So, after returning from San Rafael Cedros on Saturday, we had a tourism event in town on Sunday. It wasn’t quite what I expected….
The event was planned to start at about 10am, so of course nobody started getting ready till about 9:30 – 9:45ish. There was plenty of people selling food, but only one artesian was there selling at a table. I’m not sure if others didn’t want to come or just weren’t invited. There was also one woman selling shots; her table was busy the entire time. The youth group was selling soda, but never really got to sell much. It weather wasn’t warm enough and people were to too busy with the aforementioned beverage lady.
About three buses came full of people, right on time. (That actually surprised me, things here don’t normally occur on time or anywhere near any sort of time) The Mayor greeted everyone and then the Mariachi band started playing. During this time is when people started to look around, buy food and such.
After about a half an hour or so, the buses loaded up to take the people to the waterfalls. Now, to get to the waterfalls you have to use a road that actually goes beneath a river. Not far beneath it, only a few inches, but still. And usually there is a pedestrian bridge. But, at that point in time, the pedestrian bridge (the actually metal part that sits on top of the cement blocks) was being repaired and thus laid on the road. This blocked the road so that the buses couldn’t pass. So, the buses and everyone on them, had to turn around (or back up as it were…the road is small so the buses had to back up a ways to find another road to turn on to). By then it started to rain, so the buses just took the people to the next destination.
But, since the mariachi band was paid to play for two hours, they just continued to play in the park when there was about five people there…it was great. By this time my Mayor had invited me to join him and a few others for lunch. I figured, what the hell! I could go for a free lunch out. When will I realize that things are never going to be the way I picture them to be.
Since the mariachi band still had time left to kill on the contract and had some spare time in the afternoon, the Mayor invited them to join us for lunch. So, we (Heidi, Mayor man, three other guys and I) pilled into a few pick-ups, bought some lunch and beers and made our way out to a canton to some guys house. (I was later to learn that the guy we visited is the ex-husband of Sonia…..he left her for a younger woman. Ass) The mariachi band faithfully followed and serenaded us for at least an hour or two while all the guys proceeded to drink to their hearts content. I didn’t drink to much since A-I was with 6 middle aged men and B- I’m on medication and try not to mix drugs. I usually shifted between going inside and watching the soccer game (Go Real Madrid!) and sitting outside to listen to the mariachis sing. I also just sat there and wondered how I ever get myself into these things.
By about 5:30pm they were all very happy and I was tired. They were talking about politics and other stuff that I didn’t fully understand and couldn’t really comment on. (I try not to talk about local politics as much as possible so nobody can claim I’m on their side) Eventually, when it was getting dark, they decided to go to Sonsonate to continue the party. Heidi and I bailed with the promise to join them some other time.
I then just went and watched Spirit with Iris….I do enjoy a good Disney movie every once and a while.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Las Festivales Patronales de San Rafael Cedros
On Thursday (that’s the 19th of October), I went and visited my old host family in San Rafael Cedros for a few days during their Patron Saint Festivals. This entailed a total of four buses (each way), a day and a half with the fam, and me suppressing my fidgeting…but I did it, and all by myself!
The bus from Sonsonate to San Salvador was a little harsh. My stomach wasn’t feeling well and decided to let me know it….it’s amazing how long you can hold it when the only other option is getting off somewhere unknown by you in El Salvador. It's not like getting on the next bus is always the easiest thing and you never know the local conditions.
After all that fun, I finally landed in San Rafael at about 2pm. Yes, everyone was sooo excited to see me and that was a nice feeling. They fed me ice cream right away and asked what I had been up to for the last two months. My host mom and I then went off to the rodeo…which ended up starting late, so we checked out the local high schools science fair. I swear, they had one of the coolest science fairs cause they could get away with doing stuff that would never be acceptable in the good ol´ US of A. For instance, some students…in order to demonstrate a tornado…lit some paper on fire and them put it into a box that somehow formed a tornado that you could see through the font of the box (front was made of see through plastic). I didn’t see how precisely it worked since I was fixated on the fact that they were burning stuff. Other displays included stuff about English…so of course when all the students in English class saw me they had to practice their English. It was fun and I tried to speak slowly for the students. Though, I think my favourite was the display on alcohol….mostly because I believe they were brewing moonshine right there. It smelt like alcohol and my host mom even downed some. Coolest science fair ever!
