Masaya Volcano and the downside of its gases

The Spanish christened the active  Masaya Volcano "The mouth of Hell" when they encountered it, even planting a cross at the crater's lip in the 1500's in an effort to exorcise the Devil. It was to no avail- Masaya is still spewing, rumbling and emitting hellish gases.

On Friday, Isabel was overcome by the volcanic gases  after horseback riding in the 'meadow of the volcano'. 

After neurotic searching, I'm going to bet it was the hydrogen sulfide that was the culprit based on her symptoms.  Each day 6,000 metric tons of gas waft up and out of a 'conduit' in the center of Masaya's inner crater. I learned from experts that unlike other volcanos, Masaya vents gas that has not been filtered by groundwater. That means that the gases are coming directly from underlying magma. Yep. being near Masaya means you are getting a direct whiff of and look at  Earth's plumbing system. 

Gigi and Zoe had gone riding at 8 am after switching their classes to later that day. They had a great time and were luminous when they returned.



 They quickly  dashed off with Bergman Jr. for some machete training in the back 40 of the property. The girls  had rallied for equal opportunity machete lessons despite some raised eyebrows! 

Baby-O and I waited for what we thought was an appropriate amount of time for blade handling and set off to find them for some pictures. Way off in the distance I saw Zoe running at us at breakneck speed. 

She zigged across a bean field and zagged through a banana tree stand until in horror, my brain registered she was running not for pleasure but to report an emergency. "Something's wrong with Gigi!" she shouted with an expression on her face that won't leave my mind for a long while.

My first thought was that Gigi had lost a finger to the machete so I asked Zoe to stay back with Baby-O already picturing a bloody scene. I started running on the path until I saw Bergman Jr. supporting a slumped Gigi and broke off the trail tearing through low underbrush hoping I wouldn't step on an iguana, snake or anything else.

 I will never forget coming upon her and yelling 'sit down and put your head between your knees!' She looked so terrible my fear was that she was imminently going to faint and hurt herself. Bergman Jr. helped sit her down and as she lifted her head and looked at me I knew Bergman Jr. was right when he said, 'we need to get her back.'

Gigi was the color of a corpse and her body was so strangely cold it was as if she'd been packed in ice. Yet later on, she said that she was sweating buckets even though she wasn't hot. 

Her eyes were moving two different directions and she was unable to speak other than faint yes or no mumbling. Bergman Jr. who is as tall as Gigi was sweating bullets as was I two minutes later while we made our way back to the hotel. 

We stopped at a wooden shack for her to lie down for a moment, her 'bed' wasn't the most comfortable.

WOODEN SHACK 

The lovely kitchen staff crowded around her door to peak in on her, and Bergman Sr. asked them to bring her orange leaf tea and orange leaves to inhale. They had a pitcher of neon purple juice waiting for her.

Gigi went on to sleep the rest of the day and by dinner was able to join us. Betsy's lungs were still sore the next day and she had her own moment of ashen corpse-ness without the passing out fortunately.

Gigi's episode makes me grateful for the gift of the oxen for the community of Panama even more.  Although locals say, 'They're used to it.' Living directly in the path of Masaya Volcano's gas plume means lung diseases, teeth decay, headaches and an inability to grow enough food. They may be used to it but it doesn't make it easy.

This morning we're off to spend some time with Don Pablo to learn more about oxen, their work and their training so we can better report back to each of you who donated money and goodwill. Gigi is almost perfect now so not to worry back home. The only remaining symptoms are stinging eyes.

Thanks again for the notes that keep coming in with donation pledges. I plan to wire in the money directly in one fell swoop so just let me know how much you want to give and we'll settle up once we get back home this week. I am so honored to know such generous people.

Laguna de Apoyo and other volcanos in Nicaragua as well as loincloth man

Another great thing about family sabbaticals anywhere is a chance for the kiddos to man the camera. Gigi took these beautiful shots yesterday when she visited two artisan villages.  

The crater lake, Laguna de Apoyo- you'll see it in action below.

We have dubbed this one, 'Loincloth Man!'

Our friend Betsy from Philadelphia (another great benefit of international travel with or without kids is hooking up with really interesting people from all over) took these shots of us when we spent the day swimming in a crater lake of a volcano that is 'in repose'.  Laguna de Apoyo is officially one of my favorite places on any continent- the water is sublime at a lovely bathwater temperature.

Baby-O loves kayaking.

