Supply Runs and Bananas

We arrived safe in Guatemala on Wednesday evening around 9pm. We are currently staying with Monica's close friends in Guatemala City. Interestingly, the time zone in Guatemala is the same as Central Time Zone in the US.

We've been in Guatemala for three days now, and have gone on several supply runs to get all the necessities for the research in the cloud forest. In the field, there will be no electricity, running water, or even a bathroom. On our supply runs, we've gathered everything from a 12 volt battery for the solar panel to toilet paper.

On our first supply run into the center of Guatemala City, we picked up the battery in the morning, and when we were loading it into the vehicle we saw green fluid running out from under the vehicle. AH!! This could be a bad situation. Guatemala is a unique place in which you can get just about anything fixed in the city. There was a local mechanic that looked at the car within minutes of this happening, and it was discovered that the reason for the green fluid was because a hose blew off due to a low level of coolant causing excessive pressure when starting an already hot car. The total mechanic cost was only $5.00 - officially the cheapest car mechanic bill we've ever had.

We're really enjoying the fresh produce from the markets, the sun (Monica already got a little red), and experiencing what it feels like to live in a foreign place and not just be the normal tourists. It's refreshing.

Here's a picture of Greg with the kind of quantity of bananas he likes. It's 7:30pm and he has already eaten 7 today. Pictured with Greg is Cosme. He is Monica's close friend and field assistant for the duration of Monica's research. Cosme and Greg are teaching each other Spanish and English. Two peas in a pod, don't they look kind of alike? Two monkeys and their bananas.