Running behind

I've been back form the field for 5 days now, and I have not yet posted about it. This is not because there was nothing to post about. In fact, there are enough stories to tell that I don't have time to do it now, either. This week has been busy for me. Keating and I are making arrangements to move closer to school (a 20 minute tour turned into 2 hours of surreality plus a little bit o' getting lost at night in the city), we've been trying to prepare for our first houseguests here in Mexico (my parents arrive tomorrow evening. Yay!! They're staying in a hotel, though, so I guess they're not really houseguests. Who wants to be the first real houseguest??? Our new place will actually feature a second bedroom with a full size bed as opposed to the miniature sofa-sleeper in our current living room.), and my brother has been very ill (and yes, it is both frustrating and unnerving to receive a trickle of limited information when I'm so far away that I can't even just pick up the phone and call).

That said, I hope that you are all doing great up there (or down, as applies to Craig in Australia). To tide you over, enjoy a couple of pictures form the field:

Don Tomás, the man who kicked my a$$ up a volcano last week. He is due for knee surgery

soon, and was only really slowed down by needing to use his machete to clear the path for us through the jungle. On the plus side, I was the only member of the team who managed to almost keep up with him.

A spectacular view of the volcano. I swear, San Martín Tuxtla is back there somewhere. This is as much as I saw of it, or just about anything else, last week.

And, since I feel bad without giving you a real volcano, enjoy Pico de Orizaba. This volcano is not in my field area, but we drove past it on our way there from Mexico City. That's kind of like saying I get to play a volcanologist on TV. This photo was taken from the shoulder of the interstate, 'cause geologists are way too cool to actually try to avoid being hit by passing cars.

Credit: These photos were all taken by Lourdes, my fabulous colleague and landlady. I'll see about posting mine when I find new batteries for my camera.