.... With internet that is!!! Yes my friends... I no longer have to live in the dark for I have a netbook. I went to Office Depot the day before coming back to the capital and found my a pretty purple little HP netbook. I was so mesmerized by how nice looking it was, you all know how much i love purple, that it wasn't until after the purchase and I got it home that I realized the damn thing is in spanish. The keyboard, and the computer itself. This can be problematic. Its not easy learning how to use this thing... the keys say one thing but they do another. It took me hours to figure out just how to make the @ sign. Well I didn't even figure it out, I had to call of the help of others. Soooo, i'm trying to decide if I should part with it and find another, call the store and see if they have an english version or just learn how to use a computer in spanish. Which who knows, could be useful for my job here. One of my program goals is to teach computing to youth... so it would be a good thing to learn. Meh, we'll see.
Thanksgiving was 4 days of heaven in the capital. I was too spoiled with hot showers and good food and not having to ride the bus... So coming back to San Vi was a much needed reality check I suppose. I have to honest. I didn't want to come. I would probably stay in the capital forever if I could... it's too much like home. But anyway, give me a couple of days and I will be loving my campo life again. I came into the pueblo to get some food from the super selectos so at least I wouldn't have to go from the gourmet thanksgiving food straight to nothing but Marinita's beans and cheese. Did I tell you how much I hate the cheese here? Cuajada or Queso Fresco is what they call it. It has grown on me a little... and I mean very little. I am able to at least get it down now... But it's so not good. They take the milk fresh from the cow every morning. Put it in a bucket, throw in some kind of pill that makes it curdle and then they squeeze out all the liquid and voila, you have your stanky cheese. Marinita has caught on to my dislike for it, I haven't even had to tell her. She notices what I do and don't eat. That woman is great. She loves me. When I got back from the capital yesterday she was just walking out of my house after giving it a good sweep. I tell her she doesn't have to do that. But it's kinda nice having a mom that cleans up after me. Not even my Mexican mother Juana (aka: Gringa mom Jane) would clean up after me. And so it is... I can appreciate my campo life and my campo family. And if I can make it so that I can get a few trips into the capital several times a week well then... I just might happily make it through my two years here with out having [too many] mental breakdowns.
This will be a busy week for me. I have meetings to get my youth group going... The kids want a dance group. So we're gonna try it, although I have never taught any coreographed dance in my life. But I can fake it. I can always pull up some stuff on youtube... the worlers in the PC office Im sure will have a great time watching me dance my heart out in front of a computer. This week we also have the big Asamblea to announce the winner of the baby cow raffle. I have $3 with my name on tickets... So who knows, I could be the proud mama of a baby cow? what am I going to do with a pet cow you might be wondering. Welll.... I will let her frollick in my front yard with the others... and protect her from the slaughter house and the injections with dirty needles from Don Chepito. And she will have an adorable name... like what? what is a good baby cow name? Oprah? lol.....
I missed a big wedding in my town while I was out for the San Sal turkeypalooza. Apparently the millionaire man that grew up in my canton flew the couple in for their grand entrance on a helicoptor. Then he gave people rides in the helicoptor. I missed out. But we're friends, maybe he will come in on it again someday. Pretty fancy for a campo wedding huh.
Allright I better finish with my new facebook photos and get to the store before I miss the midday bus back home. Hope you folks back home have a happy holiday! Love and miss y'all... but i'll be seeing you soon!!!
Paz y amor.
Mariposa.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Eyebrows are Raised
Back in the capital again. I am too comfortable right now. Laying on a big cushy sofa with a laptop, watching Friends on cable on a really big flat screen tv. Hot showers. Hollie and Katherine, my fellow PCV guests in this palace, are downstairs making us pancakes and bacon. Could it get any better than this? As it turns out, I was able to have a classic American Thanksgiving here in El Salvador. I didn't know how much I would appreciate it... but I would have been sad if I missed the holiday and did nothing. I just realized this is the first time ever that I didn't have Thanksgiving with my family. But we got to talk on the phone and they put up great pictures for me to see on Facebook documenting their "turkeypalooza." As for me, my turkeypalooza was complete with all the trimmings. I especially enjoyed my vino. One of my friends was diggin the food so much. A little too much... in fact it all came up only about an hour after the food coma set in. That's how excited some of us were about this dinner.
