Preliminary Rounds

Life is good. Especially in Mexico. Colima is such a chill town, or tranquilo as the locals would say. Colima sees very few tourists so there is a really nice Mexican feel to it. The city is centered around an old Catholic cathedral built several centuries ago. Actually Colima is one of the first places the Spanish colonized yet very few old buildings remain due to the large amount of earthquakes that occur in this very geologically active area.

The battle against the volcano is still in the preliminary rounds. We have not been up to the volcano yet for two reasons: 1)Our professor is out of town 2) We have been learning how to use all the equipment and how to analyze all the data in the lab. I'll let you know when we get up there, which will probably be the beginning of next week. I cannot wait.

Katharine, from Belgium (who leaves tomorrow unfortunately), has shown us all the cool spots to eat and have fun. On Friday a friend of ours, Hugo, drove us to a nearby town called Comala for lunch and a little tourism. The little town had the same layout as Colima with a catholic cathedral in the city center. All the buildings are white and the streets made of cobblestone. We ate all-you-can-eat tostadas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and flautas. Our meal was accompanied by subpar musicians looking for tips, including a classic mariachi band with guitar, violin, cello, trumpet, etc. It was really fun. After lunch we walked through a nearby museum displaying ancient clay sculptures from the region. Some of the pieces were estimated to be thousands of years old.

Friday evening Katharine had a going-away party at our house. It was really fun and a good opportunity to meet some more locals. Brandon and I were afraid no one would speak English, but we soon found out that most of the people who came speak really well. I guess that’s why they are friends with all the foreigners that come down here. Usually volcanology students come for 3 or 4 months and there are always at least a couple students living at our house. All the Mexicans that came were way cool, most of them are in college, were very friendly, and were willing to befriend us despite our Mormon values.

Speaking of Mormons…we saw a bunch today at Church. That was fun. Everyone thought we were missionaries and kept calling us Elders. I even read out loud in Sunday school – highlight of my day. I can communicate really well actually thanks to my Portuguese and the notebook and dictionary I keep handy at all times.

This week the old students leave and another new student from Germany arrives. We will be working in the lab Monday through Thursday and then Brandon and I are going to the beach Friday and Saturday. We heard there is sweet little hostel that serves breakfast right next to the beach, so hopefully we can find it.