All the fun of home!

I boarded my flight around 4:30pm and settled in for the 5 hour flight. I was seated next to a elder Salvadorian lady. She breached normal flying rules when she didn't move to the empty seat next to her. You know what I mean, I was seated in the aisle and she was in the middle seat - she didn't move to the window seat. Anyway, the flight attendants promptly dispersed the immigration forms and I filled my out. All this while the woman sitting next to me is watching. When I was done, she turned to me and asked me to fill her's out - I thought this sounded shady and asked her to repeat. It then dawned on me - she didn't know how to write. So, I took her passport, visa, address and all and filled out the forms. Don't worry - I did ask her all the questions about livestock and bringing food into the country.

After that we just chit chatted occasionally, though - I think she had trouble understanding me and my accent. All well.

Once we landed, I quickly ran through immigration (which isn't hard to do at 10:30pm) and waited for my luggage....why am i always the last person to get their luggage. But it was all good once I exited and there was PJ waiting for me - what a good brother. He remembered to bring a coat, since it is cold as hell up here, and took me for some late night food.

I stayed with him for the night before flying down to SC. He even gave me a couple of bucks for the trip. I gotta tell you, I nearly passed out when I had to pay over $6 for a muffin and a hot chocolate. It was frightening.

Anyway, I finally got down and, of course, my father was there awaiting me!

Thus, I spent the next few days with parents. Yes, I was horribly spoiled with food and shopping. I won't go in to the debauchery, but i will mention the excess time in hot showers I spent.

On the 23rd of December, we started the long journey up to Connecticut. We went a little further then halfway before stopping at family to spend the night.

Vacation at Last!

The final week leading up to the 19th flew by!

Work wise - I pretty much acted as though I was already on vacation. I did tie up some loose ends though...mainly dealing with the artisans. Andrea Ramos fired her kiln before actually putting any pieces in - it seems to have worked since none of her comales broke. And right before leaving I learned that Maria Irene fired again and nothing broke in her kiln either - so onward and upward with the project!

Personally - I spent a lot of time getting things organized. I was finally brave enough to open my suitcase and clean it out. Proud to state there was nothing living in their.

I also attended a surprise birthday party for the sister of Don Justo (the mayor). Mostly because I'm pretty close to his family...hell...Iris is his daughter- in-law. Well, it was meant to be a surprise party but I ruined that. I went into Sonsonate earlier then everyone else because I had to pick up some medicine (yes, i got sick before going home) and then walked over to a friends house that is right in front of the birthday girls house. Well, she saw me and figured out that gringas don't arrive without reason. I didn't mean to kill it - but I guess that just happens sometimes.

It turned out to be a really nice evening. We participated in the procession that happens every night during Advent. They take a small Jesus statue and bring him to a new house every night. I recognized the tune of most of the songs, i just couldn't sing the words.

Soon enough it was Wednesday and I was off to the airport. I was wise enough to tell Don Justo I needed a ride to the airport at 12, knowing full well that we would never leave at 12. First we had to turn back to get authorization to buy gas, then we had to give a ride to some people down to Don Justo's ranch - I've gotten good at this stuff.

But then I was off!

count down till vacation

Another week flew by and now there is only a week till I’m up visiting in NY – Yey!

I’m spending the time wrapping up lose ends before I go and visiting a few people.

Over the weekend I headed over to Joe and Natalie’s site. They live in a canton by the Santa Anna volcano in the midst of coffee fincas (plantations?). It could best be described as a Christmas weekend. We made ancient gingerbread (meaning the recipe was really old, medieval old), and strung up the Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music. I was originally only going to stay one night, but they slowly convinced me to spend a second. I haven’t been so lazy in quite a while. I think Sunday was truly spent reading, napping and eating – Joe cooks really well.

Monday morning came and I thought I would take the long way back to Sonsonate to stop by Mary Susan’s site and pick up coffee – her site makes great organic coffee. Unfortunately, that morning I received a phone call from my kiln constructor (for my project) saying that the first kiln finished was used and the entire product inside was destroyed. Needless to say, I ran home as quickly as possible.

