If it ain't broke, don't fix it

10-28

Visiting my friend Jamie’s site made me feel really lucky to be living where I am. Her site is really great, it’s just where she lives that is not great. Her site is located pretty high up in the hills, and when on your way there you get an amazing view of the volcano and the laguna below. Gorgeous. And the town is really cute and small. Everything is really close together, unlike my site which is huge with everything spread out with far distances. That’s really nice- she is close to everything, and it’s just a lot more intimate. The town is full of friendly people and TONS of children that flock to Jamie in herds they love her and want to be near her so much. So yes, her site is amazing. Her house is not. 

The family is super nice and it’s clear they really care for her. It’s just that she has no privacy. Ever. The house she lives in is as big is my house that I have all to myself- maybe a bit smaller- and there are 7 people living in it! The family- The parents and their 4 children all sleep in one room together and they gave Jamie the other room to herself- well kind of. The room is pretty open to everything and the 4 little girls and family are always passing through. The kids come in and just sit and stare at her. They never leave her alone. They touch her things and have even stolen things from her! All of that alone is enough to drive someone crazy. But there’s more. Her host mom is severely depressed and it’s obvious. It’s concerning and awkward. She hardly responds when spoken too, just sits there staring in to space looking like she is on the verge of crying at all times. I even caught her staring directly at me and Jamie at times in a way that was creepy. As sad as it is that she is unhappy, what can Jamie do? She’s not a therapist. And even if she wanted to offer her an ear, advice or counseling... that would be tough to do without an advanced Spanish level. So yea, that would be hard to live with for 2 years. Her host dad is really nice... but also weird. He dressed up in his King costume for us. LoL. 

The living conditions are poor. But even though most people in our communities are poor, most of them still maintain very clean houses. Jamie’s house, not too clean.... really in the places where it matters most- the pila and the latrine. The latrine doesn’t even offer much for privacy, there’s a curtain but it barely covers it. So they just pee on the side of the house in the mud. I wasn’t very good at doing that with all the splashing. The food- not so good. I found a few bugs in my beans. The eggs were fried in so much oil.... And when she buys her own food to try to eat something different, the kids eat it up, and her money goes wasted. Not cool. For all this she pays triple what I pay in rent.... I pay $25 a month. Of course she is paying for food too. But beans, rice, and eggs don’t cost that much. (and the bugs are free!) And that’s basically what she gets there. So.... it’s a rip off. 

She said it herself... she needed to find another place to live. But as far as she knew, there was no where for her to go. There were no empty houses. 

So when we were at her neighbors house- they were some of the nicest people I have met- and I ended up asking them if they knew about there being any houses available. There was just one that they knew of. Newly built by a man that lives in the U.S. who has sent money for it to be built. But he lives there and doesn’t really have any intention of moving back any time soon. Maybe it’s just for when he comes to visit? I dunno... anyway the woman took us to look at it and oh my god... it’s like the Peace Corps Cribs dream house... really nice and beautiful. So we talked to the family of the owner who are going to talk with him about the possibility of J living there and she’ll tell her Monday she said. Hope that works out for her. That would be sweet! She’s working hard there. She deserves a home she feels comfortable in at the end of the day. Granted, I know this is Peace Corps... and part of Peace Corps is understanding the expectation that you may have to live under conditions of hardship... But we also have the right to our own space and privacy in our home... and to look for places to live that will provide that for us.

Fortunately, as I can fully appreciate now, I ended up somewhere pretty good to start off with. And like my dad says, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And I am very thankful to be right where I am. I have started appreciating Marinita for all that she does for me instead of being annoyed by it. I fall more in love with this country everyday. I can’t believe I’m going to go home for a visit in February.  Whether I’m ready or not, I gotta take advantage of my airline credits I have...   It will be nice to go home for a few weeks and see my fam and eat good food... and I am going to stock up on all the american goods I can’t get here to bring home. 

Uh oh... I’m hearing a rustling. I haven’t seen or heard a rat in my house in a few weeks. Could they be back? 

I was looking forward to my run in the morning, but it poured rain tonight which means the soccer field will be muddy in the morning- which means I’m not going.

You know... a lot of times I go to use the latrine at my house and I am astonished at what terrible aim people have when peeing here. The seat is always wet! Ok there isn’t really a seat- just the cylinder of cement... but i call it a seat because, well, I sit on it. I have to at times.... when you have churria, as they call it here, you really can only squat for so long. Anyway, I found out that it’s not that Salvadorans are poor aiming pissers.... It’s because they keep lids on top of the cement hole and the heat from everything below kind of boils up and creates the moisture on the seat. Gross. That may be worse than just urine- the liquid condensation of years worth of excrement. Is a lid really necessary? Still... I’m not complaining... my latrine is way nice compared to others. 

I leave on Tuesday for my PreService Training 2 (PST2). Time is flying. 

Got some awesome packages from home today! Feel happy and loved! Can’t wait to eat the box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese they sent me! Just one box... so I will savor it! If only had brought Louisiana Hot Sauce with me to this country.

Paz y Amor.