Photos to enjoy

I don't have much to say blog-wise, but I did want to post a few more photos of the Guatemala trip, a climb on the Volcano Mombacho near Granada where I'm living now, and a few of a party I just went to. Be sure to note my favorite 90-year-old man climbing the volcano in Guatemala! I will never cease to be amazed by his endurance. I also have an album on www.kodakgallery.com that if you want to see more (read: an excessive number of) photos of various trips and adventures, let me know.

When I was younger, I had the concept that all volcanoes were pretty much the same, with the only difference being whether they were actively spewing lava or not. Well, turns out that they can be pretty different. I've done and seen quite a few now on various adventures in Central America. Sometimes they look exactly like I pictured a volcano: a mountain with smoke pouring out of the top. Sometimes there is no "top" but rather a huge crater that formed a lagoon from some big explosion a long time ago. Sometimes they are incredibly luscious with greenery, flora, fauna, animals, etc. and are more of a cloud forest, and sometimes they are barren. My favorite volcano so far has been the volcano Pacayo in Guatemala because it was the most active volcano, and probably the one that is most in accordance with my childhood image of a volcano where I actually saw red lava streaming down and red-hot lava rocks crashing from the volcano.

I've always thought that I am not a good dancer, and usually attribute my lack of dancing skills to my German/Irish/Norwegian blood ( in other words, my whiteness). Well, I'm by no means saying that I'm a fabulous dancer or that you will see me on the next up-and-coming music video, but I think I had condemned myself to not being a good dancer before, which then contributed to a tenseness that then did make me dance very stiffly. However, after having lived here in a culture where dancing is encouraged as soon as a child learns to walk (Christopher, the 2-year-old I live with, dances amazingly well for someone who still seems to have balance issues at times), and where it's incredibly easy to go out and go dancing, most frequently to salsa/cumbia/merengue/reggaeton, and where it's what people do on the weekends to relax and have fun, I've realized that it's great fun when you just learn to let go and not care what people are thinking. Plus, people are more self-absorbed that you realize, and unless you're doing something really odd (such as a 6'1" 23-year-old female dancing with a 4'5" 90-year-old male), they're not likely to be judging your dancing skills. P.S. I've met many white Europeans and Americans who dance excellently, so I'm also learning to change my stereotype. :)