It proved not to be so disastrous when I arrived. 40 out of 120 comales (large, clay plates) were badly cracked, but not utterly destroyed. And all the pieces were located in the same area of the kiln – by the chimney. After talking with a few people, a number of reasons came up.

• The kiln wasn’t completely dried before use, so the humidity affected the pieces.
• The pieces were heated to rapidly.

And the most likely

• The pieces were cooled to rapidly. Upon speaking to a great guy named Larry who specializes in ovens, I learned that if the wood burning chamber wasn’t closed up after use, the chimney would act in reverse and suck cool air down.

Now, out of precaution, I’ve stopped new construction until the artisan fires again. I’m thinking it was just a flook. Nevertheless, I held a meeting with all the artisans to explain the situation and lay out how we were going to precede – an effort to stop any gossip that may spread.

And don’t worry about the artisan that lost 40 comales – I paid her for them.

Other then that, not much going on. I’m just starting to pick up gifts for people and will soon tackle opening my suitcase – a scary step since one never knows what bug has moved in.

Three am wake-up call

Later that same week, I believe the 29th of November I believe, my artisans were invited to go sell at the embassy themselves. I, being the strategic volunteer that I am...alright, maybe it was another volunteer’s idea, anyway - i managed to store the stuff at the embassy so I wouldn’t have to bring it all back. This time around, though, the artisans wanted to be there at 6am, meaning we left at 4amish. It was really harsh getting up at 3:30am....but I managed. The pick-up ride out there was cold - I have no idea what I’m going to do in cold of NY.

Anyway, the sale went ok. I don’t think they sold as much as they wanted to, but enough. I also picked up a few things including a piece of black pottery. It is a type of pottery that is sold on the other side of the country. My artisans called me a traitor...what can i say.

That night was spent celebrating the swearing-in of new volunteers. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much...probably cause I was exhausted. I stumbled into bed at 4:30am on Friday and slept quite nicely.

Saturday I somehow got suckered into climbing two volcanoes...that’s right, two. Iris, Irwin,Victoria and I braved it and succeeded! The trail begins at the top of one volcano (you take a bus/car to get up there) called Cerro Verde. You walk down that volcano, then walk up Izalco, down Izalco and up Cerro Verde. It takes a little over 4 hours in total and I am still hurting. The best part was definitely coming back down Izalco. The volcano only stopped erupting in the ´60s and thus is just made of ash, rock and pumice. It´s still hot in the center, some of the rocks are warm and when the rain water enters, it comes back out a vapor. To come down Izalco, you start a mini avalanche beneath your feet and walk on top of it - really cool. It can best be compared to skiing. The worst part was coming back up Cerro Verde - 1,300 stairs. Ouch!

Sunday was recovery time and checking out the soccer tournament. I won’t say much about it, but that the ref left there running.

And that brings us to this week....nothin going on. I believe this is where I start my count down till visiting home in NY - 15 days!

Thanksgiving!

Turkey Week!

This week was a pretty full week as well.

Monday I spent doing a dental presentation in the morning and handing out toothbrushes (thanks Dr. Levy!). The afternoon was just arranging for the last bit of transport for the materials. I can’t wait for the guy to start work so that it is less of my responsibility. Ohh…I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but if you would like to check out the progress of the project:

http://artisansofsddg.blogspot.com

Enjoy.

I´m not exactly sure what happened to Tuesday and Wednesday – I do remember baking brownies, but that brings us to Turkey Day!

I spent Thanksgiving in the home of a couple from Texas. They’re in town working with an NGO called Samaritans Purse. Along with myself, was another volunteer (Carl), a Salvadorian and an Argentinean. It was a nice evening of good home cooked food and good conversation. I also didn’t mind chillin and watching TV in the evening – I hadn’t seen CSI in ages!

Friday saw me running back to my community to get things organized for Monday. On Monday I went to the embassy to sell artisan goods with other volunteers. So, over the weekend I was receiving artisan goods in my house and making rather large signs.

