One more entry for the year

Alright, I figured I would write one more entry before the holidays.

This week went incredibly slow...incredibly. Probably cause I´ve been counting the days...but that is besides the point.

Yesterday we had our office party. I´m not sure what type of meat i ate, they weren´t sure either. Then they figured it out and told me, but I still have no idea what I ate, but it was good. All the employees got different gift baskets donated from buisness the alcaldia works with. I was excited to get a new guacal (kinda like a big plastic bowl that you use for everything down here) and some free food. I´m all about the free food. Otherwise, everyone just kinda chilled and chatted. After the giveaways, a bunch of people made a break for it. I stayed. It´s fun seeing the office crew get a little hammered and then start to dance. I got back home around 5:30ish.

That brings me to today. I´m packing up everything. Iris helped me wrap your gift Aunt Ann....unfortuanly the word gaudy hasn´t entered into their vocabulary. Man is it ugly. I´m hoping they force me to open it in costums.

Otherwise, for your information, I´ll be spending Christmas Eve at Iris´s house opening preseants, drinking and eating (but not turkey...she sold the Christmas turkey). I´ll then spend Christmas Day at the beach...it´s tradition down here. Get some last minute color before shipping out.

Well...Love you all and have a wonderful Christmas!

Love

Your favorite Peace Corps Volunteer

I did it all by myself!

Hmm….where should I begin? Let’s go with Sunday. We had our second tourism event, but it was a little bit of a bust. Only one bus showed up from Sonsonate, but another bus, one from San Salvador randomly showed up…it was kinda weird. Anyhow, I volunteered along with Jessica (another muchacha in the town) to escort our visitors to the waterfalls. Unfortunately, the buses could only take us about half way. A – because they can’t make it underneath one of the water pipes and B – there is no where for them to turn around once they get there. The road is just to narrow. So, we hiked it for about a half hour to get there. I got stuck talking to a nice guy who found out I don´t like it when people use my name as a catcall. So, first I had to listen to how it was a compliment and then about how I needed to develop patience. That went over well. Though, a quick side note. Not all catcalls or staring annoys me. At the last birthday party I went to, I was sitting in one chair and a boy in a few over. His parents told him to move down and when I smiled at him this huge grin came across his face. The other funny time was when I was walking to work and some guy was eating breakfast. I said ´buen provecho´ (kinda means enjoy) and he responded with a surprised look to see me there and then mamasota (hottie). Like, that was all that could come to his mind at the sight of me. hehehe

After all the fun of the waterfalls, I went to the soccer tournament. Two fights almost broke out, but that was because they were during the later part of the day…..after everyone has been drinking. But overall, it was a nice day.

During the week, el jefe (the boss) came out for a site visit. He was just making sure the house I had chosen was safe and met Peace Corps standards, which it does encase you were wondering. It was really sweet since I got a free lunch out of the deal! $2 I can use for something else. I did offer him some magic bars…but he has some policy against robbing volunteers of food. What a nice guy.

Now, for what I did all by myself….or at least some of it. There is a program call the World Computer Exchange. Basically, companies in the US donate their old computers to this organization. The WCE then cleans them up and ´sells´ them to organizations like ours. The truth is we pay about $70 – the cost of shipping. So, with the help of my counterpart, I organized a meeting with the directors of the schools. Three showed up this past Wednesday and I presented and explained the program all by myself. Score! They all seemed interested and we’re going to meet up in January to fill out the application.

Then on Friday, I had a little arts and crafts time with the kids at the Casa de Cultura (culture house). Myra (Sonia´s daughter) helped me out big time. We made this clay like substance from salt and flour that hardens when left out. So, the kids formed it into whatever shapes they wanted, decorated with markers and then I laced some thread through so they can hang them when they are dry. It was fun and they were asking when the next time we could do it was. I’m not sure, but I’m not opposed. Hell, the entire thing cost me less then $3!

The rest of the weekend was spent getting diagnosed with two stomach ailments...errr... and watching the soccer tournament. The Mayor´s team lost, it was a shocking blow. Alright time to go......6 days till Belgium!

In Service Training

So, after about 3 months in your site, the Peace Corps training facility holds a little get together for the group. This is called in service training. I got to have some more spanish classes...i think this is the first time in my life that I actually looked foward to having spanish class...and more technical training.

I arrived on Tuesday and stayed with my host family on Tuesday and Wednesday night. I don't know what it is, but whenever I step into that community my stomach rumbles. No, i'm not sick....but I think my stomach just has a bad association. It wasn't bad since I was only really there at night after my training sessions. Again my host bro was like...gonna stay for 15 days right? And I was like, I can't even stand staying in the same house as my family for 15 days let alone you guys. But, it was nice to see them and I did get plenty of ice cream. That stuff is good. I did bring them a big piece of pottery meant to hold water. It keeps it cooler then the plastic containers. No, I will not be bringing one of those for christmas so you can all give a sigh of relief. And they treated me very well as always and gave me a Christmas presant as I was heading out. I think they were surprised by how much spanish I was speaking. That was fun.