Next we watched the parade of horses go by. They originally accompanied the Queen of the Barrio Con-something or other on her parade around the town, but were now on their way to the rodeo. So we followed them over and settled in to watch the fun. It was a good rodeo except for the fact that everything took so long. They started at around 6pm, which is sorta late around here. And it was around 10 -15 minutes between every 6 sec bull ride. But, at least the bulls were actually bulls this time and not just one’s pulled from local barns. The best part of it was in the middle of the program when the mariachi singers came out with some of the horses. Unbeknownst to me, there are actual riders who train show horses here. These horses were doing the different moves like extending their front legs as they trotted or trotting in place. Their best trick was doing the whole Zorro move. That’s right…they went full upright on their hind legs. It was pretty damn cool.
After all that, we went and grabbed dinner (pizza! Bad pizza, but still pizza!). We met up with Rosie and Marleny. This was great; cause out of everyone I missed Rosie the most. We then checked out the next parade with the Queen of the Barrio. They really celebrate their queens here. Before her was a band, fireworks and baton twirlers. And she was crowned by the Mayor in front of Town Hall. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this, but it is my goal to be crowned queen of something down here. It shouldn’t be to hard, they have queens down here for everything. I’m talking queen of the barrio (sorry, barrio is neighbourhood), queen of the police, queen of the casa de cultura, queen of festivals, queen of ….well, you get the point. Any who, we watched her crowning and then went and got changed for the dance. I didn’t get changed because nobody told me there was going to be a dance. So, while I waited for everyone else to get ready, my host mother tried to get me to put on some of her make-up and use lotion and all that jazz. I politely declined. I hate it when she tries to do that, though I know it's part of the culture to always look nice. The dance itself wasn’t to bad…just a little empty. That might be due to the fact that the dj felt the desire to speak during the music every two seconds…I was about ready to kill him. My first dance partner was a guy that accompanied a friend of Rosie. He was drunk and can’t say I enjoyed his company. But eventually he ran off and I danced with a guy I knew from my time during training. He was cool. He use to call me gordita (little fat girl), apparently I’ve lost enough weight to lose the title as well. We left the party around 1:30am. This was fine by me since by this time I was tired.
So, of course, since my stomach doesn’t care when I’m tired, it decided to wake me up at around 4:30am…how nice. During this visit I shared a room with the host mom, so she knew I was getting up. I told her later in the morning it was due to all the greasy food I had the day before and not that I was sick. I then told her I was going to San Vicente to visit a friend there. That was a lie, I went and got diagnosed with another stomach aliment. It was funny, because they gave me pills and for the rest of my time with the host fam I took them secretly so they wouldn’t feel bad that I was sick again. Somehow popping pills secretly was amusing all in itself. I almost didn’t take them because I want my stomach to start building its own defences, but then two things persuaded me to take them. The first being the long bus rides back to my village and the second being that I’ve continued to lose weight. Not that that is a bad thing, but I think it's because my stomach has been trying to fight off infections for two months and isn’t absorbing all the nutrients it should. So, I decided to help it out a little by killing everything in it.
After the morning chillin in San Vicente, it was back to the house. I had a lovely chicken soup for lunch and finally figured out what the yellow balls in the soup were….chicken eggs that hadn’t been hatched yet. And no, I never did or will eat one. I have to draw the line somewhere and that seems like a good place to start. The rest of the day went by pretty lazily. I took a nap in the hammock, read my book, checked out the parade for the queen and king of kindergarten, did some shopping, went to mass and chilled with the host family. I was also nice enough to accompany to little kids (friends of the family) on a ride that went all upside down and everything after the little boy asked to go on. The little girl almost cried during it, so I tried to keep my arm round her…little bit difficult when being flung hither and yon…but I tried. Mostly, we just walked around the festival and checked everything out. That night I slept quite well.
Finally it was Saturday morning and making my escape was a little bit of hell. During all my time so far they repeatedly asked me to stay till Wed or to come back on Monday for the dance. I tried to explain that I had an event on Sunday and thus could not stay and Monday was a work day. Yes, Peace Corps is work and I can’t just run away for a week at a time to go check out festivals. They weren’t pleased with the answer, but they accepted it. I stayed till 10am and then said it was time. They gave me a few presents for my home and a bunch of food to take with me. It was nice of them. Alfonso accompanied me to the bus stop and told me how sad his mother is when I leave. That she cried the last time and all. I felt bad but also a little mad, but more on that later. I then hopped on a bus and made my way home. Have you ever been on a bus so cramped that you knew if it crashed you wouldn’t move an inch? Just wondering. I got back a little later then I wanted but still had time to check in with Iris and get ready for Sunday.
