Catch up!

I've been a bit busy the last few days, so haven't had time to write anything! I spent today and Tuesday kicking about the Observatory and working on some samples in the lab. I am Working on some of the samples from last year. The samples are mainly pumice, which are pieces of magma full of gas which were blasted out thevolcano and cooled very quickly, and so are composed of glass and crystals which were already in the magma. I want to separate the crystals from the glass so that I can do various analyses on the crystals which will tell me about the crystals' (and hence the magmas') evolution - where the crystals came from i.e. did they grow in the magma or were they brought in from another magma body which mixed with this one; are they from deep in the mantle or did they grow in a shallow magma chamber etc. All this helps me work out the processes going on under Volcan de Colima.

Yesterday, Carlos and I went into the field. What a cracking day!!!We went up Nevado de Colima (about 6km North of Volcan de Colima - the older extinct volcano) to look at some exposed eruption deposits in road sections. The weather was fantastic and although we were at 3,700 m, it was still warm enough for just a thin fleece - a bit different from last years many layers!! Gabriel let us borrow the same truck which we had to abandon last year. It works a treat!

Today, I was continuing to crush, sieve and separate crystals in the lab. It's quite an easy procedure up until having to separate the crystals as if you were gold panning! I'm literally rolling the pieces of pumice up in a bag and smacking them with a hammer. The glass is crushed around the crystal so you don't end up crushing the crystals. To separate them, I have to try to float off theglass and leave the crystals in the bottom - not a particularly easy task especially when I'm improvising using a plate in stead of the proper "panning" dish! It's not all smashing, sieving and panning though - I spent the first part of the morning measuring pieces of rock I collected from some of the deposits yesterday. It's possible to work out the maximum height of the eruption column by generating isopleth

maps (clast size contours), and knowing the distance from the vent and wind direction etc. Pretty cool.

I had lunch with Mini's family today. It was really nice seeing them all, and Mini's mum's a pretty good cook - I ended up having seconds which was as big as my first lunch!Luckily we sat about chatting for a while after so I could digest it! They were telling me about the violence in Mexico and how it used to be in the north, in the border states, but nowit's spread across the country. Yesterday, Carlos and I saw a convoy of Marines in trucks all with massive guns and machine guns mounted on them. Also there are a lot of police about, again with guns, in pick-ups. Mini was telling me it all kicked off here in Colima last year, with gun-fights and all sorts of violence. A bar, not far from their house is now closed because there was a gun-fight there and a bunch of lads were injured. It's all to do with drug trafficking. The police are trying to clamp down on it and the more they are, the more the violence is spreading. It's back to peaceful times here in Colima now, but Mini said that when it was all going on the streets were deserted. She said the people of Colima are used to a quiet tranquil life so didn't know what on earth was going on! Yesterday, a hotel was raided on the outskirts of town and in the ensuing arrests, 3 people were killed. But to be honest you wouldn't notice the violence here at all. The only sign of it are the police - I didn't see any last year so when I say a lot, I mean the odd truck!! I feel really safe here and would happily wander about day or night in the centre without any worries.

Anyway, to end on a happier note, we went to the main square this evening. Every Thursday and Sunday evening a band play in the square and people come and dance! It was really nice!