One of the NGO´s that my pottery people work with heard I was going, so asked me to bring some of their other goods….I definitely got aprovechared (taken advantage of). Thankfully, all the artisans chipped in to pay for the transport and two volunteers met me at the embassy to help. I would’ve been in major trouble if Joe and Natalie hadn’t come along.

To show my undying appreciation, I invited them back to my house for a bbq. They took up my offer and we had a great night of good food and catching up. We even popped open a bottle of wine and read a love letter I had received that day. It was a sweet letter from a guy that I talked to for about 10 minutes in a bus terminal – this is why I don’t talk to boys.

Not much more, only that the photo that was taken of me at the MANA concert actually made it into the magazine…I’m famous!

A surprisingly good week

Alright- so, we’ll take this from Sunday, November 11 - the day my laptop died. As you can imagine, it wasn’t that great of a day. It’s as so the reason I haven’t written in a while – the forlorn hope of getting it fixed quickly.

Anyway, that day was the artisan market – you know, the one we’re trying to get started every weekend. It was also El Salvador’s official ´Dia de la Pupusa´. A pupusa is a type of food – it’s a corn tortilla stuffed with refried beans, cheese and sometimes pork. Long story short – somehow I got stuck watching the town hall as performers used it as a changing area. It was a long afternoon.

I can’t say Monday faired much better. I initially thought someone had stolen my digital camera (turns out someone put it in a ´safe place´) and my laptop still refused to turn on. I have since found out that the power source is fried and am currently awaiting news as to whether it will live or not. I forget what else went down – but none of it was good.

That brings us to Tuesday and the brightening of the week. Tuesday was when I started buying materials for my project. We started later then I had wanted to – but other then that, it went incredibly smoothly. Well…as much as that term can ever really apply to projects in El Salvador….or maybe Peace Corps as a whole.

So, that night, I got home from watching my soap opera with Sonia and started getting ready for bed. As I’m brushing my teeth, I happen to glance over at my birdcage. Now, my birds weren’t in the cage – they were in a different cage that I keep them in overnight. Anyway, chillin in outside cage is a possum. He’s just chillin and eating the leftover food. I decide that this just really isn’t worth it and to go to bed. But, when I get in my house I realized I had left my cell phone over at Sonia’s. So, I headed over there to get it and while I was there told her about the possum in my bird cage. Well, her and her daughter promptly came over to check it out. The possum was still there! Sonia then heads over and closes the bird cage door and sends her daughter to go get her brother. Ricardo, Sonia’s son age 24ish, come over and brings his machete with him…… do I really need to finish the story?

The up side of it is that there is no longer an animal ripping open my trash and using my sink as a bathroom. So, I can’t say I’m that upset at it all.

Wednesday was another smooth delivery day of materials. By this time, I was in a pretty good mood – can’t quite say why.

Thursday was when I actually had time to go into the capital and see about the mostly dead laptop. While I was there, I decided to go to a concert everyone else was in town for - MANA. If you haven’t heard of them, don’t fret – they’re a Spanish rock bad. I found someone to pick me up a ticket and I went to the hostel and laid claim to one of the sofas – they had long since sold out of beds and it only cost me $2! Anyway, that night I went to the concert with a few friends and with those few friends I was able to sneak into the platinum section. How? – I have no idea, but with a $15 ticket I got a $75 view. We even had our photo taken for Blur magazine. It was an amazing concert and I´m pretty thrilled I went.

Friday came around and it was back to my little pueblo. The only other thing that happened was the soccer tournament that started on Sunday.

Just the basics

Alright – maybe the disaster that was going to be my market didn’t materialize. The market was small, but nice. We had vendors come from Sonsonate, along with a few locals. I really think they could get an artisan market going here…they just have to be patient and put in the time. Word doesn’t spread about markets all that quick sometimes.

This week was actually a little full as well.

On Tuesday I had a fuel efficient stove training. It was suppose to be in the communal house – but only two people showed up. That made me panic a little – but then we realized they were both from the same community development group. So, we packed up our things and took the training to them. We got there and about 8 people in total came out. That was awesome! They loved the stove and are thinking about making more to sell. I hope they do – they are a new group and taking on a small project would do them good. I actually hope to work with them on this.

