All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth (and some LAVA)




Fa-la-la-la-laaaa...
Christmas Day on the moon?
No, it's Pacaya Volcano!  



Have you ever done something and smiled to yourself thinking, "Never, in a million gazillion years did I ever think I'd do this..." If so, welcome to my happy little poco loco world.



Raise your hand if you've ever climbed a volcano on Christmas Day.

Anyone? Anyone? Am I the only one with my hand up?

Now raise your hand if you've ever climbed a volcano on Christmas Day with a group of Dutch geologists who live in Mexico...
Anyone? Helloooo? Is this thing on?

And keep your hand up if while driving back from said volcano on Christmas Day with said Dutch geologists, the super-fun 1980's song "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls comes on the radio. 
Yes? No? Am I the only one who has experienced this? Seriously?

For those who may have forgotten the aforementioned super-fun 80's song, here are just some of the lyrics:

It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!

It's Raining Men! Amen!

I'm gonna go out and let myself get

Absolutely soaking wet!

It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!

It's Raining Men! Every specimen!

Tall, blonde, dark and lean

Rough and tough and strong and mean!

And if you really want a blast from the past, here's a link to the super-fun, super-colorful, super-Speedo-rific video of this song. You won't be able to get this tune out of your head (even by hitting it against a wall) so click with caution! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1hvge_its-raining-men-weather-girls_music

There’s no way you can be in a bad mood while watching that video. It's just too funny. I die laughing when the ladies "fall" out of the building and the men "rain" down from the sky. Golly, it just looks SO REAL. And for no apparent reason, there's a random shot of one woman with flowers in her hair. My question is: How much Baby's Breath did it take to make this video? Plus, are men's overcoats really that short? Funny. Funny. Funny. I wonder if the male dancers in this video used it as a way to pick up women? As in, "Hey, baby, have you seen the new video by The Weather Girls? Well, I'm the guy in the green Speedo... Can I buy you a drink?" Then again, by the looks of some of those men, they were probably hitting on each other. I'm just sayin'...

Ahh, but I digress…


See the steam? And see how the right side of the volcano
is gone? Mark my words, that sucker is going to BLOW...



A broken tower on the side
of the volcano

Ok, so Christmas Day Joel and I really DID climb Pacaya Volcano with some Dutch tourists. Joel met them at work on Christmas Eve and they wanted to go to the volcano but didn't want to use a tourism company yada-yada-yada and next thing I know, Joel and I are getting up at the buttcrack of dawn on Christmas Day to accompany them to Pacaya. We've climbed it twice before and yes, this is the volcano that erupted in May 2010. But it wasn't until I saw it for myself that I realized the extent of the damage from the eruption. Climbing the volcano has always made me feel like I'm on a Lunar Landscape, but this time it was especially eerie. You could see where the side of the volcano had blown out from the explosion. Trees that were alive when we climbed it in March 2010 were just blackened twigs with tiny leaves trying to sprout out. Buildings had been destroyed and a radio tower was bent in half like it was made of tin foil. Scary!

 

Pacaya - Nov. 2008   The lava was so close and so HOT,
after this picture was taken I literally reached back and
 felt my butt to make sure it wasn't on fire.

It was a maaaaajor bummer, but there was no lava coming from the volcano on Christmas Day. We'd heard rumors that the lava flow had stopped because of the eruption, and they proved to be true. All we saw were giant plumes of steam coming from the top and sides. Phooey. Joel and I agree that the first time we climbed it in 2008 was the best – we were right next to a slow-moving stream of lava. It was awesome to poke the lava with our walking stick and play with it like mad scientists. But this time, nope, nada, nein, zip, zilch, no lava. PHOOEY. But while we were up there, we got to see Fuego Volcano erupt (which is closer to Antigua and erupts every day) and took some nice pictures from afar. I will never get tired of seeing it erupt.
 

Pacaya - March 2010  We could see the lava flowing
beneath our feet, so we roasted marshmallows over
some of the cracks in the ground.

Another rumor we’d heard was that Pacaya was due to erupt again -- but this time bigger than the last. They even closed it to tourists for a month or two out of safety concerns – and if you know anything about the lax Guatemalan security, you’d know that that was a VERY big deal because there are NO safety concerns. Ever. On anything. (Have I mentioned that there are no laws about putting babies in car seats? Or that it's ok here to ride on a motorcycle with 4 people on it -- including an infant? GAH! Makes me crazy.)  

Obviously, it didn’t erupt while we were there. If it had, I could add "Be showered with hot burning magma during a volcanic eruption with a group of Dutch geologists on Christmas Day" to my list of "Never, in a million gazillion years did I ever think I'd do this..."

Until later, enjoy your New Year and stay thirsty my friends!

 

Here are two dogs that followed us up the volcano. These are smart dogs -- they follow people
going up the volcano knowing that they have food in their backpacks and might
share some with them... They took a break when we stopped to take pictures.



  The eruption of Fuego Volcano in the distance... OoooOOoh! Isn't that cool?