August 18th, 2006

Well, a day of reflection without being in the middle of an ash storm has really helped. While things here are bad, we are definitely not on the normal wind path, which means we don't have to worry about constantly getting more ash. So unlike places like Pillate, we will have time to recover from our modest (inch or two) ash fall. Today was sunny, though still hazy because the wind would pick up the fallen ash. There have been almost no audible explosions, though the volcano itself wasn't visible.

Rosa says that the news from places like Bilbao is terrible, she watched the news tonight while I went to a community meeting. Apparently the places that we helped are in awful shape, with the ashfall there being measured in feet rather than inches. I don't remember if I mentioned that the only big donation I ever saw being delivered while John and I made our deliveries was enormous quantities of mayonnaise (Nestle made the donation). Well, apparently too much was donated and so leftovers were sent to my neighborhood and we distributed it just now. I now have enough mayo for a lifetime. I hope I learn to like it.

I guess that's all. I feel a lot better today and things seem more bareable. Buses are once again in service and are allowed to circulate and we've had electricity all day. We've been told to give our animals a little sodium bicarbonate (which I think is baking soda in English) in their water so that their tummies get cleaned from the ash and to wear surgical masks we've been given. We'll see how things turn out and I'll keep you all updated.