Now back to the host mom…I think I’ve figured out what makes me not want to visit them, it’s the host mom. I always think she is judging me and what I do. If I say I enjoy living on my own and having my own space, she gives me a look of disapproval or of not believing that anyone could be happy living in such a manner. Or that after telling her on Thursday that I hadn’t been to mass in a while, we magically found ourselves at a mass on Friday. She always has some look she is giving me or laughing at something I’m saying or doing. I know she doesn’t mean it that way, but it's annoying. And it's nice that she misses me when I leave, but I only lived there for 10 weeks. It's just weird and uncomfortable sometimes. But such is life and I’m sure I’ll wind up visiting them again in the future.
The bus from Sonsonate to San Salvador was a little harsh. My stomach wasn’t feeling well and decided to let me know it….it’s amazing how long you can hold it when the only other option is getting off somewhere unknown by you in El Salvador. It's not like getting on the next bus is always the easiest thing and you never know the local conditions.
After all that fun, I finally landed in San Rafael at about 2pm. Yes, everyone was sooo excited to see me and that was a nice feeling. They fed me ice cream right away and asked what I had been up to for the last two months. My host mom and I then went off to the rodeo…which ended up starting late, so we checked out the local high schools science fair. I swear, they had one of the coolest science fairs cause they could get away with doing stuff that would never be acceptable in the good ol´ US of A. For instance, some students…in order to demonstrate a tornado…lit some paper on fire and them put it into a box that somehow formed a tornado that you could see through the font of the box (front was made of see through plastic). I didn’t see how precisely it worked since I was fixated on the fact that they were burning stuff. Other displays included stuff about English…so of course when all the students in English class saw me they had to practice their English. It was fun and I tried to speak slowly for the students. Though, I think my favourite was the display on alcohol….mostly because I believe they were brewing moonshine right there. It smelt like alcohol and my host mom even downed some. Coolest science fair ever!
Next we watched the parade of horses go by. They originally accompanied the Queen of the Barrio Con-something or other on her parade around the town, but were now on their way to the rodeo. So we followed them over and settled in to watch the fun. It was a good rodeo except for the fact that everything took so long. They started at around 6pm, which is sorta late around here. And it was around 10 -15 minutes between every 6 sec bull ride. But, at least the bulls were actually bulls this time and not just one’s pulled from local barns. The best part of it was in the middle of the program when the mariachi singers came out with some of the horses. Unbeknownst to me, there are actual riders who train show horses here. These horses were doing the different moves like extending their front legs as they trotted or trotting in place. Their best trick was doing the whole Zorro move. That’s right…they went full upright on their hind legs. It was pretty damn cool.
After all that, we went and grabbed dinner (pizza! Bad pizza, but still pizza!). We met up with Rosie and Marleny. This was great; cause out of everyone I missed Rosie the most. We then checked out the next parade with the Queen of the Barrio. They really celebrate their queens here. Before her was a band, fireworks and baton twirlers. And she was crowned by the Mayor in front of Town Hall. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this, but it is my goal to be crowned queen of something down here. It shouldn’t be to hard, they have queens down here for everything. I’m talking queen of the barrio (sorry, barrio is neighbourhood), queen of the police, queen of the casa de cultura, queen of festivals, queen of ….well, you get the point. Any who, we watched her crowning and then went and got changed for the dance. I didn’t get changed because nobody told me there was going to be a dance. So, while I waited for everyone else to get ready, my host mother tried to get me to put on some of her make-up and use lotion and all that jazz. I politely declined. I hate it when she tries to do that, though I know it's part of the culture to always look nice. The dance itself wasn’t to bad…just a little empty. That might be due to the fact that the dj felt the desire to speak during the music every two seconds…I was about ready to kill him. My first dance partner was a guy that accompanied a friend of Rosie. He was drunk and can’t say I enjoyed his company. But eventually he ran off and I danced with a guy I knew from my time during training. He was cool. He use to call me gordita (little fat girl), apparently I’ve lost enough weight to lose the title as well. We left the party around 1:30am. This was fine by me since by this time I was tired.
