft to watch the sunrise. Here is the only place where you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic (Caribbean) Oceans. And it has to be early in the day because the clouds roll in and block the view. So I got up at 4 am and walked don to Romero's and met up with the group. And to get to the base of the mountain we all piled into Alex's little Toyota Hilux. It was a fun, cold ride sitting in the bed of the truck. Hiking up Baru can take 3 hours (if your in shape) or in my case 10 hours. The first half was an easy going hike and wasn't difficult. The 3rd quarter was a little harder with more 45 degree climbs requireing you to use trees, roots and rocks to continue. And it wasn't a continuous hike up, there were places where it was flat or you had to go downhill. The final quarter to me was the most difficult. Quite a bit of the trail was loose rocks and sand, and my legs were killing me. We made it to the summit around 5 pm. My legs were numb, I was tired, hungry and cold. That night in the cauldron it was about 27 degrees. I was shivering in my sleeping bag, and I was wearing a fleece, long pants, and in the middle of the night I put my boots trying to stay warm. Around 4:30 I got up and the others were getting ready climb the last bit. I was dead tired since I couldn't sleep, so I decided that I would stay in camp and watch the fire..from my sleeping bag...inside my tent. I gave my camera to one of the brothers, so he could take photos for me. Then after they left, I put some more wood on the fire and laid back down. When they got back we all ate breakfast, packed our stuff up and got ready to head out. The slow group(my group) we headed out first so the others wouldn't have to wait to long for us at the bottom. On the way down two of the sisters started to have knee pain. So we just took our time, which was fine with me since my legs were still hurting, just in a different spot. We reached the bottom around 5pm. It was an experience of a life time, that doing it once is enough for me. At the meeting that Thursday night, Alex invited me to go up Baru again in March. I politely refused and said "Que es mis primer y ultima vez."

Fire!

At 2300 hours a wonderful thing happened, in an adjacent field a grass fire broke out. Luke and Riva were up watching a movie and I was was almost done with one also. When Riva called and said that they needed my help. I got up and went outside to see what was going on and was greeted with the wonderful smell of smoke. I ran back in the house to throw some pants and boots on and grabbed my camera. Apparently I missed the best part, Luke said the flames were about 20 feet high. But I was able to see a little fire and got to talk with one of the Firefighters here. So right now I'm still buzzing from the adrenaline rush, even though I didn't do diddly squat.

Paso Ancho and Santa Clara

So 1.5 weeks ago I went in field service in Paso Ancho, which is a 30 min car ride north of Volcan. To get the whole group there we had to pile in to a small van that holds 8 people. Then once we started to work the territory house by house. It was a lot of walking as usual. We had some good calls and I got to butcher the Spanish language....again. But, the brothers and sisters there helped me out. In Paso Ancho there are a lot of Nogbe (indigenous group) people living there, a lot of them speak Spanish and Nogbe. The homes here are tiny and made out of anything they can get. As one brother here put it "Everything goes as long as the building is standing."  

And then yesterday a group of us went to Santa Clara with our bikes. Santa Clara is an 1 hour away by car, thankfully we drove. Once there we had an awesome downhill section to get to a river then on the other side a trail going up for a long time. the road/path down was scree (loose rocks and sand) so it was interesting. once we crossed the bridge (a bridge used by trucks)we started to climb and then i ran into a problem. My bike chain came apart and we were only 20 minutes into the trip. One of the brothers here Jorge had a tool for working on bike chains and Alex helped me repair my chain. But after that every time the chain would make noises, I would basically have a heart attack. The road was a concrete pad going up the hills, but, concrete only in the tire path. There were 10-12 houses out there and massive fields of coffee plants (yeah!). We went all the way to the end and I was able to talk to a few people in Spanish and they understood what I was saying! So after doing the last house we took a break before heading back to the cars. Thankfully, since the way in was mostly uphill we got a break and were able to coast most of the way out. And that is were I  had a "small" accident. On the road about every 100 yards they have dips for the water to pass through, these are better described as ditches. So Luke was in front of me and he saw the ditch at the last minute and he had to slow down enough so he wouldn't crash. I was coming down behind him and i noticed that he had slowed down, then I realized why and I slammed on my brakes, lost control and went flying into a ditch on the side of the road. No damage to my bike and only minor scrapes and a hole in the knee of my pants. So after my "off road excursion" I decided to take it easy on the way back. But, overall the whole trip was well worth it and I would gladly do it again. Minus the crash.