Over a year ago, I bought 2 huge barrels of paint for my house. I spent quite a bit of money on doing so... but after buying them I decided I didn't like my colors that I bought. I don't know how, but I left there with 2 colors that absolutely did not go together. A bright pink for the outside. And a baby blue for the inside. What on earth was I thinking? I was hoping to get colors that were soothing and pretty... like a soft green, or a maroon. All of my good taste has gone out the window in El Salvador I suppose. But I think I was just going for something different and more exciting than boring.
So what did I do? I wasn't bold or brave enough to put the bright pink on the outside of my house. I don't know why... El Salvador, unlike the US, is the kind of place where it is perfectly acceptable to have a bright pink house. And the baby blue? Not the tranquil color I ever wanted for the inside. It didnt matter that I had the receipt, returns are not something widely accepted in The Savior, along with customer service. So I was stuck with two big 5-gallon barrels of paint that I never had the intention of using. I ended up giving the pink to my neighbor in exchange for her washing my clothes for free for a few months. That was worth it. But I still have this baby blue.
And my host mom is always saying to me "It's going to go bad, Emi, It's going to go bad." I've never opened it so I'm assuming it's still good, just been sitting there collecting dust. So I was looking at my walls and seeing how dirty they are... these gross dirty vine things grow on them that I scrape off but they leave marks. And they are also covered in the marks of spirders I've squashed over the last year. I don't really have any work to do this week and the thought of not keeping busy is unbearable for me sometimes at this point in my service. So I'm doing it! By the end of today, with the help of Lupita, I will have a baby blue house. Well on the inside at least. It should be a nice way to spend the day.
Things have been a bit weird lately, at this point in my service. I've come so far.... and it still feels like there's a ways to go. 9 months. And with school being out, I am not so busy with projects at the moment. I am working on my project plans for my remaining time. I plan on working on more grants in the coming weeks to be able to get these new projects started. But also, there are the coming changes that are looming over us volunteers in this country. They, Peace Corps, have told us there are going to be changes, like they are no longer sending the new group of volunteers that were supposed to come in January, and actually won't be sending any more volunteers for the whole next year because of increasing security concerns. So PC El Sal has to come up with proposals for Washington on how they will restructure our program for it to be safer for us. Now we just have to wait and see what the changes mean for us. They are supposedly going to completely reorganize our program here, and like our country director said, "It will be a whole new ballgame." Such changes might include greater restrictions on in country travel, keeping us in our regions by having regional offices set up, etc. So, it will be interesting to see what things are in store for us. All of us volunteers have our heads spinning over it. Hopefully they will tell us the outcome soon!
I have a rat problem again. Ugh! They have built nests in the gap between my walls and my roof... they are squeaking a lot at night, and their poo is falling all around my bed that I sweep up everyday. I am not sure how to get up there and kill them. I'm just kind of waiting for them to eat my poison i put out or crawl onto a sticky pad and get stuck. At least I have a mosquito net and the poo isnt falling into my bed!
This is the season for a dirty house. The dry season has arrived. There are millions of tiny leaves that get blown into my house everyday. It's amazing how much they can trash up my house even when my house is closed. So I am spending every day out here sweeping out heaps of dirt dusts and the little leaves.
On a brighter note, my host family installed a shower head in my bathing area! Ok, it may be so low that I have to crouch under it, and it doesnt point in the right direction.... but it's really nice! 1- I can wash everything better and more easily being able to have both hands free, no longer having one occupied by a bucket. 2- I am bathing with cleaner water! Before the water would sit in the pila for days, collecting dirt and the chickens and ducks would sometimes poo in it. Don't have to worry about that anymore!
So Noel's daughter arrived yesterday! I was bummed that I couldn't go with him to pick her up from the airport, but i'll see her next week. I'm taking a few vacation days so that I can hang out with them. He told me that she came off the plane with her face all covered in blush and makeup! LoL, she said she put it on herself during the flight. That reminds me of when I was her age and I would go hang out at my neighbor Nikki's house and I'd come home looking like Frankenstein covered in her play makeup. Little girls are too cute.
I tie dyed shirts with my youth group last week. It was the easiest and most fun activity! They were looking at me like I was crazy when I told them we were going to twist and tie up our shirts, then pour dye on them. But I did mine as an example and when I took off the rubber bands and opened it, then they were "oooh-ing and ahhhhhh-ing" like crazy over the designs. It's always fun to teach them new things like that. They want to make pinatas with me next month. Last time I made pinatas was with the 4th gradres at school, and it didnt turn out so well. They destroyed them all after the first day. I imagine it will go much better this time though, working with older kids. What I really want to do is paint a mural somewhere... I guess it would have to be at the school.
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Ok now it's the next day. Didn't finish my blog yesterday because of all the painting. My house looks awesome! I love it.... it's so much fresher and cleaner looking. Not hardly the dumpy looking little casa I've spent the last year in. I will put up pictures sometime next week. I can't now because my internet's too slow. But what's sad is, my muscles are actually sore from just painting my house yesterday. Ok, there was a lot of heavy lifting involved, moving things around. And getting myself up and down and up and down from a stack of plastic chairs so I could reach up high.
But one thing's for sure... I need to get myself active again! New Year's Resolution? I guess!
I was also pleasantly suprised with the amount of living creatures I found in my home as we moved and cleaned under all the furniture. I only found a handful of quarter sized spiders, two really huge spiders that look like they are crossed with a scorpion, 2 worms, and one big dead scorpion. I thought I was gonna find the rats that have been pooping all over my things... but no, I guess they just live on top of my walls.
Happy Holidays everyone! I love that I am escaping the cold and getting to spend my holidays wearing tanks and flip flops again. I better enjoy, next year when I'm in DC, I won't be as comfortable I imagine.
Paz y Amor to all.
P.S. Something Gross: I was sitting on the latrine in the outhouse last week when I felt something tickling me from underneath. It was very subtle at first... then it was clear there was something there crawling on me... It was a big poopy cockroach. GROSSSSSSS! My friend Hollie tells me that is why she never ever sits down... but I don't get how she does. Sometimes you just have to. TMI? Sorry bout that!
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