The next brow raiser has to do with the upcoming jaripeo, or rodeo, that we will be having in my front yard on christmas and the day after. Being from Texas, you know I love me a good rodeo and so I was really looking forward to it... until Don Chepito filled me in on what a s*it show it will most likely be. They hire a company that offers a full rodeo package. This includes entertainment with mariachis, ranchera bands, dancing horses and.... a whore, of course. I was like what!? excuse me! he said that there is some lady named Selena that is paid to come flirt with the men. And that last year she was dancing with my neighbor Don Artilio (who before this I thought was a respectable man) and that she asked him "where do you want to kiss me?" and he ended up kissing her in a very bad place in front of everyone, for all the crowd to see. Call me a prude... but now I am really not looking forward to this. There will be a gazillion bolos and crazy people all right in front of my house for 2 full days. It shocks me that my host parents, being the seemingly sctrictest catholics in the town, would endorse such a raunchy event. Oy vey.
Thanksgiving has to be my favorite holiday of all. It's better than Christmas I think. You don't have to worry about getting presents or anything.
So before I left for the capital I learned about some happenings that raised my eyebrows.
My host dad's cousin owns a restaurant on the Panamerican highway that is really pretty nice. It has a juke box and a cute little pool. I had been there several times to eat and went to a baby shower there once. Well Don Chepito informed me that Nina Chavela had to give her business up. Apparently a few weeks ago some mareros came in and told her that she would have to start paying them. SO she gave up her restaurant and sold it to a pimp and now its a whore house apparently.
The next brow raiser has to do with the upcoming jaripeo, or rodeo, that we will be having in my front yard on christmas and the day after. Being from Texas, you know I love me a good rodeo and so I was really looking forward to it... until Don Chepito filled me in on what a s*it show it will most likely be. They hire a company that offers a full rodeo package. This includes entertainment with mariachis, ranchera bands, dancing horses and.... a whore, of course. I was like what!? excuse me! he said that there is some lady named Selena that is paid to come flirt with the men. And that last year she was dancing with my neighbor Don Artilio (who before this I thought was a respectable man) and that she asked him "where do you want to kiss me?" and he ended up kissing her in a very bad place in front of everyone, for all the crowd to see. Call me a prude... but now I am really not looking forward to this. There will be a gazillion bolos and crazy people all right in front of my house for 2 full days. It shocks me that my host parents, being the seemingly sctrictest catholics in the town, would endorse such a raunchy event. Oy vey.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Que Wow
Holy moly shmoly... my mind is all over the place right now. Just trying to process many things- the last two and a half weeks out of my site, being around other gringos constantly, speaking mostly english the whole time, staying in nice hotels with comfy beds and a/c, cable tv and internet.... that's enough to mess with me as i get ready to go back to the campo life in a few hours.
To further flood my mind with preoccupations- the loss of my fancy macbook has brought me down. It certainly is not the end of the world. I can be greatful for my good health, my wonderful community, my good friends. And there are much worse things that could happen to me around here than losing my computer. Plus, I knew when I brought it down here there was the risk of losing it. Just frikin sucks. As you all know, I am an avid blogger. It helps keep me sane, being able to type something up and share my experiences with people back home, or wherever my readers may be. I also was in the habit of watching a tv episode or a movie on my laptop before i went to bed every night. It was good company for when I was alone in my house. And I finally had found an internet stick that kinda worked and allowed me to chat with people and check email from my site. It brought so much comfort to me that one electronic device. At the same time, maybe I was a little too dependent on it. Maybe it really is for the best. Maybe it was kharma's way of telling me I was spending too much time on the thing. That i need to disconnect from home a little and connect more with being here. It may be a blessing. It will get me out of my house more... spending more time with the people I am really here for. And I can read a book at night instead of watching a mindless movie. We'll see how it goes. I may just end up replacing it with one of those cheap little notebook laptops when i go back to the capital next week for thanksgiving. LoL. Or we'll see what my property insurance can do for me. Maybe I can get them to help me replace it.