So, of course, since my stomach doesn’t care when I’m tired, it decided to wake me up at around 4:30am…how nice. During this visit I shared a room with the host mom, so she knew I was getting up. I told her later in the morning it was due to all the greasy food I had the day before and not that I was sick. I then told her I was going to San Vicente to visit a friend there. That was a lie, I went and got diagnosed with another stomach aliment. It was funny, because they gave me pills and for the rest of my time with the host fam I took them secretly so they wouldn’t feel bad that I was sick again. Somehow popping pills secretly was amusing all in itself. I almost didn’t take them because I want my stomach to start building its own defences, but then two things persuaded me to take them. The first being the long bus rides back to my village and the second being that I’ve continued to lose weight. Not that that is a bad thing, but I think it's because my stomach has been trying to fight off infections for two months and isn’t absorbing all the nutrients it should. So, I decided to help it out a little by killing everything in it.
After the morning chillin in San Vicente, it was back to the house. I had a lovely chicken soup for lunch and finally figured out what the yellow balls in the soup were….chicken eggs that hadn’t been hatched yet. And no, I never did or will eat one. I have to draw the line somewhere and that seems like a good place to start. The rest of the day went by pretty lazily. I took a nap in the hammock, read my book, checked out the parade for the queen and king of kindergarten, did some shopping, went to mass and chilled with the host family. I was also nice enough to accompany to little kids (friends of the family) on a ride that went all upside down and everything after the little boy asked to go on. The little girl almost cried during it, so I tried to keep my arm round her…little bit difficult when being flung hither and yon…but I tried. Mostly, we just walked around the festival and checked everything out. That night I slept quite well.
Finally it was Saturday morning and making my escape was a little bit of hell. During all my time so far they repeatedly asked me to stay till Wed or to come back on Monday for the dance. I tried to explain that I had an event on Sunday and thus could not stay and Monday was a work day. Yes, Peace Corps is work and I can’t just run away for a week at a time to go check out festivals. They weren’t pleased with the answer, but they accepted it. I stayed till 10am and then said it was time. They gave me a few presents for my home and a bunch of food to take with me. It was nice of them. Alfonso accompanied me to the bus stop and told me how sad his mother is when I leave. That she cried the last time and all. I felt bad but also a little mad, but more on that later. I then hopped on a bus and made my way home. Have you ever been on a bus so cramped that you knew if it crashed you wouldn’t move an inch? Just wondering. I got back a little later then I wanted but still had time to check in with Iris and get ready for Sunday.
Now back to the host mom…I think I’ve figured out what makes me not want to visit them, it’s the host mom. I always think she is judging me and what I do. If I say I enjoy living on my own and having my own space, she gives me a look of disapproval or of not believing that anyone could be happy living in such a manner. Or that after telling her on Thursday that I hadn’t been to mass in a while, we magically found ourselves at a mass on Friday. She always has some look she is giving me or laughing at something I’m saying or doing. I know she doesn’t mean it that way, but it's annoying. And it's nice that she misses me when I leave, but I only lived there for 10 weeks. It's just weird and uncomfortable sometimes. But such is life and I’m sure I’ll wind up visiting them again in the future.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Why i don´t write about my week...
I don’t do anything during the week, and I’m pretty serious about that. I do small things, like write people, sit in on meetings, draw calendars, watch soap operas and play softball (when it's not raining). I wanna do more, but I’m just not there yet.
But, my weekends seem to be a little more interesting. I crashed a quince añera this past Saturday. For those who are not aware, instead of a sweet sixteen, they celebrate the 15th birthday. Iris was trying to explain a few of the details to me, but she wound up having to draw it out. Primavera to me means spring, but apparently it also applies to girls participating in the quince añera….hence my great confusion and a drawing. The birthday girl parades to her party and in the hall. Before her walks a little boy and girl of about 4 years of age. Behind her walks 14 girls (primaveras) and 14 boys (their ages vary up to about 18 years of age). They all sit together at a giant table and the party begins. I went with Iris and the family…..we just basically went to have a free dinner. And some left right after having the dinner. I won’t lie…it's pretty much the reason I went. It just got awkward when the birthday girl and her mother were walking around and greeting everyone, thanking them for coming and all, then they stumbled upon me and was like, ´oh, who’s this?´…it was funny. We stayed for a little while after, but left before the cake was served. I was a little sad about that. But not too much, cakes here never taste as good as they look.
