So, what's in a name??

You may know that names have meanings behind them.  People will search for months to come up with a specific name for children with certain meanings.  Well, this isn't a post to reveal any names we have come up with for our child...sorry.  But, it is to tell you more about the meaning behind a specific name of a volcano - Fuego.

You may remember, if you follow my Facebook, that I was able to visit my parents, who live in Guatemala, in April.  We were able to go up to a location high above their city and take some great shots of 3 volcanoes, one of which is still considered active.  Here are the pictures that we took that day.

The first picture is of the volcano, Agua, which means "water".  It is no longer active but in 1541, it erupted and flooded the city the water.  As you can see, there are many villages all along the base of the volcano.

This next picture is of two volcanoes which are side by side, Fuego and Acatenango.  Acatenango, the one with the twin peaks,  is no longer active.  But, Fuego, the one to the left, remains active.  Even while I was there in December 2010 and in April 2012, puffs of smoke would rise from the volcano throughout the day.

Well, getting back to that "name" thing...the name Fuego means "fire".  And yesterday, it definitely lived up to its name!  Fuego decided to blow a little more than puffs of smoke yesterday.  The local newspaper stated that it "began a new eruptive phase with ash columns that reached 3000 meters high".  Thankfully, my parents are not affected in their city by the volcano but many people throughout the country are.

Photo Courtesy

The local newspaper, Prensa Libre, had some great pictures and video of the eruption yesterday.  Below is a link to local newspaper so the language is in Spanish but the videos and pictures need no translation.

Video coverage from news:
http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/noticias/comunitario/Volcan-Fuego-podria-estabilizarse-horas_0_773922697.html

Picture Gallery:
http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/multimedia/Volcan_de_Fuego_5_773372656.html

It looks a lot different from the pictures that I took in April, huh?  Please pray for those people who are affected by the eruption, many of whom have lost their homes and livelihood.