I should explain a little about the community group. Down here, small communities can form in to government recognized groups called ADESCOS. With this legalization – they can approach NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) to solicit projects without the need of the town hall.

Wednesday brought on Halloween aka El Dia de las brujas aka the day of the witches. Everyone likes to go around and say – ‘congratulations on your day!’. Thank God it’s only for one day. I did manage to carve Jack O’ Laterns with Mayra, Iris and Heidy. Now, pumpkins are pretty rare down here….so I went for watermelons! Ohh…except for Iris’s – they have a pumpkin like vegetable down here – only it is green instead of orange. They came out great. Everyone put them in front of their houses with the candles I provided. The kids went running from house to house checking them out…it was pretty funny.

Now we’ll just jump to Friday when I managed to arrange to have a meeting in a place called ‘Mr. Doughnut’. This meeting was with a different community group and an NGO that specializes in fish/shrimp aquaculture. You know – where they breed these things in tanks. Anyway, the NGO said it didn’t start new projects, but worked with those already on the move. That being said, they gave us great advice on how to get started and to whom to turn to.

Besides the success of the meeting – the doughnuts were great. I even remembered to bring some back for others. Damn I’m good.
That brings us to today – Sunday. Not much to talk about. Just that the seasons have changed and we have officially entered into the windy season.

Bien Ocupado

So, I’ve been running a lot and thus haven’t written – I’m still busy, so I’ll have to make this quick.

Last week flew by – mostly cause during the middle of the week we had a little muni reunion. All the municipal development volunteers on the western half of the country got together – you know – for the newbies to get to know the rest of us better.

It was nice to have a night to chitchat with people and get to know who is around me. It was also interesting to hear the newbies talk about what their up to and know that was where I was a year ago – sitting and staring at a spot on a wall in front of me for hours on end.

Though, I didn’t get some news that didn’t sit sooo well. Apparently, Peace Corps is changing the training cycle – meaning the new trainees for municipal development will come in March instead of June. The significance to me? If I want someone to follow up here, I have two options – A) Have a new volunteer in my site while I’m still here for the last two months of my service or B) Have my community wait another year to get a new volunteer. I’ve decided to suck it up and have someone here for the last two months of my service. It’ll be rough on both of us – I’ll have someone trailing me and this person will probably feel like they are my sidekick. But, such is life.

After all the mid-week fun, it was back to my community to continue to work on the farmers market we’re holding on Sunday. This market is turning out trickier then I thought – sometimes I have more help then I thought – but they don’t communicate to me what their doing. Then help I thought I have calls and cancels. So – I hope you all start praying for this thing.

Anyway, that brings me to the weekend. I went to San Rafael Cedros to visit the family I lived with during training. They’re still doing well. I was there for their Patron Saint festivities. Unfortunately – it rained the entire time, so not that many events went off without a hitch.

No matter what – I still never feel completely comfortable there. I still feel judged sometimes. Plus – my stomach never forgets that place, so I always feel ill.

Otherwise, it was just a calm weekend visiting. The only real excitement was when a pair of oxen were spooked and went charging down the street. Behind them ran a small boy screaming, ‘wait!’ – quite entertaining. Why was there a team of oxen? Students from the local school entered into a competition whereas they built a float on an ox drawn cart representing one of the products produced in the country – beans, cotton, indigo...things of that nature. There weren’t that many people there, due to the rain, but it was still nice to see.

Anyway, I got back on Monday and have not been running around again doing the promotion for the market and organizing other things. Driving me nuts!

Ohh…I’m proud to announce that the computer project is finished! On Wednesday, the two school directors, the driver and I made our way out to Santa Tecla and picked up all ten computers. It was a bad day – we were suppose to leave at 7:30 a.m. but didn’t get to go until 9:30ish. I’m just sooo glad it is over.