So a few more things that are screwing with me... Now that I am finally done with all of my training I stand here at the beginning of my service with a long road ahead of me. It's a little overwhelming to think about the big picture and ALL that I want to do in my community. And there is SO much that I have on my list. I know... just gotta take it one day or one week at a time.
So.... Que Wow!
Before I go- let me tell a bit about my PST2 experience... It was great. I got tons of useful information to help me with getting to work in my site. Among some of my projects that I plan to get started are a youth group, a women's group, teacher training, professional training/life planning for youth, and a new school roof for the very poor school in my community. There's just so much. But i'm gonna start with just one thing at a time, and slowly build on what i've got going.
So the first week of training was very informative, and not very exciting. When the weekend rolled around I went and stayed in my friends training community for the night where they were have a promotion for the television show Bailando por un Sueno that one of the PC El Sal volunteers has actually been competing on. Well she got kicked off the show the next night, but we were there to support her the night before. I got up on the stage there in the park for a little dance competition. I thought, FUN! Bailando por una camisa! (dancing for a t-shirt!) I got up there with my fellow gringa friend Ana... we were the last two to dance... When he said we had to do merengue and when I saw the first 2 latinas go ahead of us... I was like- uh oh- great. I like to dance, and I think i'm pretty good at it... but I can't usually out dance the latinas. They've got a good dancing gene... it's in their blood. So I didnt win. But we got it on video. Hopefully my friend will put it up on fbook soon.
What else? Went to the capital the next day. Being in the capital is so expensive. We all spent so much money and are going back today feeling broke. I ate at Tony Roma's, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Sushi... all that really adds up. But it was kinda worth it. It was nice to get good ol' american things for a bit. There are many peace corps countries where doing that kind of thing is out of the question. Anyway... we went to a beautiful place in Ahuachapan where we stayed in pretty fancy luxurious cabins for the night, saw a beautiful waterful on a long hike. We went out a lot with friends during the last week and had a good time. I told my closest friends before leaving- "I'm gonna get cheezy on y'all for a sec. I really feel like PST2 has brought us closer." And it's true. I feel so lucky to be here with such a great friends... americans and salvos alike. They all make this experience worthwhile. El Salvador has one of the lowest early termination rates of all Peace Corps countries. It's no wonder. Salvos are great and we are only a skip and jump away from gringo time when we need it. And even with all that... it still gets hard.
Many say that Peace Corps is full of really high highs and really low lows. The longer I am here the more I experience the truth in that statement. So I've been feeling a little low lately... but I know that's just part of the journey. I'm looking forward to getting back to my site and seeing my friends there... and I know it won't be long before I'm up again.
I had a nice transition back to my site though. We went to our regional meeting yesterday and stayed the night in these very rustic cabins. It was good that I had to go there first after being spoiled in the capital. GOing there before going back to my site I really think is going to help me appreciate my little house. It's nicer than where we were last night. Sleeping on the floor on little pads... with tons of bugs all around. I hate sleeping without a mosquito net. I saw big spiders in there. And I was afraid they would crawl on me while I was sleeping. So I slept with the blanket over my head. Which is good for the feeling of protection, but kind of hot and suffocating at the same time. Me and Jamie were in there alone... scaring ourselves talking about the ghosts we had heard that are around there earlier that night. Apparently the place was on the land where a huge massacre had been during the war. Great. We felt like little girls again, like it was a first night at summer camp and we wanted to call our mom and dad to come pick us up. But we just told ourself to try to sleep, it would all be over in the morning. And we lived!!! It was fine :) lol.
And now, I need to get going. It's back to my site for a few days and then back to the capital for thanksgiving. So another few nights at a comfy house with good american food is really just less than a week away. It's nice to have things to look forward to. Even if it's just having pupusas for dinner.
Paz y Amor.
