Popular Post Graeme Posted May 23, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted May 23, 2018 Mods, feel free to put this in the travel thread if you don't think it's significantly different to merit its own thread. I just recently returned to Scotland from Mexico after being there since January. This was my third time staying in the same small city, an hour from the Pacific coast. In total, over all three times, I've now lived there for fourteen months. When I first went across in 2014, it was the first time I'd been out of Europe and the longest I'd ever been out of Scotland beforehand was four weeks. I spoke no Spanish, I'd never had any lessons in school and my greatest exposure to Latin culture was a week's fieldwork in Mallorca, Spain three years prior. Needless to say, I felt like an alien when I touched down in the sweltering heat at a tiny rural airport and wound up in a taxi with the realisation that I could basically say -nothing- to the driver whatsoever. After the taxi ride and then a bus through some wildly unfamiliar landscapes including tropical lagoons, coconut plantations and then a belt of mountains, I arrived in the city I was supposed to try to get to know over the next few months. I remember being picked up from the bus station by my then-boss and driven to the house where I was going to live, being left in the living room of a guy who spoke no English, listening to a genre of music I'd never even heard of... Just thinking, "What have I done?" as I unpacked all of my familiar things in totally unfamiliar surroundings. Then I met the guys I would be working with, who were a blend of people from all over the world. I walked around in a daze, looking at the unpaved streets, the blend of massive shiny 4x4s and ancient, beaten up saloon cars, palm trees everywhere, having no idea what there was in the city or where anything was in relation to anything else. I ended up taking a taxi with the others to what turned out to be the city centre that night, and I discovered a beautiful old colonial square full of trees and lights and hundreds of people listening to live music in the open air. That was the first moment when, in the midst of all of the fish-out-of-water stuff, I got a good feeling in my gut... Then we promptly went to a restaurant where I knew what nothing was on the menu whatsoever. Fast forward to the end of my time there this year. I arrived in Colima knowing absolutely no-one and now I feel like the city's adopted me. A good friend from home came to visit me and as we were walking around, we kept bumping into friends of mine and he said to me "it's like this city knows you." Also, I now know the city like the back of my hand, my local pals rely on me for navigation, some taxi drivers have said to me "you know the streets better than I do". I didn't take taxis that frequently though, I walked everywhere most of the time. When you pass people on the streets, most of them wish you a good morning or a good evening, big families will shout it at you in unison. I now have an intimate knowledge of Mexican cooking, can generally read menus and have fallen in love with the rich and colourful cuisine (my tolerance for spicy food is now pretty high). I've gained a language, being an English-speaking monoglot most of my life, I never really imagined that I'd learn another one, but I have and it's really precious to me. It's weird because I'm tall, and pale and blond-haired and when I arrived, I felt that I stuck out like a sore thumb, but after being there for long enough, I stopped feeling noticeably foreign and started to feel like I belonged. I had my first relationships there, and while they didn't work out in the long term, they taught me a lot about myself and gave me confidence. My timekeeping has also become notably worse because of the endemic acceptable lateness that's so ingrained in Mexican culture. My last week there was basically one long farewell party, and there was one point where I was at an outdoor rave in a city-centre square, surrounded by a big group of friends and I just remember looking around, seeing hundreds of people singing and dancing together and thinking "this city fucking rocks." It really does. It's not a massively popular tourist destination, it's a residential city rather than a resort (although it is surrounded by amazing landscapes on all sides and dominated by two massive volcanoes on the northern skyline). But I feel like I've unearthed a gem on the other side of the world and I've made it mine. I can't imagine a future in which I don't go back now. Has anyone else got any experiences of living for an extended period of time in a country very different to their own, good or bad? Did you have to adjust to a different culture, cuisine, language? Did you fall in love with it the way I have with Mexico? 8 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracii Guns Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 There’s nothing I can contribute to this thread. I just wanted to say that I’ve missed how well you write. I’m glad that you had a good time, but selfishly, also pleased you’re back in the UK. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShannonHoon Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Hey Graeme, intrigued by your story may i ask what you did for a living in Mexico ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 6 hours ago, ShannonHoon said: Hey Graeme, intrigued by your story may i ask what you did for a living in Mexico ? The first time I was there, it was an internship in a University-based volcano observatory, so I was mainly involved in the gathering and analysis of field data from the volcano near the city. The next two times, I was a PhD researcher, working in the same office as before but focussed on my own project instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShannonHoon Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, Graeme said: The first time I was there, it was an internship in a University-based volcano observatory, so I was mainly involved in the gathering and analysis of field data from the volcano near the city. The next two times, I was a PhD researcher, working in the same office as before but focussed on my own project instead. Wow sincerely amazing thank you for answering, since i have a special interest in Mexico i loved reading your