Terremoto

Today was foggy all the way and I didn't see the other side of the valley once, nor did I make a single photo. I tried to catch a flock of blue-and-yellow chaps which - so V. tells me - are called Cardenales and are hated by bird watchers because they are common, yet very good at imitating the sounds of many rarer birds, but my camera was too slow in the bad light. Fog means no mosquitoes and so working on the balcony is very pleasant. I have installed almost every sensor type but I'm not sure I'm not just getting gobbledegook. Most sensors seem to record some form of data, though. During lunch I experienced my first earthquake in life ever. It was very mild but it nevertheless felt quite weird as the hut shook violently even though there was no wind. V. and P. are of course old hands at such things but were concerned lest the epicentre of the 'tremblor' had been at Cuzco. No internet and no radio - and so their concern could neither be dissipated nor confirmed. V. asked me if there were earthquakes in Europe. When I said there were very few she wanted to know if we had landslides - or if there were no landslides what about hurricanes or at least Tornados? She shook her head when I explained that Europe is a bit boring when it comes to natural disasters and the most frequent problem we had were floods. I have of course always known in theory how harmless a location Europe is, but it is far easier from here to gauge how nature appears to most other people in this world. On that note it has to be said that V. and I have a very convenient time compared to the people who have gone on to the next plot. M. came back to collect some soil cores today, covered in mud and with nasty blisters. My next plot - so he explained - can only be reached by crawling up an almost vertical creek and no matter how many rain clothes one wears, after an hour in the water one is wet. Now, that is something to look forward to.