To further flood my mind with preoccupations- the loss of my fancy macbook has brought me down. It certainly is not the end of the world. I can be greatful for my good health, my wonderful community, my good friends. And there are much worse things that could happen to me around here than losing my computer. Plus, I knew when I brought it down here there was the risk of losing it. Just frikin sucks. As you all know, I am an avid blogger. It helps keep me sane, being able to type something up and share my experiences with people back home, or wherever my readers may be. I also was in the habit of watching a tv episode or a movie on my laptop before i went to bed every night. It was good company for when I was alone in my house. And I finally had found an internet stick that kinda worked and allowed me to chat with people and check email from my site. It brought so much comfort to me that one electronic device. At the same time, maybe I was a little too dependent on it. Maybe it really is for the best. Maybe it was kharma's way of telling me I was spending too much time on the thing. That i need to disconnect from home a little and connect more with being here. It may be a blessing. It will get me out of my house more... spending more time with the people I am really here for. And I can read a book at night instead of watching a mindless movie. We'll see how it goes. I may just end up replacing it with one of those cheap little notebook laptops when i go back to the capital next week for thanksgiving. LoL. Or we'll see what my property insurance can do for me. Maybe I can get them to help me replace it.
So a few more things that are screwing with me... Now that I am finally done with all of my training I stand here at the beginning of my service with a long road ahead of me. It's a little overwhelming to think about the big picture and ALL that I want to do in my community. And there is SO much that I have on my list. I know... just gotta take it one day or one week at a time.
So.... Que Wow!
Before I go- let me tell a bit about my PST2 experience... It was great. I got tons of useful information to help me with getting to work in my site. Among some of my projects that I plan to get started are a youth group, a women's group, teacher training, professional training/life planning for youth, and a new school roof for the very poor school in my community. There's just so much. But i'm gonna start with just one thing at a time, and slowly build on what i've got going.
So the first week of training was very informative, and not very exciting. When the weekend rolled around I went and stayed in my friends training community for the night where they were have a promotion for the television show Bailando por un Sueno that one of the PC El Sal volunteers has actually been competing on. Well she got kicked off the show the next night, but we were there to support her the night before. I got up on the stage there in the park for a little dance competition. I thought, FUN! Bailando por una camisa! (dancing for a t-shirt!) I got up there with my fellow gringa friend Ana... we were the last two to dance... When he said we had to do merengue and when I saw the first 2 latinas go ahead of us... I was like- uh oh- great. I like to dance, and I think i'm pretty good at it... but I can't usually out dance the latinas. They've got a good dancing gene... it's in their blood. So I didnt win. But we got it on video. Hopefully my friend will put it up on fbook soon.
What else? Went to the capital the next day. Being in the capital is so expensive. We all spent so much money and are going back today feeling broke. I ate at Tony Roma's, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Sushi... all that really adds up. But it was kinda worth it. It was nice to get good ol' american things for a bit. There are many peace corps countries where doing that kind of thing is out of the question. Anyway... we went to a beautiful place in Ahuachapan where we stayed in pretty fancy luxurious cabins for the night, saw a beautiful waterful on a long hike. We went out a lot with friends during the last week and had a good time. I told my closest friends before leaving- "I'm gonna get cheezy on y'all for a sec. I really feel like PST2 has brought us closer." And it's true. I feel so lucky to be here with such a great friends... americans and salvos alike. They all make this experience worthwhile. El Salvador has one of the lowest early termination rates of all Peace Corps countries. It's no wonder. Salvos are great and we are only a skip and jump away from gringo time when we need it. And even with all that... it still gets hard.
Many say that Peace Corps is full of really high highs and really low lows. The longer I am here the more I experience the truth in that statement. So I've been feeling a little low lately... but I know that's just part of the journey. I'm looking forward to getting back to my site and seeing my friends there... and I know it won't be long before I'm up again.
