I met Pedro at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park on Grand Cayman. Pedro was a handsome adult blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi). Blue iguanas are a critically endangered reptile native to Grand Cayman and found nowhere else.
In general, blue iguanas are unfriendly. But Pedro liked people. He would close his eyes and raise his chin for a scratch behind the ears.
Possibly due to this trusting nature, Pedro was one of seven blue iguanas killed by vandals in May of last year. Pedro’s death is a loss to the species. But it’s also a personal loss for anyone who knew Pedro’s gentle nature and benign smile.

Maria Elena invited me to dinner with her family one afternoon when I was helping the men cut down a tree in the village. She was wearing a dress instead of the traditional huipil and I noticed that someone had mended the shoulder with heavy black thread.

Welcome to brownstudy. This blog is the younger sibling of my original redshift blog. Brownstudy will be a place for sketches, doodles and drawings.
I should advise readers that any opinions you find, or think you find, do not represent official positions of Peace Corps, the United States government, or any other official body that might be risking reputation on my scribbles.