This week's Photo of the Week was taken by Pedro Juan Solis in 2013. This little lovely is the Red-legged Honeycreeper and Pedro says it loves the jocote fruits and can be usually found in those trees when they are fruiting. (Like NOW!) Pedro is a great birder and offers birding walks around the Lake and elsewhere in Guatemala. http://bird-watching-guatemala.com
If you have any photo you would like to submit for Photo of the Week, please let me know through the Contact Form. Photos of the Week can be anything related to the Lake Atitlán area.
I am especially looking for historical photos right now. I think it would be interesting to have an archive of older images, possibly pre-1995. Most of these photos probably won't be digital so you would have to have them scanned or I can do that for you.
View the Photos of the Week archive at: http://santacruzlalaguna.weebly.com/photos.html
- 6 November, 5 p.m., Concerning the Spiritual, art by Diana Celeste and Deva Nirguna, Opening Reception, La Galeria, Calle Rancho Grande, Panajachel (see details below)
- 7 November, 5 - 7 p.m., First Friday Pizza and Cerveza, Cafe Sabor Cruceño, CECAP, Calle Principal, Santa Cruz la Laguna (see details below)
- 7 - 8 November, Biodynamics Introductory Course, Escuela Caracol, San Marcos la Laguna (see last week's blog post for details)
If you have any events you would like to promote, please send your blurb with image or photo to: [email protected]. I need to receive your submission no later than Sunday afternoons as this Blog comes out on Monday mornings.
Check out regular event listings on the Lake Atitlan Events Calendar,
http://ev-cal.com/fb/106177
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"Colour is a power that directly influences the Soul."
Concerning the Spiritual in Art. Wassily Kandinsky (1913)
A 100 years ago, just before the WW1, Kandinsky was publishing his book. In these times of fanaticism, both religious and nationalistic, we feel the need to revive his theme with this exhibition.
Concerning the Spiritual
Diana Celeste & Deva Nirguna
La Galería
Nov 6 – 30
Opening Reception, Thursday November 6,
Full Moon, 5 p.m.
Presentation and Meditation for World Change, 7 p.m.
On the following Thursday’s 13 and 20 in the exhibition at 5:00 p.m., we will do Meditation for World Change.
Diana Celeste
My art is full of the feminine. The feminine moves with beauty and grace, in harmony with nature. Could we allow the feminine to temper the masculine forces that rule our world? What would happen if the feminine spirit of nurturing and compassion prevailed?
Deva Nirguna
A real revolution is to discover oneself. With that inner light shining you change the world. These artworks are a very personal journey and storytelling that may strike a chord in your own self -discovery.
Exhibition Catalogue/book. http://blur.by/Z5qTpr
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Put it on your calendar! Every first Friday of the month Cafe Sabor Cruceño in the CECAP vocational center in Santa Cruz la Laguna will be serving up pizza and beer along with side salads, desserts, and non-alcoholic beverages. Come on up, enjoy the views not to mention the pizza by chef Juan Carlos Mendoza, his staff and the students of the culinary school. Doing so will not only ensure a full stomach and a good time, but will support the CECAP center and its culinary program.
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Thanks to Armand Boissy for providing the link to this document that accompanied a recent talk by Dr. Stewart Oakley of the University of California.
In Spanish, it covers . . . . .
- the different possible alternatives of managing the waste water that flows into the Lake Atitlan basin
- how this has been managed in other places like Lake Tahoe, Chicago, Milwaukee, Argentina
- environmental and health dangers of non-management of waste water
- outline of the plan to export waste water from the Lake Atitlan Basin creating an energy source and reusing it for agriculture (with photos of how this was done at Lake Tahoe)
http://santacruzlalaguna.weebly.com/manejo-integrado-de-las-aguas-residuales-en-la-cuenca-del-lago-atitlan.html
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Tired of finding errors in your documents after you've published or distributed them?
Let me edit your English language documents, websites, promotional material, newsletters, reports, articles, novels, or any other text for typos, grammatical errors, spelling, consistency, etc. Native (U.S.) English speaker. TESOL certified (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Excellent spelling and grammar skills. Eagle eye for typos/errors. Digital or paper-based corrections. Q125/hr.
For writers for whom English is a second language, I can also edit for correct English usage and consistency. Q200/hr.
Contact Jeanne Mendez 5380-6462
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It was previously reported that the Recycling Center in Pana - Centro de Acopia - would accept unsorted recyclables. That is no longer the case. They are now asking everyone to bring in their recyclables pre-sorted: glass, paper, tin cans, aluminum, and plastics.
The Centro de Acopia is located on Calle Navidad (see map below).
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Have you seen this bug before around your house, in your bed, on your pets? If so, BEWARE. This is the triatomine, also known as the kissing bug that ranges from the Southern U.S. to Argentina and it can carry Changas disease.