So, that night I decide to read a book and relax out on my patio. I sat in a chair that is alongside the doorway to enter in my house from the back. I suddenly see something black fly by in my peripheral vision. What was is? A bat. I was like…dammit. So, I ducked while entering the house and turned on the light. When I looked up, there were about 2 or three bats whizzing around the house. Thankfully, the light scares them enough to get them to leave on their own accord.

Alright, time to go! Remember to be wishing me luck on this market – I feel disaster looming.

Pics!

You know the drill:

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=285151192461444954/l=310317254/g=11114116/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Scrub, Scrub, Scrub

The first half of the week was spent....scrubbing! What? computers!

Remember a long time ago when I was talking about some of my schools buying cheap computers? Well, they arrived (the computers) in country and had to be formatted and cleaned. So, I cleaned - with solvents and mineral stuff....I think I may have lowered my level of education from the fumes, but well worth it!

Why? It helped bump my schools up on the waiting list so that, hopefully, they'll receive their computers this week.

What else did I scrub? The house! We've been getting a lot of rain recently - October seems to be the rainiest month - and it's been causing a bunch of mold to grow around my house, mostly on the back patio area. I think the rise in river level has also been encouraging rodents to visit my place at night.

The rain has also been preventing clothes from drying - if this keeps up for too much longer, I'll be short on almost everything very soon.

Other then all that fun, there was the birthday party for Jessica's little girl - Alondra celebrated her first year! It was a cute party, but Iris, Veronica and I just sat on the sidelines. The games were meant for the little ones and I got the distinct impression that a big kid couldn't play.

All well, better luck next time.

Somethings Sweet!

Yes, I may get woken up by a nearby cow having a bad morning, Yes, I’ve yet to identify whether Jorge is a rat or small possum. Yes, if I want a hot shower I have to boil the water. But, I now have wireless internet!

That’s right – this little volunteer is living the sweet life with wireless in the office. Yes, it means I only have access during work time, but nonetheless…badass.

And as if that day (Tuesday) was awesome enough – hamburgers for lunch! The town hall was celebrating a few things and thus I got to eat hamburgers and cake. Sweet.

The only problem that day was the shear amount of people who wanted my attention or assistance. I only wanted to play on the internet, but no…I had to help an English teacher with their English and decorate the stupid conference room for the above mentioned lunch. It was only in the afternoon that I had uninterrupted bliss as I uploaded photos and organized emails.

Yes, I will release more photos very soon.

I was still excited when it was still there on Wed! Though, again, I didn’t have much time to play. Vilma and I went food shopping for the next fundraiser. My little group of artisans decided that making tamales would be their next fundraising adventure.

What is a tamale? It is a type of food made from corn. Not the type of corn you’re thinking, they take the dried cornels and cook them with cal to soften them up. Then they grind them into something that has the consistency of a sticky dough. Anyway, they take this dough and fill it with veggies and chicken bits….all sorts of chicken bits….then they wrap it in a banana leaf and cook it. How? They fill a large pot with the little tamales and then with water, stick it over a fire and wait for about 2 hours. They are not quite my cup of tea…a little too corny.

Any who – I was pretty impressed by my little participants. They worked their butts off for two days. They even organized to make more the following week since we over purchased on some items. I was particularly impressed by one woman who really took the lead, since she was the one with the most tamale experience. I’m hoping they will come together like they did this week.

Side note – for the tamales we bought live chickens I wasn’t as scarred as I though I would be by seeing them killed. And when they are all plucked and everything – they kinda look like the rubber chickens you see in cartoons.

That killed off Thursday and Friday.

Saturday was spent with Iris at her parent’s house. It had been her father’s b-day on Friday so we went out there to make…tamales!

We had to leave at about 5 a.m. to catch a ride – but it was only a partial ride. We still wound up walking over an hour and a half to get to the house. I was thankful that I had packed a second pair of shoes to chill at the house with cause it was a muddy walk out.

The day was a lazy day of resting in the hammock, making tamales and eating wonderful food! Iris’s mom makes a wonderful chicken soup – with fresh chicken and veggies. Our ride back was a little closer, but we still had to track through the mud to get there.

