Santiaguito

I was sitting in Quetzaltenango´s parque central two days ago, sharing an absurdly large creme donut with a friend, and large flakes of dust started falling. Anywhere else you would immediately think "snow," but here in Xela it´s volcanic ash. There´s a small active volcano called Santiaguito just an hour´s walk from town, at the foot of the towering Santa Maria volcano, and it erupts every forty minutes or so. These eruptions are modest, just big enough to keep gringos off the mountain. Naturally, some gringos are psychotic - an Australian explained to me his plan to run up to the crater in the forty minute window between eruptions. "I figure I only have a one in a hundred chance of dying," he explained.

For two weeks I took language classes in the courtyard of the Proyecto Lingguistico Santa Maria. Some days Santiaguito and his accompanying winds were strong, covering our table and notebooks with a fine layer of volcanic dust.

(Today´s soundtrack)