One Year Down... almost!

In just 11 days I will have been in El Salvador for exactly 1 year. How 'bout that? Nearly one down, one to go.

I just got back from a short trip home to Houston. It was so great to get to spend time with the family, and to be in the U.S. for the 4th of July weekend. I didn't go see the fireworks... but I did watch them on TV. I felt like I was gushing with patriotism all weekend. I even got myself some red, white and blue bikinis! lol ;) Wore them all weekend in the pool at mom's and dad's house, eating all of dad's yummy cookin'! It was a great weekend! But as soon as I got back to El Salvador I was back to work, with a water project meeting the next morning. Nothing new is really happening on the progress with that. Now I'm just waiting to hear back from the mayor to see what he says about supporting it. Oy. And I've just been running around ever since I got back... haven't had one single day to just rest. And it doesn't seem like I'll be getting one anytime soon.

July feels crazy. My boss told me I am entering "the most productive part of a PCVs service." Boy is she right. It's so strange too.. because all of a sudden I am busy doing all kinds of things, and just a few months ago I was just barely getting my feet wet. I just kept finding more and more things to take on and now all of a sudden I am like, "Whoa!" trying to keep up with it all. And amidst my projects I've got to go to a Safety and Security conference for a few days next week up in Chalatengo, later in the month I have a regional meeting... I guess it's good to be so busy... Time can just keep flyin!

I'm really excited about one of my newest project ideas- a Vision and Literacy Campaign. I am going to be able to distribute 300 pairs of reading glasses to people in my community. I know of a few ladies that can't read or write. When talking to them they told me they have tried to learn but also part of the problem is their vision is a bit blurry. So hopefully these glasses will help them with that, and then I'm going to spend time with them a few times a week teaching them the alphabet and phonetics. Can you imagine being a grown woman and not being able to read? Getting lost because you can't read signs... Margarita sells Avon products and has her kids fill out her forms for her. She said they have tried to teach her to read time and again but they get so frustrated. That's also because they are kids, they don't really have much of an idea about how to teach someone, you know? Margarita also has one son that is 16 who is a complete invalid.... she says he got really sick when he was 1 year old and got a fever and ever since he hasn't been able to move, walk or talk. He just lays there. He cries when he's hungry and they feed him liquid foods. I wonder what it really was that happened to him. Anyway, I'm gonna try to teach his mom how to read... then she may be able to do more in her work and to take care of herself and her family.

Marinita and Chepito have their son visiting right now with his wife and kids. They just got in the other day. It's been really neat seeing how they react to life here. The parents grew up here, but haven't been back in 20 years. They are more American now than Salvadoran. They were throwing a baseball around outside and all the neighborhood kids came crowding around watching like- "what the heck are they doing throwing that ball with their hands, and those gloves?" They ended up playing soccer after... the only sport Salvos really like to play... and the American son didn't want to play because he hates soccer.

They plugged an electric bug killer into an extension chord and ran it into the latrine to keep the bugs out. Haha... I thought that was funny. I never even noticed the bugs in there that much before. And then they rigged up the hose to hang from the roof over the bathing area so they could have water fall on them frmo above to take a shower, rather than the bucket baths all the salvos do. It was really quite a good idea, and I was like, "why didn't I ever think of that!" but when I tried it myself I didn't really like it. I felt like I was wasting so much more water and it was making the curtain fly open. They were surprised I didn't want to keep it on, that I prefer the pila water in a bucket on my head. Also the kids don't really speak much Spanish. They don't seem to wild about the food. And they freak out just as much as I do when Marinita comes to beat the dogs with a stick. So... it's not just me. Anyway, they're gonna be here for several weeks... and I have someone to speak English to in the campo. I like that sometimes.

Happy July to everyone!

Paz y Amor!