A volcanic myth

The word 'volcano' comes from the little island of Vulcano in the Mediterranean Sea off Sicily. Centuries ago, the people living in this area believed that Vulcano was the chimney of the forge of Vulcan - the blacksmith of the Roman gods. They thought that the hot lava fragments and clouds of dust erupting form Vulcano came from Vulcan's forge as he beat out thunderbolts for Jupiter, king of the gods, and weapons for Mars, the god of war.

In Roman mythology, Vulcan, the god of fire, was said to have made tools and weapons for the other gods in his workshop at Olympus. Throughout history, volcanoes have frequently been identified with Vulcan and other mythological figures. Scientists now know that the "smoke" from volcanoes, once attributed by poets to be from Vulcan's forge, is actually volcanic gas naturally released from both active and many inactive volcanoes.

Volcan was Hephaistos - the Greek god of fire and craftsmanship, named Vulcan by the Romans.

He was the son of Zeus and Hera - although some versions of his story state that he had no father, with Hera bearing him alone in retaliation for Zeus having brought forth Athena - Hephaestus was born lame and ugly, and his mother Hera hated him on first sight.

In one version of the myth, Hera herself, after seeing that he was born deformed, casts him from Olympus. In another version Zeus hurls him from heaven because he tried to defend Hera when they were having a quarrel. Upon landing on Lemnos - after falling for a full day - Hephaestus brakes his legs and becomes lame. In any case, the sea-goddess Thetis then finds the crippled infant on the beach, and takes him to her underwater grotto where she raises him with the help of Eurynome, mother of the Graces.

To regain his rightful place among the gods, Hephaestus used a clever ruse. He built a golden throne and sent it to Hera as a gift. Upon sitting on it, Hera got imprisoned by its golden arms, which promptly clamped her. To reclaim her freedom Hera had to extract a promise from all the gods that Hephaestus would be accepted into the Pantheon.

Hephaestus became the smith and manufacturer of art, arms and armor for gods and heroes, using a volcano as his forge. According to the Iliad he is married to Aglaia, one of the Graces, but in the Odyssey he is said to be married to Aphrodite.

(Borrowed from: http://www.crystalinks.com/volcanomyth.html)

Pacaya...not Papaya

Mission: climb the Pacaya volcano, which first erupted ~23,000 years ago and today, erupts continuously

Elevation: 8,373 feet.

This afternoon we ventured to the Pacaya volcano with Hugo of Expeditions Guatemala (or as he likes to say guat-ever). After a twisty-turvy 45-minute car ride of passing two 18-wheelers simultaneously with a cliff on one side, we arrived to the base, where young boys sold us “walking sticks” (or literally, wooden branches). The first 200 meters of ascent were on a concrete base…it was at this point that the “taxis” or horses’ owners called out to us, “Amigos, need a lift?” Was it that apparent that we might not be able to make it? We paused for a few moments to gather the group – one collective sight of panting and clutching one’s sides.

Luckily, the path became soft ground and we turned down the taxi ride…we were going to conquer this volcano by feet. A 60-minute hike later, we found ourselves at the base of the volcano. A soft red glow was visible in the distance. Our path transitioned to hardened lava for another 20 minute hike. And then we arrived. Pools of red-orange lava oozed slowly – we neared it cautiously, eyes wide opened, feeling the warmth envelope us. We found spots to sit and began our picnic dinner – sandwiches, chips, and banana bread never tasted so good. And for dessert? Marshmallows roasting on an open fire :)

After dinner, we began our descent in pitch darkness. A sea of headlamps lit the way, but still, it was a bit treacherous. But we embraced the lesson – as PT’s, we ask our patients to push through their pain, their fatigue, their fears. And as group, we did just that- some of us had pain, most of us were fatigued, and one of us conquered her fear of heights. And by having pushed through, we were able to savor in the present moment, the beauty of Pacaya. And although not directly the same, we are hopeful that moments like this will help us to help our patients find their own moments of beauty.

Someone once said...

..."A morning without coffee is like sleep."

And being a group of PT students, we already knew a thing or two about coffee...but enjoy the pictures of us enjoying "fresh" coffee...

...it's quite invigorating :)

Cafe con Leche por favor...

...a quick preview (and gross simplification) of the coffee process...but you will quickly see that we embraced it with enthusiasm...

...and while we're speaking of enthusiasm, we would like to thank our PT alumni - your support has helped to make this possible and we are ever so grateful (picture us jumping for joy :) ).

'Cause waking up is hard to do...

...unless it's accompanied by a steaming hot cup of fresh Guatemalan coffee.

And when we say "fresh" we literally mean just picked-sorted-dehusked-dried-roasted kind of fresh...you can't get that at Starbucks :)

Today, our group met with the the speech language students once again to tour a Guatemalan farm, As Green As It Gets. Alberto was a 40-something Guatemalan who, through this non-profit organization, has been able to garner financial support to buy several acres of land to grow, harvest, and cultivate his own coffee to export to the United States (okay, so if you leave in Minnesota or Seattle, you can get "fresh" coffee.) He toured us through his land, explaining the growing process of coffee - did you know it takes approximately 4-5 years of growing before the ceresas or berries are ready to be picked? After that, the harvest occurs, and then a lengthy process of dehusking and drying the almendres or "almonds" (aka, green coffee bean). After several days of drying in the sun (and being mixed - by hand - every sun-filled hour), the beans are run through a different machine where the outer coat is removed to resemble what we know as the coffee bean, pre-roasted stage. Next, As Green As It Gets employs women from the neighborhood to help with the sorting process to only select the best looking almonds. Finally, the almonds are roasted, packaged, and sold.

Alberto and his sweet family made fresh coffee for us as the ultimate cherry to this already delicious morning...ahhh...I think we'll be just fine waking up in Guatemala for the days to come. And for those of you reading...thanks! If you're good, you just might be waking up to a fresh cup of Guatemalan coffee really soon :)

P.S. Pictures to come later tonight...we're off to part two of yesterday's teaser...marshmallows roasting on an open fire...

Lost in Translation: Day 1 in Antigua

Guatemala or bust

We all arrived safely in beautiful Antigua today. Two lucky students got business class on the way over and enjoyed lunch with cake, wine and HBO. After a 45 min bus ride we arrived at our ultimate destination, Antigua, Guatemala. Our housing is amazing, two villas set among a cobble stone garden. Each villa has an accessible rooftop terrace that overlooks the city. Our main man, Francisco, aka the lovely gentleman who controls the gate, welcomed us...and our adventure began...

...we've already met up with speech language therapy students at Cafe Sky, a rooftop restaurant with views on Fuego and Agua, (volcanos) "Fire" and "Water." We relaxed admist other travelers and locals, soaking in the sun and the warm breezes. After enjoying a typical Guatemalan dinner (black beans, rice, guacomole, salsa, tortillas), we braved the local supermarket...who knew Doritos could be more expensive than the dinner we had tonight? Or that it takes more than one PT student to figure out the conversion rate from dollars to quetzales?

But we were able to purchase plenty of fresh fruit and water...and we are anxious for the days to come.

Teaser for tomorrow: The best part of waking up...might just be roasting marshmallows over lava...stay tuned for details.