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I have been awake most of the night due to the intense heat that at one point made me think I might have been going mad, followed by the rolling and sometimes cracking of thunder not too far from the end of my bed. Much of the night was spent waiting for the tree to come crashing through the roof. Even now at 11.30am, 7 and a half hours after the start of the storm it hasn’t moved away as such, but now seems to have surrounded us. Outside, it may as well be night time, even the frogs are confused. So without power, light, more than one volunteer or any food, it seems like a perfect time to write the first blog I have written since May. I have to apologise to the people who were actually reading it, I hadn’t realised.

One of the problems with trying to write a blog is that so much happens, then when I don’t write it quickly, more stuff happens and when I don’t write that either, I eventually just think screw it. It’s too much stuff. I have more free time these days, but up until the start of this month my time spent in front of a computer has been minimal. It’s basically as quick as I can get through the emails I have to write and onto the next thing, as my job now involves a lot more being awake and active than I ever thought it would. I guess that’s a good thing though. So the last 3 and a half months have been action packed to say the least. I have met some great people, said goodbye to some great people, been invited to parties and football games, stayed up all night, watched the skinning and preparation of one of our pigs for the bbq, been on a rescue mission (failed unfortunately), travelled to Asuncion and to Ciudad del Este, built a garden, broken the car, slept all night on a bench in Santa Rosa, removed fleas from under the skin, witnessed the burning of the cerrado, bought a pet syriama off the back of a motorbike, woken up to an owl flying around my room, but most importantly, watched  Para La Tierra grow into a success, both scientifically and as an organisation and for that I am very proud.

One of the things that have helped to make that happen are our excellent volunteers. First came Allyn, the quiet (‘til he gets a drink in him) Californian who probably knows this place as well as the people who have lived here all their lives. Joe, the loud guy from somewhere on the East Coast with his Ugg slippers and New York Times puzzles who taught me more American slang than it’s possible to keep up with. Derek (one) and Rosemary, the Kiwi’s who caught and drew the birds, directed the garden project and generally kept us right. Shane, “the Chancellor” from Virginia with a sensible head and practical hands whose main accomplishment was the Chill Spot, destined to be used by all future visitors to PLT (he has also ended up being a bit more important to me too). Derek (zero) and Victoria the other Kiwi’s who saved me from an eternity of fighting with ArcGIS and made sure we knew all the rules to shithead. Then finally there was Mike, whose hunger for activity and to see all he could see made him one of the most productive of our volunteers. Having to say goodbye to people is one thing I hate most in the world, although I seem to have set myself up in a job where I have to do it regularly. I really think it’s worth it though for the time spent in between.

Our projects are booming and I have written about them on facebook and on the website if anyone is interested so I won’t talk about them here. We also have a few new ones in the pipe-line I am very excited about including a high-flying bats survey. It’s all going to be very labour intensive and although I frequently complain about having no time to sit down or to catch up on work, I love it really. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else now. There are down times, like in the wake of someone’s departure, or when we catch nothing in the traps for 7 days in a row, but the next brilliant thing always comes along sooner rather than later and keeps things moving and changing just enough to keep everyone in high spirits and looking forward. As for the place, I know I have said it a hundred times before but I still wake up every morning and can’t believe my luck to live somewhere this stunning and interesting and important.

I guess anyone who has been keeping up with Jeni’s blog will know that she has recently left PLT. I guess it was the right thing for her to do, as she had tried and seen and done and got what she wanted from this section of her life. Now she is in Bolivia working with lettuces and seems to be enjoying it and happy. That has been a particularly hard adjustment for me going from having my best friend to share a room with and who always understood and laughed with me when things went wrong ...again. Now it’s a bit lonely to say the least but it’s different now and I am getting used to it. My new employee Loraine is great and is settling in well to life at Laguna Blanca. Unfortunately though for the foreseeable future we will have an employee/employer relationship which I never had with Jeni who was my co-pilot.

I am really looking forward to the arrival of more people. I like it a lot when the house is busy, everyone doing their own thing and moving at different times in different combinations, but all coming together to eat and compare notes at the end of it. By next month we will be busy again and the house will be alive with activity. Right now it’s just me, Loraine and Emma, our new intern, in this space big enough for 15.

The storm is deafening. While we are inside this big house with all this space, the Departmento (State) around us of San Pedro has been declared in a state of emergency due to fire and heavy rains leaving 20,000 people homeless. Paraguay ticks on as a third world country around us and we hardly even notice. Was that in the news in any other country? My laptop battery is about to die now but I will take the time to write some good stories later when we have power again. As Joe would say and tell me never to say because my Scottish accent can’t pull it off – peace.