Sunday I went and checked out some actual pools with Heidi. We went with her sister, her sister’s boyfriend and another guy. I must admit, I know it's dangerous, but I like riding in the back of pickups. I enjoy the wind and the sky and all that jazz. Any who, the pools were quite large and mostly man made. It seemed like a combo actually. The sides of the pool were made of concrete, but the bottom of it wasn’t. It was also filled with spring water. That means if you stayed still little fish came over and started to nip at your feet or legs. That was a weird sensation and often kept me on the move. It was nice to get out, but a little awkward since I didn’t know the guys and the whole language barrier.
After all that, I went home and treated myself to a nice hot bucket bath. Yes, that means I boiled some water, mixed it with some cold in a giant plastic tub and went for it. It was wonderful. I should do that more often.
But, my weekends seem to be a little more interesting. I crashed a quince añera this past Saturday. For those who are not aware, instead of a sweet sixteen, they celebrate the 15th birthday. Iris was trying to explain a few of the details to me, but she wound up having to draw it out. Primavera to me means spring, but apparently it also applies to girls participating in the quince añera….hence my great confusion and a drawing. The birthday girl parades to her party and in the hall. Before her walks a little boy and girl of about 4 years of age. Behind her walks 14 girls (primaveras) and 14 boys (their ages vary up to about 18 years of age). They all sit together at a giant table and the party begins. I went with Iris and the family…..we just basically went to have a free dinner. And some left right after having the dinner. I won’t lie…it's pretty much the reason I went. It just got awkward when the birthday girl and her mother were walking around and greeting everyone, thanking them for coming and all, then they stumbled upon me and was like, ´oh, who’s this?´…it was funny. We stayed for a little while after, but left before the cake was served. I was a little sad about that. But not too much, cakes here never taste as good as they look.
Sunday I went and checked out some actual pools with Heidi. We went with her sister, her sister’s boyfriend and another guy. I must admit, I know it's dangerous, but I like riding in the back of pickups. I enjoy the wind and the sky and all that jazz. Any who, the pools were quite large and mostly man made. It seemed like a combo actually. The sides of the pool were made of concrete, but the bottom of it wasn’t. It was also filled with spring water. That means if you stayed still little fish came over and started to nip at your feet or legs. That was a weird sensation and often kept me on the move. It was nice to get out, but a little awkward since I didn’t know the guys and the whole language barrier.
After all that, I went home and treated myself to a nice hot bucket bath. Yes, that means I boiled some water, mixed it with some cold in a giant plastic tub and went for it. It was wonderful. I should do that more often.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Un Fin de Semana
So, after my grumpy Friday* I decided to finish cleaning on Saturday morning and then get ready in the afternoon for a baby shower. Of course, there was no water on Saturday morning, so I settled for reading my book in my hammock, making pancakes and listening to my ipod…it was rough. My pancakes need a little work, but I got time to practice and for 3 minutes I was attacked by mosquitoes that then randomly disappeared.
In the afternoon I took a bucket bath (thankfully I still had enough water in my pila to do so) and got ready for the baby shower. (Oddly enough, they say baby shower down here in English, they don’t translate it.) The baby shower turned out to be more fun then I thought it would be. Half the people didn’t show from the office and Jessica (the pregnant one) found out about it (it was suppose to be a surprise), but it was all good. Heidi and I hung out and drank beers/ate cake with everyone else. I was able to follow a few more conversations and learned even my Mayor is worried about the politics and the potential for violence in certain areas…no, not my area. Also, he wants me to help organize a soccer tournament for the guys in the town. If I do it, it's not political so more people will play. I like that he is thinking that way.
After the party I chilled with Iris at the house. We made cookies and watched a movie. I love cookie dough. Though I went to bed early and crashed. It was nice.
Sunday wasn’t bad either. In the morning I went over to San Pedro and waited for Heidi for an hour. She had bus difficulties. Erica (her sister) came along to and we hiked it to the pool. Now, when they say pool down here they mean naturally formed pool and when they say it's close, they mean that it’s at least a half hour walk through a corn field. It was a little small, but it was cold and nice to sit in. I sat there and drank a coke while eating Doritos……and life was good. Afterward, we hiked it back up the cornfield and into the pueblo. Heidi was looking to buy a wardrobe for her house. I finally got home around 2:20pm, changed quickly and hopped onto the next bus to Sonsonate for food shopping.