I had a nice transition back to my site though. We went to our regional meeting yesterday and stayed the night in these very rustic cabins. It was good that I had to go there first after being spoiled in the capital. GOing there before going back to my site I really think is going to help me appreciate my little house. It's nicer than where we were last night. Sleeping on the floor on little pads... with tons of bugs all around. I hate sleeping without a mosquito net. I saw big spiders in there. And I was afraid they would crawl on me while I was sleeping. So I slept with the blanket over my head. Which is good for the feeling of protection, but kind of hot and suffocating at the same time. Me and Jamie were in there alone... scaring ourselves talking about the ghosts we had heard that are around there earlier that night. Apparently the place was on the land where a huge massacre had been during the war. Great. We felt like little girls again, like it was a first night at summer camp and we wanted to call our mom and dad to come pick us up. But we just told ourself to try to sleep, it would all be over in the morning. And we lived!!! It was fine :) lol.
And now, I need to get going. It's back to my site for a few days and then back to the capital for thanksgiving. So another few nights at a comfy house with good american food is really just less than a week away. It's nice to have things to look forward to. Even if it's just having pupusas for dinner.
Paz y Amor.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Bad Luck Buses
11-11-10
Almost halfway done with PST2. This week has been a lot of sitting in plastic chairs and learning about everything technical... from teaching english, to starting youth groups, to grant writing, to learning how to make flowers out of two liter coke bottles. It’s been a lot. I’m enjoying most of it and it feels good to get stuff I can really use in my site. A little over whelming at the same time. At the end of every session I feel like- I want to do that! And obviously I can’t do everything. Baby steps.
It has been an interesting week. Monday morning the bus broke down on our morning to commute to San Vi, so my friend and I footed it into the pueblo. It really wasn’t that bad. Not too far. A beautiful morning. I just hope that the bus never breaks down at a more inconvenient time or location. We had another bad luck moment with the bus yesterday evening when we were returning to our community. We were at the training center taking self-defense classes for the last hour of the day and caught the last bus home to our training communities. The traffic was backed up before we could cross the San Vi bridge... so by the time we got closer to home it was dark already. We were on the bus and the cobrador shouted out the name for our stop. As we got off we noticed that we were getting off in a spot that was different than usual because there was a curb and grass we were stepping on. But we just figured that the bus didnt pull up far enough to the open area... and we were too busy trying not to fall as we got off... So by the time we were grounded and looked around to realize we were not at the right place the bus had already taken off. Uh oh. But man, the guy on the bus said it was our stop! Lesson learned: look around carefully before you step off the bus. So it was a little after 6:30 and we had to walk about 3/4 of a mile on the side of the road in the dark to get home. We were a little scared yea. I said Good thing we just had those self defense classes. All we got were some cat calls from men in the cars passing by. Thank goodness I was not alone... that would have really been scary. We got home fine and safe. Relieved. And tonight we made sure to not make the same mistake again. Sorry if reading this freaks any of you out or makes you worry about my safety. You don't have to worry! I take good care of myself down here, k.
I learned something interesting today about how the private Universities here decide what tuition rates should be for each individual student. They do an estudio socioeconomico and come to your house to see how many TVs you have, how many cars you have and how nice your house is. If you have a lot of expensive stuff and it looks like you are rich, they give you a higher tuition rate. If you appear to live poor, you get a lower tuition. And they never notify you to let you know when they are coming. They just show up at your house, so that it’s harder for you to lie about it. If they find out that you lied about how much money you have to try to get a better rate, they will automatically give you the highest. Does that sound as messed up to you as it does to me?
Just a few other things- When writing a resume in El Salvador you have to put your age, marital status and PICTURE! That’s wrong... With as little opportunity as there is in this country, it’s not even equal opportunity. You have to know someone.
Almost halfway done with PST2. This week has been a lot of sitting in plastic chairs and learning about everything technical... from teaching english, to starting youth groups, to grant writing, to learning how to make flowers out of two liter coke bottles. It’s been a lot. I’m enjoying most of it and it feels good to get stuff I can really use in my site. A little over whelming at the same time. At the end of every session I feel like- I want to do that! And obviously I can’t do everything. Baby steps.