I got home and was exhausted. I finished reading a book, ate dinner and went to bed by 8:30.

The week closed out on Sunday with me cleaning up and relaxing. I also had the joy of the Evangelicals and Baptists competing on the music front – it would be bad but the churches neighbor each other and area a cross the street from me…joy.

‘Cause the municipal council loves me

I managed to get quite a few things approved by the municipal council this past week. They approved starting a recycling program, buying lunch for dentists who were coming, starting a farmers market and buying me paintbrushes. The secretary started half joking about how they only say yes to me and how I was going to bankrupt the town hall. I don’t believe it will be I who bankrupts this town…..

That brings on the rest of the week.

On Monday, the artisans decided to sell tomales (a food made of corn that tastes just like corn) as a fundraiser. There are a few of them that are really putting the effort in and they just happen to drag the rest along – it’s great!

Thursday was the eye campaign and an overall bad day. It started with a NGO trying to drive below a canopy forgetting that they had poles in the back of their pick-up….two holes and a bent pole later – they remembered. The reason this was my problem was due to the fact that the canopies were on lend to me. Thankfully, they had everything fixed on the same day – but you know it is never as good as the originally….you can see where the patches are. Explaining to Ayuda en Accion (the canopies’ owner) what had happed wasn’t exactly a high point.

The eye campaign itself was smaller then I wanted and not the type I wanted. I originally scheduled a larger one – one that would include glasses for distance and more thorough eye exam, but then they scheduled a meeting for that day as well – thus almost canceling it completely. They came and just checked to see if people needed reading glasses.

Later that day, Gustavo called me and told me he had to delay the training on Friday. Now, Friday is when I scheduled to do a fuel-efficient stove training for volunteers. I originally set this date and time with him at the beginning of the month – but apparently he went and scheduled a doctors appointment for that time anyway. This knocked a few people out of the training right off the bat…or so I thought.

Friday comes around and I start running around getting things together for the training. It was complicated by the fact that there was a parade going on….to mark the closing of Civic Month. By 11 am only two people had showed up – but, we started anyway.

The first training was the construction of the known type of fuel-efficient stove, aka the rocket stove. That lasted till 12:30ish – by which time a whole lot more people had showed up for the second training. People who told me the day before they couldn’t make it had their schedules clear and they showed up.

So, we all went to lunch and waited for the guy who was doing the training to show up. Instead of at 1, he showed at 2 – but that wasn’t that bad. We killed the time by checking out my artisan shops and one Jefa (boss) bought a few things…my artisans were pleased.

Anyway, the second stove training was alright. The guy giving it is poor with his communication skills. He was like – so you have the dirt and sawdust, right? – and I went – no, cause you never told me that’s what we needed. He’s done this to me several times, but I think it is due to the fact that he insists on speaking in English, yet doesn’t understand everything I say. That wouldn’t be bad, but he doesn’t tell me when he doesn’t understand, so he just fills in the gaps?

Continuing, the stove is made of compacted dirt, sawdust, water and, if so desired, a little bit of cement. It is formed with the help of a special mold. All the volunteers who saw it were a little skeptical, but we’ll see. I’m going to wait till it is done drying and then put it to the test. But for now – all’s I can say is that it smells pretty badly.

After the training, I was my little cute self and offered a refrijerio (snack) of cupcakes and orange juice before kicking everyone out. Well…all but three – they stayed the night. It was a nice afternoon/evening of making banana muffins, eating cookies, drinking a large bottle of wine and chitchatting. It was with volunteers I know and love – so it was good.

The next morning we slowly got together while a few other volunteers arrived to go on a hike. The slowness consisted of drinking tea while eating banana muffins and pancakes. We eventually got it all together and headed out.

The group decided to hike it out to the far waterfalls. Side note – I have two waterfalls, one that is about a half an hour walk away and the other about a hour and a half walk… depending on how you go.