Thursday I spent in San Vicente in the hotel with the other volunteers. It was just a nice night of chatting and eating the local food. I don't know why I'm so adventurious when eating some of this stuff cause it clearly can and does get me sick, but it can be sooo good. There are these things called pannes (again..misspelled) that are bread...kinda like little loaves, cut open with coleslaw (a form of), chicken, veggies, mayo, some kind of sauce...just good stuff.

The actually training sessions were pretty helpful. As mentioned above, spanish class was a welcomed advantage. My english class students thought it was funny I was going to spanish class. Otherwise, they talked about soliciting funds for projects and the amount of work that is incorporated in that. Others talked about mental health and the stages we go through. I think I'm out of the 'ohh shit' stage and heading into the 'bummed but hopeful' stage. It's really technical. I also got my flu shot...that stuff hurts.

After all that fun, I took a lazy Friday morning and got into San Salvador (the capitol) around lunch time. I then did dress shopping for Aunt Ann's wedding. The best part was that I dragged my friend Carl around with me to do it. The poor guy. If the dress part wasn't bad enough, he also had to hang for me shopping for heels. But, the dress is hot and so are the heels. Now if only I could find the right accessory........

Now, I'm just hanging in the Peace Corps office. I was gonna go tan by the pool, but of course today is the only cloudy day of the week. So, I'll probably just had back to my site early and continue counting the days till family! (18)

I didn´t crash this one

During the week I got to run over to Yuayua for a night to meet up with some other volunteers and Bryan Dwyer (the boss). It is really beautiful up there. Nice, clean and cool (weather wise). It is more of a tourist destination. And the pupusas were phenomenal. I think I’ll take people there if they visit me. It apparently has a food festival in the park every Sunday where you can get a plate full of delicious sea food for $5-6. Anyhow, we just met up to have a small meeting and catch up with everyone. It was nice to hear that others were having the same difficulties as I was. It was also nice that the boss uncorked several bottles of wine. Though, during the middle of the meeting Sonia called me to harass me and to ask me where I was for La Fea (my soap opera…which I am completely hooked on…it’s sooo good right now). It was actually quite funny.

That brings me to Friday and Saturday….both days I spent the majority of my time in my house. Why? My refrigerator. I got a new one!! I went Saturday to the store and sat there till they said the repair guy was coming and he would give me a lift back to my house and take a look at the fridge. He looked at it and was like…want a new one? I said yes. Though, they were a little shady about it. The guys came with the new one but transferred all my shelving and brackets from inside the old fridge to the new fridge and put all the new stuff in my old fridge. I think they are going to repair it and sell it as new. I think I also figured out why my old fridge died. The socket it was plugged into no longer works. I think when the socket died it took the fridge with it in a blaze of glory.

The tournament went smoothly on Sunday. Not much to report in that area, but Sunday night I went to a quince añera.

This was my second quince añera…but this one I was actually invited to. I think they thought that I was gonna crash it anyway so they might as well give me an invitation. Either way, it was nice to get my own little invitation with my name on it. I got her earrings. My box was by far the smallest, but size doesn’t matter…right? I went and ate (love free food) and hung around. During the few minutes the music died, Jenny, David, PJ and Dana gave me a call. (I hope I spelled Dana’s name right). It was really quite miraculous they called when they did. Though after a while I had to hang up since the music was on and in full blast. Of course, two second after I hung up they turned down the music. Figures.

So, that’s about all for now. I’m counting down the days till Aunt Ann’s wedding and seeing family.

From turkey to cows

So, Thanksgiving rolled around and I made my way to Stephen’s site for the festivities. It turned out to be just him, Carl and I celebrating there. We enjoyed chilli with pan frances (white bread) and our drink of choice. I went with wine, Stephen with liquor and Carl with beer. We skipped the whole turkey thing. It turned out to be a quite night, I crashed early…wine does that to me. I shouldn’t say it was too quite, Stephen’s site was starting their patron saint festivities…..they start at 4am with a town wake up call. They blare loud music and walk through the streets announcing the day’s schedule.

After waking up late on Friday, we made our way to a Peace Corps soccer game in Jayaque (that is totally misspelled), Nathan’s site. Only, we got there so late that after an hour and a half, I had to hop back on the bus to get back to my pueblo before the last bus left and it got too dark. Still, it was nice to see other volunteers and talk for at least a little bit. That night I crashed. It fact the power went out and I didn’t know it till the next day when somebody told me.

Saturday I slept late…it was sweet. When I eventually did get up, I managed to clean about half my house. And it was in need of it. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this, but we switched seasons down here. It happened on Monday? They call this summer…even though it’s cooler now….I call it the windy season. (side note: the wind down here is called norte or north since it comes down from the north) The wind started and stayed for three days…it was impressive. I thought the roof was gonna come off my house or at least my patio. Stephen called it the rapture…a tree was snapped in half in his backyard and his turtles have gone missing. Anyhow this relates to cleaning my house in the following – the wind gets so strong that it shakes the house and all the dust that has accumulated on the ceiling/roof comes falling down in chunks and coats everything. It is really quite disgusting. So, one has to clean everything. In the afternoon I went with Lito (husband of Iris) to Iris’s parent’s house. She was already there; she had left earlier…before I was willing to get out of bed. It was a nice afternoon in the countryside. We visited two of her old friends who had just recently had babies. Had lunch (I apparently eat shrimp now) and just relaxed. I also hopped on a horse for two seconds…they were a nice two seconds. That night we went to a vela (when someone dies, the family hosts visitors that night and offers coffee and tamales…a local food. People come to show their respect and many stay till all hours of the morning) of a local whom had just passed away. Actually, there was a rumor that he passed away last week and then it was corrected. So, when they told me he passed away I asked if they were sure, they were. Iris and I just went to drop off some flowers, Sonia stayed till 1 or 2am.