It has been an interesting week. Monday morning the bus broke down on our morning to commute to San Vi, so my friend and I footed it into the pueblo. It really wasn’t that bad. Not too far. A beautiful morning. I just hope that the bus never breaks down at a more inconvenient time or location. We had another bad luck moment with the bus yesterday evening when we were returning to our community. We were at the training center taking self-defense classes for the last hour of the day and caught the last bus home to our training communities. The traffic was backed up before we could cross the San Vi bridge... so by the time we got closer to home it was dark already. We were on the bus and the cobrador shouted out the name for our stop. As we got off we noticed that we were getting off in a spot that was different than usual because there was a curb and grass we were stepping on. But we just figured that the bus didnt pull up far enough to the open area... and we were too busy trying not to fall as we got off... So by the time we were grounded and looked around to realize we were not at the right place the bus had already taken off. Uh oh. But man, the guy on the bus said it was our stop! Lesson learned: look around carefully before you step off the bus. So it was a little after 6:30 and we had to walk about 3/4 of a mile on the side of the road in the dark to get home. We were a little scared yea. I said Good thing we just had those self defense classes. All we got were some cat calls from men in the cars passing by. Thank goodness I was not alone... that would have really been scary. We got home fine and safe. Relieved. And tonight we made sure to not make the same mistake again. Sorry if reading this freaks any of you out or makes you worry about my safety. You don't have to worry! I take good care of myself down here, k.
I learned something interesting today about how the private Universities here decide what tuition rates should be for each individual student. They do an estudio socioeconomico and come to your house to see how many TVs you have, how many cars you have and how nice your house is. If you have a lot of expensive stuff and it looks like you are rich, they give you a higher tuition rate. If you appear to live poor, you get a lower tuition. And they never notify you to let you know when they are coming. They just show up at your house, so that it’s harder for you to lie about it. If they find out that you lied about how much money you have to try to get a better rate, they will automatically give you the highest. Does that sound as messed up to you as it does to me?
Just a few other things- When writing a resume in El Salvador you have to put your age, marital status and PICTURE! That’s wrong... With as little opportunity as there is in this country, it’s not even equal opportunity. You have to know someone.
Monday, November 8, 2010
In the Name of Ray Bans & Reggae
I have the gripe. Essentially it’s a cold. I got it when the weather down here got all whacky and all of sudden got cold. I have gone days without sweating. It’s a miracle. It’s only 71 degrees but I’m freezing. It feels like what 55 felt like to me in Houston I think. It set in on Friday... but it didn’t stop me from going to Santa Ana for the PC soccer game with the other gringos this weekend. It was a blast... so much fun I forgot I even had a cold.
To get there we had to take a bus to San Sal first... on the bus I had some old doctor man from san vicente standing next to me in the aisle the whole time talking to me really really loud. I was not at all interested in talking to him. I would ignore him and he just kept coming up with more stuff to talk about. He was nice enough though... And if I ever break a bone and need to go to the hospital there I am sure he will take good care of me. So we got to the terminal in San Sal, where we found excellent Ray Ban knock offs for just $2 and ate lunch in the nastiest looking pupuseria. I’m surprised I can eat food from a place like that and not get food poisoning. I probably will jinx myself for saying it, but... I feel pretty invinsible. That I haven’t gotten sick with amoebas after all this time. My group members are dropping like flies. But I’m still going strong. Maybe it’s all the hot sauce I put on my food. Enough hot sauce, and the amoebas cant live. That’s my theory. And I’m stickin to it. Let’s just hope I’m not speakin to soon here. Although I do have gripe... so I’m not quite that invinsible am I.