Why does it always rain when I don’t have an umbrella with me and have to walk a ways. That sucked, but I finally made it to the super market. I found mac and cheese…which made me happy and picked up things to make lunch from. PJ might not agree with me on this, but sometimes you need more then just peanut butter to get by. Of course, while in the supermarket, some guy stared at me and then tried to start up a conversation by talking about how beautiful my eyes are...so spooky. So, I managed to look busy and he left me alone. YEY! I finished buying everything, entered into a Visa competition (I have to collect stickers now in order to win $10,000…it could happen!) and then trudged back out into the rain and back to the bus stop. Who was there? Scary guy with his two kids. Damn. Of course he struck up a conversation and was asking me where I live and yadda yadda. Why is it just because I’m a Gringa people think I want to talk to them and tell them everything that is going on in my life. Or everything in theirs…or that I want to take them to the US when I return. It's irritating. He didn’t turn out to be that bad of a guy…just weird.
When I finally got home, I took a shower and made myself some mac and cheese. That stuff can really make you feel better. I also kept my front door shut so nobody could stare at me. (There is this little girl that will stare at me for like 10 minutes at a time when the back part of my front door is open…it’s freaky.) I then had my phone call with my parents…always a good thing. And I finished the weekend how I started it…reading a book.
In the afternoon I took a bucket bath (thankfully I still had enough water in my pila to do so) and got ready for the baby shower. (Oddly enough, they say baby shower down here in English, they don’t translate it.) The baby shower turned out to be more fun then I thought it would be. Half the people didn’t show from the office and Jessica (the pregnant one) found out about it (it was suppose to be a surprise), but it was all good. Heidi and I hung out and drank beers/ate cake with everyone else. I was able to follow a few more conversations and learned even my Mayor is worried about the politics and the potential for violence in certain areas…no, not my area. Also, he wants me to help organize a soccer tournament for the guys in the town. If I do it, it's not political so more people will play. I like that he is thinking that way.
After the party I chilled with Iris at the house. We made cookies and watched a movie. I love cookie dough. Though I went to bed early and crashed. It was nice.
Sunday wasn’t bad either. In the morning I went over to San Pedro and waited for Heidi for an hour. She had bus difficulties. Erica (her sister) came along to and we hiked it to the pool. Now, when they say pool down here they mean naturally formed pool and when they say it's close, they mean that it’s at least a half hour walk through a corn field. It was a little small, but it was cold and nice to sit in. I sat there and drank a coke while eating Doritos……and life was good. Afterward, we hiked it back up the cornfield and into the pueblo. Heidi was looking to buy a wardrobe for her house. I finally got home around 2:20pm, changed quickly and hopped onto the next bus to Sonsonate for food shopping.
Why does it always rain when I don’t have an umbrella with me and have to walk a ways. That sucked, but I finally made it to the super market. I found mac and cheese…which made me happy and picked up things to make lunch from. PJ might not agree with me on this, but sometimes you need more then just peanut butter to get by. Of course, while in the supermarket, some guy stared at me and then tried to start up a conversation by talking about how beautiful my eyes are...so spooky. So, I managed to look busy and he left me alone. YEY! I finished buying everything, entered into a Visa competition (I have to collect stickers now in order to win $10,000…it could happen!) and then trudged back out into the rain and back to the bus stop. Who was there? Scary guy with his two kids. Damn. Of course he struck up a conversation and was asking me where I live and yadda yadda. Why is it just because I’m a Gringa people think I want to talk to them and tell them everything that is going on in my life. Or everything in theirs…or that I want to take them to the US when I return. It's irritating. He didn’t turn out to be that bad of a guy…just weird.
When I finally got home, I took a shower and made myself some mac and cheese. That stuff can really make you feel better. I also kept my front door shut so nobody could stare at me. (There is this little girl that will stare at me for like 10 minutes at a time when the back part of my front door is open…it’s freaky.) I then had my phone call with my parents…always a good thing. And I finished the weekend how I started it…reading a book.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Fotos!
Alright, here is the next batch of photos! More will come when I get to a speedy computer.
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=973271159386490165/l=210564688/g=11114116/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Enjoy!!
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=973271159386490165/l=210564688/g=11114116/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Enjoy!!
What’s up in the Pueblo
Just a few updates on what’s going on in my neck of the woods.
I recently found out that the old mayor screwed over the town by leaving it $300,000 in debt with nothing to show for it. So, my town now pays about $7,000 monthly in repayment. That doesn’t leave them much money for projects, which is why I think my mayor asked me about finding funds when he first met me. I’m hoping they don’t see me as a way to make up the difference. Cause that would be bad.
