What Hasn't Happened in Guatemala?

Thursday night as we were walking back to our room, we noticed how slippery the sidewalks were. Apparently Mount Pacaya errupted and a thin layer of ash covered everthing. Some areas were covered with 5 inches of ash and rocks. On Friday, many schools were closed. Everything is okay at the Oasis. We just needed to do some cleaning. Mount Pacaya is several hours away from where we are but we are able to see the smoke rise from the volcano.



On Saturday, the tropical storm Agatha hit Guatamala. We had a very heavy downpour for about 24 hours. There was flash flooding and many homes were washed away. As a result of the storm, a big sink hole appeared in Guatemala City. It is 60 feet wide and 30 stories deep. It swallowed up a three-story building. Here in San Lucas there was not as much damage. Some roads were washed out and we did not have hydro for 63 hours. That made for some early evenings and no showers or running toilets. Thankfully, at the Oasis there is a water well and gas stoves.



Yesterday, we were informed that a second volcano may erupt. Mount Agua can be seen clearly from our window and it has been dormant for hundreds of years but it has now begun to grumble and complain. It has been a very interesting week-end. We can now add volcano and flash floods to our repetoire of school closure days.