That takes us to Sunday and the soccer tournament. If I accidentally switch from soccer to futbol, please forgive me…it’s just what it is called down here. I got up and went down to the field at 7:30am, the appointed meeting time…so naturally I didn’t meet up with anyone till 8ish….Heidy came down. She and I then walked up with to the Alcaldia to grab stuff for the tournament and ask for other stuff to be brought down. Louise Ernesto arrived and got the sound system. After all this it was 8:30am by the time we got back to the field. The first thing I noticed when we got back was not the people…but the heard of cattle that had come and was now grazing in the middle of the field. I laughed and cursed myself for not bringing my camera. It took about an half an hour to set up the sound system and get everyone ready. During this time both Heidy and I received numerous cat calls…which was a little bit surprising considering the hour and the fact that we were there with Louise Ernesto. The teams present took an oath and then I got the honour of the first kick….kinda like throwing out the first pitch…and I did score. I’m awesome! It was a nice morning of mariachi music, soccer and a nice breeze…with the occasional cow running through the middle of the field. The game was stopped when all the cows ran through the field to get to the other field…guess the grass was greener. He he he. The tournament lasted all day and will continue for the next couple of Sundays. During the middle of it, it was decided that I should go with Don Justo (mayor) to Sonsonate. I was really confused and didn’t really want to go…since usually trips with Don Justo end with me coming home later then I wanted to and/or drinking too much beer. But, finally they got me to go. Once I got in the car Don Justo explained to me why I was sent. Apparently, he promised everyone that he would be back by 1:30pm to watch his team…but nobody believed him. So, they told him to take me because if I was with him he would have to come back. Not quite in my job description, but I got a free lunch out of the deal at Pollo Campero (kinda like KFC)…who am I to complain. That evening I finished cleaning up and went to bed early….I’m still tired.

And, alas, still no luck with getting my fridge fixed. I’ll have to go bitch and complain as best as I can again this week.

And then the President came…..

Over the weekend I managed to find my way to my third jaripeo or rodeo if you will. I think it was by the same company that did the one in San Rafael Cedros. It was actually quite nice….a little warm, but nice. We arrived a little late (we being Don Justo, Sonia and assorted others whom I do not know) (we were late because we went to pick up all the aforementioned others), so we had to sit in the sun the entire time. Yup, I’m a little red. But, on the bright side I got treated to everything...such as food, beer and the rodeo itself. I didn’t actually want beer because of the sun, but once someone knows that you actually drink it, it is impossible to get them to stop buying it for you. I know, it doesn’t sound like a problem…but the beer down here is weak. Sonia also didn’t want to drink, but got suckered into it as well. Thank God she came, or else I wouldn’t have known anyone. Originally Heidy was suppose to come, but she couldn’t make it out. It was all good until the end…as happens so often in life. A guy by the name of Carlos and I had been talking for most of the rodeo and he gave Sonia and I a lift back to the pueblo (Don Justo was going to Sonsonate to hang out more and we weren’t in the mood). During the entire ride back he asked me if he could help me to get to know the country during the weekends. He could take me to the beach, mountains…a hotel….his house. He’s a professional and I’m a professional so obviously everything would be ok. Right….Sonia helped me out at the end by saying that I lived with her and I managed to not give him my cell phone number.

Anyhow, that brings us to Monday and the President (of El Salvador), Tony Saca. The federal government here is instituting a new program call Red Solidaria. It’s a program located in the poorest municipalities of the country (which my municipality is part of) and they give money to poor families based on the number of children they have. In return for the money, the kids must go to school, receive all their vaccinations, and go to the doctors when needed. For example, if they miss school for health reasons they must provide a note from a doctor verifying this. So, in order to initial the program in my municipality…the President came! It was really quite cool. The town was cleaned up and painted (unfortunately, mostly in the colours of ARENA...the political party. They even painted the library their colours!) They helicoptered him to the cancha (soccer field), which was just cleaned, and the drove him over to our little pueblo. PJ, you will be please to know he was driven in a Toyota Land Cruiser. I took a pic. They did all the usual pomp and circumstance…the band played beautifully…..and everyone went through their perspective speeches. During all this, people lined up to receive their first payment. I helped hand out sandwiches and juice. Within an hour the whole shebang was over. It was cool to see….through I am disappointed I didn’t get to take a picture of him up close or with him……but there is always photo shop!! The nice part was after it all, the Alcaldia closed for the day. Nothing like an afternoon nap.