story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 5 hours ago, ShannonHoon said: Wow sincerely amazing thank you for answering, since i have a special interest in Mexico i loved reading your story No worries, I'm glad you're interested! Have you been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janrichmond Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Welcome home @Graeme your post made me feel happy, i don't venture out of England but for a few minutes in my mind i was in Mexico, i liked it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 7 hours ago, janrichmond said: Welcome home @Graeme your post made me feel happy, i don't venture out of England but for a few minutes in my mind i was in Mexico, i liked it Me too, so I read it with a certain amount of dread, fearing some crazy cartel members would show up in the next sentence and that our poor Graeme was posting from jail after having been "convinced" to help them out with their new Scotland push which, for him, would involve crossing borders stuffed like a cocaine piñata. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlingrl03 Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I love MX. It's my second home 💜..my father lives down there in Durango. I only get to travel down there every 2 or 3 years or so, but each trip is always very memorable. I need to work on my Spanish though! But no, can't say I have actually lived in any other countries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShannonHoon Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 18 hours ago, Graeme said: No worries, I'm glad you're interested! Have you been? Yes i have been going there for the last 15 years my girlfriend is Mexican, so i visit around twice a year 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I can sing the Mexican national anthem. No shit I mean not properly, I just mean like...copying the sounds of the words from having heard it so much through my life. From watching so many mexican fighters in boxing. Cracking national anthem too, sounds great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 12 hours ago, SoulMonster said: Me too, so I read it with a certain amount of dread, fearing some crazy cartel members would show up in the next sentence and that our poor Graeme was posting from jail after having been "convinced" to help them out with their new Scotland push which, for him, would involve crossing borders stuffed like a cocaine piñata. Oh dear. I was actually hoping we could get through this thread without mention of drugs and violence... When I talk to people, I'm trying as much as I can to talk about everything that Mexico has going for it rather than focussing on the negatives. I don't mean denying what's going on, it's sadly a very real part of Mexico's story and some very fucked up things have happened to people who're very close to me... But the fact that there are people there who're close to me at all is something I'd rather focus on because it's a much bigger part of my life, my impression of Mexico is overwhelmingly positive. In my experience Mexican people have been welcoming, inclusive, kind-hearted, generous, trustworthy, hospitable, helpful above and beyond any expectations, and great fun to be around. I think we need to talk about that side of Mexico more. Not to the extent that this is now the "Foreigners commenting on Mexico" thread, but you know what I mean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Graeme said: Oh dear. I was actually hoping we could get through this thread without mention of drugs and violence... When I talk to people, I'm trying as much as I can to talk about everything that Mexico has going for it rather than focussing on the negatives. I don't mean denying what's going on, it's sadly a very real part of Mexico's story and some very fucked up things have happened to people who're very close to me... But the fact that there are people there who're close to me at all is something I'd rather focus on because it's a much bigger part of my life, my impression of Mexico is overwhelmingly positive. In my experience Mexican people have been welcoming, inclusive, kind-hearted, generous, trustworthy, hospitable, helpful above and beyond any expectations, and great fun to be around. I think we need to talk about that side of Mexico more. Not to the extent that this is now the "Foreigners commenting on Mexico" thread, but you know what I mean. I thought to be the catalyst for you emphasizing this. Of course Mexicans are welcoming and kind-hearted. Aren't we all when introduced correctly? On a sidenote, are you Dr. Graeme now? And did your thesis come up with ways to prevent volcanoes from happening? They must be the evilest of natural phenomena. Just look at Hawaii. There you are, sipping in a drink in your back garden and suddenly it is all ruined by a geysir of lava just erupting by your pool. Has got to ruin house prices. Bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 On 24/05/2018 at 4:53 AM, SoulMonster said: Me too, so I read it with a certain amount of dread, fearing some crazy cartel members would show up in the next sentence and that our poor Graeme was posting from jail after having been "convinced" to help them out with their new Scotland push which, for him, would involve crossing borders stuffed like a cocaine piñata. Well I’d sniff his arse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko12345 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Glad you had a good time Gra👍 As an aside has there ever been any incidents your aware of anyone falling into the lava that oozes down the volcano? Any footage about? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 6 minutes ago, spunko12345 said: Glad you had a good time Gra👍 As an aside has there ever been any incidents your aware of anyone falling into the lava that oozes down the volcano? Any footage about? And if it happens make sure you whip your phone out a bit lively and get us a nice little video! And mind you don't put your finger over the mic, their dying screams are 50% of it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 Okay, volcanology lesson. There are different kinds of volcano that produce different kinds of lava, generally depending on the tectonic processes that produce them. The type of lava that @spunko12345 is thinking about, that runny, red-hot stuff is generally what we call basalt. It tends to be found at mid-ocean ridge volcanoes (e.g. Iceland) or sometimes at so-called 'hot spots' which are areas far from any tectonic boundary where a large body of magma called a 'mantle plume' has found its way through the crust (e.g. Hawaii). I don't know of any footage of anyone falling in (thankfully, because it would be horrific viewing) but here's a video of a bag of organic waste being flung into a basaltic lava lake that would simulate pretty much what would happen if a person fell in. The volcano I've been working on in Mexico erupts a type of lava called andesite, more typically found on continental margins or island arcs. Andesite contains a lot more volatile chemicals and crystals which, generally speaking, make it a lot more viscous than basalt. As such, rather than forming lakes and river-like flows, think of andesite being squeezed out of the volcano like toothpaste. You get a big bulb of lava that fills the mouth of the volcano and looks a bit like this: So, that whole light grey hill in the video is a big blob of lava that's forcing its way out of the vent, and inside it's glowing hot. You'd get 3rd degree burns from touching the surface, and it's an extremely dangerous place because it's so unstable but as it's more solid than liquid on the outside, you can't really 'fall in'. You'd just lie on top of it and burn or get bludgeoned by glowing hot, razor sharp falling rocks. If you were really unlucky, you could be in front of an andesite dome when it collapses, and unleashes an avalanche of burning gas and rock called a 'pyroclastic density current'. These are much more dangerous than lava flows. They come down the side of volcanoes at hurricane speeds and generally flatten and incinerate anything in their path. This is a video where you can see part of a dome collapsing to produce a PDC that killed 43 people... Bear in mind the inside of the cloud was probably about 800 degrees celsius and laden with fragments of burning rock as big as fridges flying like missiles: I've stared down one of those before. I had no idea when or if it was going to stop, it scared the shit out of me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko12345 Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Nice one cheers 😁. Nasty stuff. I just remembered watching red hot crusty lava creep down a hill very slowly. Almost porridge like in its consistency and thinking how fucking gruesome would it be to see some poor fucker trip over and fall into that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 14 minutes ago, spunko12345 said: Nice one cheers 😁. Nasty stuff. I just remembered watching red hot crusty lava creep down a hill very slowly. Almost porridge like in its consistency and thinking how fucking gruesome would it be to see some poor fucker trip over and fall into that! Aye, it'd be pretty grim viewing. I imagine (in the case of complete immersion) the intensity of the heat would probably destroy the parts of the body sensitive to pain within seconds, perhaps even before making physical contact with the lava as you'd likely ignite at a distance of a couple of metres, and death would follow pretty rapidly. The good news is that you can walk away from most lava flows, they only account for 0.32% of all historical deaths from volcanic eruptions... By contrast, PDCs account for 33%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 8 hours ago, spunko12345 said: Nice one cheers 😁. Nasty stuff. I just remembered watching red hot crusty lava creep down a hill very slowly. Almost porridge like in its consistency and secretly thinking I'd love to see some poor fucker trip over and fall into that! Fixed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 I worked at an aluminium factory before. While casting the metal people had to work near the molten metal,stepping on this form where the flowing metal was. One poor chap stepped into the molten aluminium with his boot, got molten metal inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 Aye, I have several friends/colleagues who have been walking around on the dome of a volcano called Evermann on an island called Socorro in the pacific ocean and have put their foot on a bit of ground that's turned out to be not as solid as it looks, it's gone through and they've ended up with their foot in a pool of boiling mud at nearly 500 degrees Celsius. The lucky ones got away with a partially melted boot and minor scalding, the unlucky ones were where the mud got inside their boots and some of them were rendered unable to walk for months. Here's a photo of one I took when I was there: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 It doesn't look so hot. Deviously. Again, that is why we have to put a stop to the volcanoes. Maybe if we clog all but one pressure can still be released through that one that is still open and people can just stay away from that megamoster of a volcano. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 If you tried to clog them, chances are the lava would just penetrate the artificial blockages you tried to put in its way in exactly the same way as it penetrated kilometres upon kilometres of solid rock in order to reach the surface . Even if you managed to prevent it coming out of that particular vent, it would probably just come out somewhere else in the same general vicinity, perhaps forcing its way out of the side of the volcano instead, which could be even more disastrous as it could create a laterally directed blast that shoots pyroclastic material sideways like a cannon. Volcanoes are pretty localised phenomena, I guess they are all very loosely connected through mantle processes, but it's not a system with strong enough links that processes at one 'node' can have any kind of ripple effect on others (sometimes eruptions at one volcano do 'trigger' another, but they have to share the same local 'plumbing system' for that to happen, like Eyjafjallajökull and Katla in Iceland... However, a shared plumbing system is really not the case at very many volcanoes at all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Thanks for humouring me. I was gonna suggest we could clog them with plastic waste. What is the biggest unknown in volcanology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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