Here's J and Gigi overlooking an active volcano- can you see the smoke? Unfortunately, the extreme levels of sulfur dioxide that are released from the crater is what ravages the communities that lie in the path of the gas plume and results in health problems as well as the inability to grow crops. 

Thanks for reading.

SPOILER ALERT:
I’m going to ask you to help us buy a team of oxen to donate at the end!


One of the highlights of staying at La Mariposa with kids is the amount of learning and growing that is constantly occurring.

 In addition to the 1:1 Spanish classes, issues of ecology, botany, biology, poverty, and cooking come alive. For this parent, it’s more than I’d hoped for. By the kids’ laughing, joy and absence of ‘I’m bored’ I believe it is for them too.
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UPDATE
If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know the subject of trash was on my mind.
At 8:00 sharp classes begin. Just before the ‘bell’ was sounded, Paulette announced she’d be leading a discussion on the ‘Story of Stuff’ and that the younger set would probably like it. All of the kids volunteered to attend. The reviews?

“Amazing”
“Really cool”
“I loved it”

I’m going to ask all the kids who are willing (Raffi and Sophia have arrived from Venice Beach) to post about it.
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Paulette also announced that we had a chance to go and visit the community of Panama, the poorest in the municipality. Panama lies on a ridge just downwind from the Masaya Volcano. Whereas every other square inch of soil we've seen is covered with vegetation, this land was eerily empty.

 Because of the gases that blow through the community and the poison of the acid rain that falls, only pineapple and one other fruit can grow in the Panama community.

We’ll post more about what it was like to visit the school and tell the follies of aid agencies erecting flush toilets WHEN THERE IS NO WATER FOR 6 MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR.

You're right if you think these might have been used once on inauguration day. . .

 It was incredibly eye opening and I think in the end pretty disconcerting for the kids. You can’t hide hunger.You can’t hide thirst. You can’t hide what it looks like to scrape out a living.

More than once I had to look away from the dogs of the community, for it was in their skeletal image that the concept of poverty jumped from an abstraction to an all too vivid reality.

CALL FOR HELP OR SHOW OF HANDS
Would you help buy a pair of oxen?
The goal? Access to water.
I am wondering if anyone would be interested in donating towards a pair of oxen for this community.  It would mean some kids could be in school instead of walking the long walk (downhill, yep uphill with water sounds hellish) to get water for their family. It's about 7 kilometers and the process takes about 2 hours, it's a job that is executed by women and children. It would mean the community could provide a consistent lunch for the kids- they have a donated kitchen at the school site but no water for 6 months out of the year means; they are currently dependent on La Mariposa for water in order to make school lunches. It would mean maybe they could coax more agriculture out of the soil.

Here’s J sitting on sacks of donated rice that lies stacked in the back of one of the classrooms:

The pair of oxen cost $800 and they’d need an oxen-whisperer to manage them. Please email me or drop a line in the comments if you’d be willing to donate large or small. Just let me know how much you can contribute. Spread the word to anyone who might want to know about being able to help buy oxen for the Panama community. Maybe it’s something we can get done before we leave?

Out my window at La Mariposa Nicaragua and a soccer match

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.  ~Heinrich Heine, The Hartz Journey

Each night certain flowers of La Mariposa release the most fragrant of aromas. Nicaragua is the land of lakes and volcanoes, between the volcanic soil and frequent rains many trees and bushes can flourish by just putting a branch into the ground. 

All of these flowers exist just outside our window. We took these pictures yesterday morning before we left for a trip to swim in a crater lake. 

We'll post about the kids' trip to the active volcano and what it was like to swim in a crater lake of a volcano that is in 'repose'. Repose you say? Your feet were quick to register that the lake bottom was warm to the touch. As J pointed out, digging your toes into the sandy bottom you reached even warmer places. The water temperature was like a perfect bath, so perfect it was that we stayed in the water literally all day. We'll post more on this outing soon.

J played in the semi-finals this morning on a 12 year old boy's team that needed a 6th man. Unfortunately they didn't come out on top, they'll play for 3rd place next Sunday. As a die-hard Barcelona fan it was hilarious to see J don a Real Madrid (their archenemy) jersey to play in the game. Lucky for J, the gracious intern Chrissy loaned him her sneakers.

In Nicaragua they play sala futbol- yep on a basketball court!

Gigi passed the time with Baby-O buying potato chips (Lays) and playing with Luis Jr., La Mariposa's driver's son. J's team were the only ones with jerseys, most played in t-shirts. One fellow had two different shoes on and more than a handful wore Chinese slippers but boy could they move the ball. 

The rest of the day looked like this: