living in the shadow of a volcano

As the title of this blog suggests, I thought I would share my thoughts on what it is like to live...you guessed it...in the shadow of a volcano.  Guzmán is nestled in a valley that is overlooked by 2 volcanoes, one active and one not so much.  Lucky for me, the active volcano, aka Volcán de Fuego or Volcán de Colima, just happens to be the most active volcano in México.  You cannot see much of the active volcán from the city as the Nevado blocks most of it from view, but on a clear day you can see the top of the volcán peeking out from behind the mountain ridge.

Normally, this volcán has several mini-exhalations of ash every day.  These are nothing major, just little 'burps' as I like to call them.  Here you can see one of those little 'burps'.  I took this photo last summer.

View of a mini exhalation from the Volcán de Fuego
 as seen on a day in the Parque Nacional Volcán Nevado de Colima.
~5 kilometers as the crow flies

Now you may have noticed that I said 'normally' the volcano has these mini-exhalations.  This is because starting in November, the volcano has decided to remind us that it is our living, breathing, and very much geologically active neighbor.  Since November it has not been uncommon to look towards the volcano and see ash plumes between 2,000 and 3,000 meters tall, sometimes even reaching 5,000 meters tall, interrupting the skyline. It is now mid-March and the volcano is still treating us to spectacles such as this:

The snowy Nevado peak with the erupting volcán in the distance as seen
on my morning commute to work- not a bad way to start the day!

On average, this volcano has a major eruption every 100 years.  The last major eruption was in 1913- a little over a hundred years ago.  This likely explains why it has been more active of late. When I first heard about its 100 year eruption cycle and then the volcano started having these bigger 'burps' I became slightly concerned. This makes you think a little bit about what you would do in the event of a volcano eruption.  This is not a natural disaster we prepare for in schools.  Somewhere in the middle of all the tornado drills, earthquake drills, and fire drills we had in elementary school they forgot to include the volcano drills! I guess I'll let my school off the hook on that one though considering it is not a situation we really have to worry about in the U.S as there are not many active volcanoes around...

Side note: This got me curious about which volcanoes are closest to East Tennessee.  I found that there was an active volcano in Virginia 47 million years ago.  Incidentally, the remnants of this volcano are now known as Mole Hill.  I must say I kind of feel bad for this volcano, nothing takes the wind out of your sails like being named Mole Hill as this is not exactly a name that makes you quake in your boots. Volcán de Fuego (Or Fire Volcano) is a name much more befitting of a volcano.

Ok tangent over- So these bigger exhalations made me reflect somewhat on what to do if there really was an eruption and my conclusion was that there really seems to be no excellent option other than to just get out of there.  I even asked my neighbors, native Guzmanites, if they knew what they would do in the event of an eruption and they just chuckled and said 'go inside I guess'.  Not exactly a fool proof option. 

However, I don't mean to worry anyone. With today's technology if there were any significant eruption that seemed to be on the horizon, we would be given sufficient warning to high-tail it out of there (no big eruption is predicted anytime soon by the way).  After 4ish months of bigger exhalations I am no longer on edge about this lovely volcano neighbor of ours. I think he just wanted some attention, which he has received.  When he first started acting up I would receive texts from family and friends at home saying they saw an article or news clip in the U.S. news about some volcano in México erupting and wondered if I lived near it.  Peace Corps staff have also checked in on us just to be safe.  If attention is what it wanted, the volcano gets an A+ for its efforts.  Now the act has gone on long enough that seeing exhalations like this signifies just another normal day...which is too bad as it is pretty neat to see the ash plumes decorate the sky.

Ash plume being redirected by the wind

However, given that the volcano is so near to us, there are a few drawbacks to these larger exhalations. Aside from the potential danger, when you have a large amount of ash filling the sky, eventually it will start to affect you.  

Exhibit A:

 I ride my bike to work most days, and one day as I was returning home I noticed I was inhaling what seemed to be a lot of dirt and it would also get in my eyes.  This was in the early days of these exhalations, so I didn't immediately connect the dots, but eventually I realized this 'dust' was actually ash.  On the 'ashier' days you will see people on the streets with face masks, sometimes I wish I had one as inhaling ash can irritate your throat and nose a bit.  

Exhibit B:

On occasion, the ash will put the city in a haze that you may mistake for just a cloudy day. However, this misperception is cleared up when you go online and see that sure enough- there has been a big exhalation that day.  

Exhibit C:

At times I have even seen the ash fall from the sky and onto my arms.  I will also return to my bike after it was outside all day and have to wipe the ash that has accumulated that day off my seat.   On occasion, you will also notice that all of the cars in the city appear that they have just returned from a day of mudding or something.  It took me a second to realize why all the cars in the city looked like this one day...hint: it's the ash.

Ash residue on a car

There you have it...those are some of the tales that come from living near a very active volcano. After making peace with the fact that this volcano is just having some fun being noticed :), I find it pretty remarkable that on any given day I may get to see a volcanic eruption.  

Also, I wanted to mention that this past week marked one year since my arrival in México.  My group arrived for training on March 19th, 2014.  It is hard to believe I have already been here one year.  It has certainly been full of adventure, lots of learning, and many surprises. I can't wait to see what excitement and experiences the next year brings!

1 year in México!