Santa Ana is the department in the West that borders Guatemala. It’s really nice out there. Beautiful- just a different feel. They get a lot more tourists out there for that reason too. No wonder. The city of Santa Ana is beautiful and clean with a nice park that has a gorgeous big white church unlike any I have seen. The city was also more alive than here where I live. We went for dinner in the park at a Mexican restaurant. The park was full of street vendors and live music. I bought a really cool handmade bracelet from a dreadlock salvo man who was making his jewelry right there on the street. We went to a really awesome reggae cafe later and jammed to good ol’ bob marley and beanie man. I forgot I was in El Salvador while I was there. Until we got ready to leave and piled into the back of a pickup truck. We stayed at great little hostel called The Casa Verde that we had all to ourselves and had a cool rooftop hangout with a gorgeous view of the city and the mountains. It was painted in bright colors, impeccably clean, and had hot showers too. I was in heaven when I took that shower in the morning. I stayed in it so long, blissfully, that everyone was downstairs waiting and ready to go as 7 am came and we needed to catch the bus. I just didnt want to get out. I had to hurry myself up and ended up running to catch the bus with my towel still on my head!
We took the bus from Santa Ana to Chalchuapa and once we got to the terminal there we ate pupusas for breakfast. Then later we got to the place where the soccer game was, the beautiful site of another volunteer. It was the first soccer field I have seen that wasn’t covered in dirt, rocks and cow poo. It had grass. Fancy! I was just planning on laying there in the grass the whole time. The weather could not have been more perfect. Sunny and breezy and not hot. I wasn’t feeling so hot after the long night we had, so I was really content with just laying in the grass. But then, the girls team was short one player. I was the only one that had a uniform. I said no. They begged. And so I took one for the team. The great thing about soccer is that you can just stand there and be a warm body on the field if you want. That’s basically what I was. I have no clue how to play that game. Lilah tried to pass me the ball once and I literally said “Oh my god” and just jumped over it. Haha. After that they switched me out with the goalie and I got to just stand in the little box for the rest of the game. Which worked out great... the other team didn’t ever come and make any shots at me. And it was in the shade. So it worked out perfectly... Made it on the team and through the game without even breaking a sweat. Maybe I’ll play next time. I can see how soccer could be fun. I should learn how to kick the ball though huh.
So now I am back in training community #2. Completed my first full day of PST2. Most of it was like a therapy session... we all sat around talking about our experiences in our sites. It was nice. Then this afternoon we learned how to make shampoo. It’s something I might want to do with my women’s group in my site. We might even be able to sell it and have a little micro business. Could be cool.
Tonight I let my host family try my Internet USB stickon their computer. They have a laptop that they barely know how to use. They bought it for their kids educational purposes. One kid is taking computer classes in the city. They were super excited to have internet on their computer. Of course they didn’t really know how it worked. So i introduced them to google. That’s really all you need to know when it comes to the internet anyway. There you can find anything. Well I guess I could teach them how to set up email or facebook too. It was fun teaching them. They sat there for hours, just like good ol’ americans, just looking shit up on the internet. Haha. They can’t wait to get their own magic stick.
So it feels good to be back in training, for now at least, and to know that I will get home to my site in a few weeks with the tools to get started on some projects. I also look forward to the weekend... when I will be going to hang out at the Sheraton at the pool and use the sauna and jacuzzi. Yea let me just say, this ain’t my grandmother’s peace corps down here. I’ve got it good. Gracias a Dios.
Buenas Noches. Paz y Amor!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Back to the Beginning
Well here i am tonight... back in the place where my El Salvador adventures began. My first training community. It feels good to be back, and being here makes me think about things. The person that rode into town this morning on the pickup is a very different person than the one that came here for the first time back in July. I have come a long way. I'm getting ready to go to bed... and I remember when I got into this bed to go to sleep my first nights here. And how scared I was. I was nervous falling asleep in this country. All that was unknown to me. I wasn't sure I felt safe. Now I feel so comfortable here... it feels like a second home. And I am so proud that I am back here and I am now able to understand everyone. During training there were certain people that talked with such heavy accents that I couldn't understand anything they said. And now I get it.
I went to the pupuseria tonight with Ceci and Maria... and instead of them making me pupusas, I made pupusas for them! I feel like one of them. And being back in this pueblo- it's funny how much I appreciate the toilet (even though it doesn't flush), having the bathroom in the house with me, and being able to take my bucket bath behind a closed door. Such luxuries. I wont have them for long because I'm moving to my second training community on Saturday, where it's more rural and therefore more like my site. But I will enjoy these things for a few days. What's even better- There should be hot showers in store for me in the near future. We are going to spend a week of our training in a hotel in San Sal. WOO!