The "kissing bug" gets its moniker because it sucks the blood from its vertebrate hosts often biting the lips of a sleeping animal or human because it is attracted to it by the carbon dioxide exhaled by it as well as other odors. The insects are only active at night. The parasite that the kissing bug carries is not transferred via its saliva, but..... by its feces. They will often defecate while they are feeding and the feces may then become incidentally transferred to the host through the bite site, eyes, mouth or other scratches. The bites are often very itchy. One can also become infected by coming in contact with the feces in uncooked food. A mother who is infected can transmit the disease to their unborn child. All species of the triatomine can carry Chagas disease, but this doesn't mean that all of the insects carry it.
According to an art icle in Wikipedia (see link below), "The symptoms change over the course of the infection. In the early stage, symptoms are typically either not present or mild and may include: fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, or local swelling at the site of the bite. After 8–12 weeks, individuals enter the chronic phase of dis ease and in 60–70% it never produces further symptoms. The other 30 to 40% of people develop further symptoms 10 to 30 years after the initial infection. This includes enlargement of the ventricles of the heart in 20 to 30% leading to heart failure. An enlarged esophagus or an enlarged colon may also occur in 10% of the people."
I send out this warning because triatomines have been seen here at the Lake. There currently is no vaccine for chagas disease though potential vaccines are being tested. Here are some guidelines for prevention:
- Improve housing and sanitary conditions in housing. The insect will most often be found in older houses or adobe where they can hide and leave their eggs in cracks and crevices. Other hiding places are behind pictures, among furniture, boxes, clothes hanging from pegs in walls, in beds, firewood as well as palm-thatched roofs. Patch holes and entry points. Keep swept and clean.
- Use a mosquito net if sleeping in suspected areas of infestation, camping out, etc.
- Turn off porch lights at night. The triatomine is attracted to light especially in the hours after 10 p.m. If you must use a porch light, switch to a yellow bulb as they are less attracted to yellow than white light.
- Screen windows/doors so insects will not be attracted to the interior lights. Repair holes in screens.
- Keep your pets in at night. They can become infected resulting in the same heart and lung problems that affect humans. While your pet cannot infect you directly, a triatomine that is not infected could bite your pet and thus become infected and a danger to you and your family. Feral dogs and cats are more susceptible to being infected.
- Use sprays or paints with insecticides if you suspect an infestation (should only be done by a professional with the correct type of insecticide.)
- If you see a bug in your bed or environs, do not touch it but try to capture it in a jar and then kill it. Make sure you throughly wash yourself with soap and water.
You will be happy to know that all blood donations in Latin America are tested for Chagas disease and 75-90% of the U.S. blood supply is tested.
Thanks to Keith Wilson of San Marcos for bringing this to my attention.
Photo: Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P_megistus.jpg#mediaviewer/File:P_megistus.jpg
To learn more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triatominae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector210to222.pdf
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Per the Prensa Libre, several local alcaldes were impeached recently being accused of polluting the Lake Atitlan aquifer by not providing proper management of waste water from their respective villages. They are accused of being in violation of Government Agreement 12-2011, Regulations of Wastewater of the Lake Atitlan Basin.
Impeached were: Diego Ixmatá González, of San Pedro La Laguna; Tomás Chivilín Quievac, of Santiago Atitlán; Antonio Rodolfo Pérez y Pérez, of San Juan La Laguna; Óscar Pic Solís, of San Lucas Tolimán; Mateo Martín Bixcul, of San Antonio Palopó.
Seems a couple of other alcaldes should be added to that list.
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/justicia/Nacionales-buscan-antejuicio-para-cuatro-ediles-Solola-contaminacion-Lago-Atitlan_0_1235276476.html
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Sometimes it seems that theft of desk top computers, laptops, tablets, phones and other electronic devices is rampant at the Lake as well as everywhere else. My step-daughter told me about "Prey" an open-source, anti-theft tracking software "that lets you remotely locate, lock, wipe and recover it if ever stolen, or simply missing. You do this by logging into an web platform where you can also trigger actions like sounding an alarm or show an onscreen message to let the thief know you’re after him."
There are free (up to 3 devices and 10 reports per device) and paid plans from $5. Discounts are available for non-profits and educational organizations.
Here is their FAQ's page: https://preyproject.com/faq
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Rainfall in Paxanax for the week of October 26 - November 1: .6 inches or 1.524 cm.
It looks like the rainy season may be coming to an end. The last 2 days we have had a strong, cold norte wind, usually a harbinger of the dry season. But I was recently reminded that Hurrican Stan visited Guatemala on November 10 . . . . .
Click this link to view the Rainfall Report on Google Drive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b6pM1oRFAZl-UdQzrF7a4XzKMDCb8V36it5Fcj4859I/edit?usp=sharing
*** The Mayan glyph Kawoq symbolizes rain, lightning and thunder, water and air. It also represents the collective consciousness. ***
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