The women are slowly thinking about the softball team. I can’t tell how serious they want to be about it. Whether they just want it to be social, whether they want to be competitive or they just like the idea of it. The last time we practiced they decided that Iris and I should be captains, but I think another woman will act as an unofficial captain. She already runs the practices and she knows everyone. Practices are interesting because everyone just stands in the outfield talking, sometimes running, avoiding guys playing soccer, and you also get to learn how to dodge cow pies and the cows that made the pies. It’s all good.
I’m going to start teaching English October 16th. It’s kinda of a scary thought, I have the resources but it's still going to be me in front of a bunch of El Salvadorians trying to teach a language when I’m not even good at their language yet. We’ll see how that goes.
Alright, that’s all for now.
I recently found out that the old mayor screwed over the town by leaving it $300,000 in debt with nothing to show for it. So, my town now pays about $7,000 monthly in repayment. That doesn’t leave them much money for projects, which is why I think my mayor asked me about finding funds when he first met me. I’m hoping they don’t see me as a way to make up the difference. Cause that would be bad.
The women are slowly thinking about the softball team. I can’t tell how serious they want to be about it. Whether they just want it to be social, whether they want to be competitive or they just like the idea of it. The last time we practiced they decided that Iris and I should be captains, but I think another woman will act as an unofficial captain. She already runs the practices and she knows everyone. Practices are interesting because everyone just stands in the outfield talking, sometimes running, avoiding guys playing soccer, and you also get to learn how to dodge cow pies and the cows that made the pies. It’s all good.
I’m going to start teaching English October 16th. It’s kinda of a scary thought, I have the resources but it's still going to be me in front of a bunch of El Salvadorians trying to teach a language when I’m not even good at their language yet. We’ll see how that goes.
Alright, that’s all for now.
Mi Propia Casa
I must say, I always knew at some point in my life I would live on my own, but I didn’t think that it would be in El Salvador. I’ve moved to my own little house not to far from my own place. And I do mean little.
When you walk in there is one room and that’s it. It’s a large enough room that I can set up a bedroom type setting on one side and a desk area on the other and have room to spare. Though, I don’t have a window. I can’t say I like that, but the back of the door opens up so light can come in. It’s hard to explain, but at some point I’ll put up a pic so you get the idea. Then you continue out to the back. I have a small patio where I have already hung up my hammock. On the left I have my refrigerator (expensive little guy) and my stove (Yes, my kitchen is outside…just like camping!). Along the left side wall is the bathroom and shower. The rest of the yard is a little garden that I’ll have to work on at some point. Another nice aspect of the house is that the roof has clay tiles. This keeps it cool during the day…thank God! The only problem worth mentioning is that it doesn’t have good cell phone reception…I’ll just have to wait for the new tower to be built and hope for the best.
Most of my stuff is on lend from my host sister, Iris. I pretty much took whatever wasn’t nailed down. This includes my stove, table, chairs, dresser…..you name it, I stole it. That isn’t to say I didn’t buy my own stuff. I picked up a pretty bad ass toaster oven (what else would I bake cookies in?), a refrigerator ($300 for something that comes to chest height! I’ll sell it in two years to the next unsuspecting volunteer…bwa ha ha ha ha) and all the necessities of setting up a house (desk, dishes, cleaning supplies…etc). I bought a lot of the stuff in the market…that was an adventure. It twists and turns everywhere. If Iris wanted to lose me, she could have in about a second. I got a good deal on some things, but not everything (Mainly dishware, I should have waited and bought it at the super…but I’ll try not to stay bitter for too long). We sent the stuff we bought in the market back with a pickup. It only cost me $.50 and they dropped it off at the old house for us. That was awesome and a little strange. Next we went to the mall. Here I did some food shopping and stuff. When I bought the fridge, my host sister asked if we could hitch a ride back to town with them since they were going to deliver the fridge anyway…they said yes. Which was great, since we threw the rest of my bags into the back of the pickup along with the fridge and my bad ass toaster oven. Saved us time, sweat and money.
I went back and did some more shopping the following two days…it’s just draining. I know how my father feels when he sees money just flying out the front door. And not that I need money...don’t think that. I still have plenty, it’s just wearing spending $400 in a day.
I figure for small stuff I’ll probably use tomato crates...you know…as book shelves and such. Rachael is going to come over and help me get that organized.