I went to the cemetery with Ceci and fam today for the Day of the Dead stuff. It was cool, everybody brings tons of colorful flowers made of paper and plastic and other colorful decorations and they clean of their families tombs and decorate them. They deck them out. The entire cemetery is just popping with color. And we just hung out there, eating and drinking coke, they did a lot of catholic praying. 2 year old Diego came with us. He was climbing all over me like a jungle gym. He has grown a lot in just the 2 months that i have been away. He is talking more... and he remembered me as soon as I walked in the door today. A big "AMY!!!" and ran to me and gave me a hug. I am convinced he is the cutest kid in El Salvador. Sorry Milton.
So tomorrow I will reunite with other gringo friends in San Vi for lunch. It's gonna be fun to share stories about our sites and experiences during this time apart. We have the next 3 weeks to do that during training. So yea... it's nice to have this break. Although it's going to be packed full with work- it still feels like a little vacation.
Before I left my site I went with Don Chepito to buy paint because I have been wanting to paint my house... And he was so kind to bring me and give me several hours of his morning taking me to the paint stores, being so patient. And what did I come back with? A bright bright pink. As soon as we got home I was like Oh no. What was I thinking. I do not want a bright pink house. Oy vey. I need to go exchange it... which I can do if I havent opened it. Thank god. I need to try not to make such impulsive purchases. I am not a bright pink house kinda girl. El Sal's style has thrown me off a little. But I dont know if I even really want to paint my house at all. It's fine the way it is. Again- if it aint broke... don't fix it.
Going to bed! i want to get up and run in the morning... I never ran here in the pueblo before....
Goodnight mundo. Paz y amor!
I went to the pupuseria tonight with Ceci and Maria... and instead of them making me pupusas, I made pupusas for them! I feel like one of them. And being back in this pueblo- it's funny how much I appreciate the toilet (even though it doesn't flush), having the bathroom in the house with me, and being able to take my bucket bath behind a closed door. Such luxuries. I wont have them for long because I'm moving to my second training community on Saturday, where it's more rural and therefore more like my site. But I will enjoy these things for a few days. What's even better- There should be hot showers in store for me in the near future. We are going to spend a week of our training in a hotel in San Sal. WOO!
I went to the cemetery with Ceci and fam today for the Day of the Dead stuff. It was cool, everybody brings tons of colorful flowers made of paper and plastic and other colorful decorations and they clean of their families tombs and decorate them. They deck them out. The entire cemetery is just popping with color. And we just hung out there, eating and drinking coke, they did a lot of catholic praying. 2 year old Diego came with us. He was climbing all over me like a jungle gym. He has grown a lot in just the 2 months that i have been away. He is talking more... and he remembered me as soon as I walked in the door today. A big "AMY!!!" and ran to me and gave me a hug. I am convinced he is the cutest kid in El Salvador. Sorry Milton.
So tomorrow I will reunite with other gringo friends in San Vi for lunch. It's gonna be fun to share stories about our sites and experiences during this time apart. We have the next 3 weeks to do that during training. So yea... it's nice to have this break. Although it's going to be packed full with work- it still feels like a little vacation.
Before I left my site I went with Don Chepito to buy paint because I have been wanting to paint my house... And he was so kind to bring me and give me several hours of his morning taking me to the paint stores, being so patient. And what did I come back with? A bright bright pink. As soon as we got home I was like Oh no. What was I thinking. I do not want a bright pink house. Oy vey. I need to go exchange it... which I can do if I havent opened it. Thank god. I need to try not to make such impulsive purchases. I am not a bright pink house kinda girl. El Sal's style has thrown me off a little. But I dont know if I even really want to paint my house at all. It's fine the way it is. Again- if it aint broke... don't fix it.
Going to bed! i want to get up and run in the morning... I never ran here in the pueblo before....
Goodnight mundo. Paz y amor!
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