A month of extremes. Extreme heat and humidity, extremely heavy, unpredictable rainfalls and extremely hard work. We are all but consumed by our project this month in what seem to be the most unsuitable weather conditions for it. How did we get to this? But with our return flight to Europe fast approaching, all that's left for us to so is to crunch our teeth and stick out these hard times.
On July 11th 2020 we decide to finally abandon our camp this season. Heavy rainfalls are costing us too many restless nights to keep going and, in the sticky heat of the day, it literally feels like the earth is boiling. Even my unusually straight hair has long abandoned the order enforced in vain by my flimsy hairbrush. Fuck it. If we're gonna be sweating anyways, we may as well do it while building a sick yoga platform.
We spend a good 2 weeks non-stop working on our platform. Lucky for us the days are so long and hot that we needn't worry too much about big meals to fuel us or lingering sunsets pulling nature's electric plug on us. Staying hydrated, on the other hand, has become a constant mission and I now finally understand the hype around those fake sugary Electrolit drinks. I guess you live and you learn.
We efficiently work our way along the base structure of the platform sawing, drilling, sanding and screwing together those ma(ssive)chiche beams to make the structure sturdy and fat-mexican proof. To our relief, not a single centimeter is wasted.
Fortunately our view over the valley of Monteón puts us in a pretty good position to predict the next rainfall. In fact, we're so busy monitoring each and every intimidating black rain cloud that we are taken by surprise when a trillion little black bugs suddenly burst out of the ground and briefly envolve us in a black swarm so dense that we need to hold our breath to not inhale the little fuckers. And I don't use that term lightly - We later hear from a friend who was just as baffled when these mysterious little craeatures found their way into his laptop's hard drive clogging the whole thing with their helpless little wings and feelers. To this day I don't quite know what that was all about.
While we are put through the ultimate endurance test by mother nature, we are also rewarded by some of the most theatrical natural spectacles we have witnessed out here. The hundreds of glow worms that inhabit the tree at the base of our property light up the nights with a thousand little lights reminding us of hazy festival nights back in Berlin summer which feel as distant as ever this year. We also awe and wonder at the majestic moonrises and of course scandalous thunderstorms which hurt our retina. I am literally 1 thunderstorm away from wearing my sunglasses at night. Fuck it. Ahuevo!