It’s weird living on my own. I made my own breakfast for the first time in four months this morning and it felt pretty good. The weird thing is I continue to make warm powder milk with cornflakes…it’s growing on me. Soon I’ll make pancakes with cinnamon or even get a waffle maker. Though, I also found the little mice tracks in my dish soap...ewww. I also have to clean the house out. I have a different definition of clean then others. I’m hoping to keep cucarachas out of the house. But, I’ve also decided that washing my own clothes is overrated, so I’m going to track back to my old place and borrow the washing machine every once and a while. I’ll also head over there to eat and watch tv…it’ll kind of be like I never really left, at least for a while.
The first night was loud…the evangelicals were singing for half the night. I live right by their church. The second night was loud too….but that’s because my neighbor decided to play music at a high level and because there were cats running after mice on the roof. That kinda sucked. But I know I’ll eventually settle down and sleep through it all.
One of the things I’m worried about is being lonely. It’s easy to hide in a house by yourself. I’ll just have to fight my introvert self and get out there. Or bake cookies and have everyone visit me.
Thus ends/begins my house adventure…I´ll keep you update as thing move along.
When you walk in there is one room and that’s it. It’s a large enough room that I can set up a bedroom type setting on one side and a desk area on the other and have room to spare. Though, I don’t have a window. I can’t say I like that, but the back of the door opens up so light can come in. It’s hard to explain, but at some point I’ll put up a pic so you get the idea. Then you continue out to the back. I have a small patio where I have already hung up my hammock. On the left I have my refrigerator (expensive little guy) and my stove (Yes, my kitchen is outside…just like camping!). Along the left side wall is the bathroom and shower. The rest of the yard is a little garden that I’ll have to work on at some point. Another nice aspect of the house is that the roof has clay tiles. This keeps it cool during the day…thank God! The only problem worth mentioning is that it doesn’t have good cell phone reception…I’ll just have to wait for the new tower to be built and hope for the best.
Most of my stuff is on lend from my host sister, Iris. I pretty much took whatever wasn’t nailed down. This includes my stove, table, chairs, dresser…..you name it, I stole it. That isn’t to say I didn’t buy my own stuff. I picked up a pretty bad ass toaster oven (what else would I bake cookies in?), a refrigerator ($300 for something that comes to chest height! I’ll sell it in two years to the next unsuspecting volunteer…bwa ha ha ha ha) and all the necessities of setting up a house (desk, dishes, cleaning supplies…etc). I bought a lot of the stuff in the market…that was an adventure. It twists and turns everywhere. If Iris wanted to lose me, she could have in about a second. I got a good deal on some things, but not everything (Mainly dishware, I should have waited and bought it at the super…but I’ll try not to stay bitter for too long). We sent the stuff we bought in the market back with a pickup. It only cost me $.50 and they dropped it off at the old house for us. That was awesome and a little strange. Next we went to the mall. Here I did some food shopping and stuff. When I bought the fridge, my host sister asked if we could hitch a ride back to town with them since they were going to deliver the fridge anyway…they said yes. Which was great, since we threw the rest of my bags into the back of the pickup along with the fridge and my bad ass toaster oven. Saved us time, sweat and money.
I went back and did some more shopping the following two days…it’s just draining. I know how my father feels when he sees money just flying out the front door. And not that I need money...don’t think that. I still have plenty, it’s just wearing spending $400 in a day.
I figure for small stuff I’ll probably use tomato crates...you know…as book shelves and such. Rachael is going to come over and help me get that organized.
It’s weird living on my own. I made my own breakfast for the first time in four months this morning and it felt pretty good. The weird thing is I continue to make warm powder milk with cornflakes…it’s growing on me. Soon I’ll make pancakes with cinnamon or even get a waffle maker. Though, I also found the little mice tracks in my dish soap...ewww. I also have to clean the house out. I have a different definition of clean then others. I’m hoping to keep cucarachas out of the house. But, I’ve also decided that washing my own clothes is overrated, so I’m going to track back to my old place and borrow the washing machine every once and a while. I’ll also head over there to eat and watch tv…it’ll kind of be like I never really left, at least for a while.
The first night was loud…the evangelicals were singing for half the night. I live right by their church. The second night was loud too….but that’s because my neighbor decided to play music at a high level and because there were cats running after mice on the roof. That kinda sucked. But I know I’ll eventually settle down and sleep through it all.
One of the things I’m worried about is being lonely. It’s easy to hide in a house by yourself. I’ll just have to fight my introvert self and get out there. Or bake cookies and have everyone visit me.
Thus ends/begins my house adventure…I´ll keep you update as thing move along.
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