I didn’t find the path….so we walked up the river and arrived after about a total of 2 hours. It wasn’t a bad walk, we just walked it in the river so it was a little tiring… but well worth it. Since it’s the rainy season, there were actually two large waterfalls flowing instead of one. It’s a little hard to explain, but they are both extremely tall and is only about a 10 min walk between them. Though, one has clean water and the other water is brown as hell.

We set up base camp between them and got the bbq going. We did it old school – set some rocks up to form a small area in which to put the coals. I had brought out two grill tops. We feasted on mesquite chicken, veggie shish kabobs, and potatoes – it was excellent. It would’ve been more excellent had I remembered to bring out stuff to eat on…but that is highly overrated.

On our way back, we actually found the path and made it back to the house in a little over an hour. For anyone who wants to go to the far waterfalls down here and actually use the path….search for the water polls. The path follows the water system down here – makes sense, how else would they have constructed it? So, when it crosses the river, we crossed the river. It was amazing.

We did stop by the other waterfall on the way back – just so they could say they had seen them all.

Some people left straight from the hike, but five decided to stay the night. We didn’t quite drink as much or stay up as late – but it was still a very good evening of good banter and good people.

The next morning, I got up early to go sush my neighbors and the Baptist Church across the street – both like to play really loud music at really early hours. Plus, I know them both so it wasn’t taken as hostile. I then picked up some flour and stared to make bagels. That’s right, I made delicious bagels…they kicked ass. In fact, nobody left until they got to eat some.

I believe it was around 11 a.m. that I was able to reclaim the house – but then the cleaning began. I didn’t even bother to start washing sheets (‘cause there were about 6 pairs that needed cleaning) – I just called my muchacha. That is just way too much for me to even consider washing. I think it will take me at least another few days to get the house back right, but it was all worth it.

Overall, I’m pretty please with how it all went down. And now it is time for me to go crash in my hammock!

Gracias!

Gracias a todos!

I just wanted to drop a note and say thanks to everyone who donated to my little project – it has reached full funding!

Once I get the funds and start work I’ll post some pics!

Thanks again!

Some Independence Festivities and a Good-bye

We have had some amazing storms down here recently- amazing. They just come from nowhere and drop every bit of rain they carry. They cool off the temperatures, they give my turtle a place to swim….they’re great. They even give me a reason to stay home, read a book and drink a cup of tea….wonderful.

Though, I will admit…it probably wasn’t wonderful for the students running the 18 kilometers to bring the Liberty flame to town. I wonder if it went out along the way and they had to reignite it…..hmmm. I guess it would just be mean to send them back to Sonsonate. They made it to town around 7:15ish at night.

The next day was the big parade and I failed miserable at my attempt to avoid it. I got up early to go help decorate the stage – I’m used to place things in high places since I’m one of the tallest girls around. (I hate that ‘cause I look like a giant in most photos). Four bands were participating and they all marched into town – that’s when Don Justo dragged me up to the table of honor. They have so many things saluting the flag – the national anthem (which is incredibly long), the pledge, a few poems – I don’t know, a lot. It was excersise standing and sitting, standing and sitting…..

Anyway, then there was the parade I marched in front of and that Don Justo mysteriously got out of marching in. Something about his recent eye surgery and not being able to stay in the sun – what a cop out.

That afternoon, we raffeled off the blender for the artisans. I sold about 9 lists for them – I shook everyone down. My boss, the mayor, the drunkards, myself…everyone. But, they raised a good amount of money to help pay for the labor needed for their ovens. I went to the Health Center to have them pull the numbers so that no one could say it was wrongly done. The first numbers they pulled gave the blender to my boss – but, I decided that the community at large wouldn’t appreciate that and nor did my boss actually want he blender…so I re-raffeled it on the spot. Yes, I told him and I even tried to call him. But – such is life. The blender then went to a little old lady in the community who loves it. YEY!

I’m not sure what our next fundraiser will be – maybe selling flowers or food for the next event.

I was exhauseted by the end of the day – running around in the sun will do that to ya. Sunday was a much more relaxed day of doing some cleaning, cooking and napping. I won’t say what I did the most of…but come on.

Monday I headed into the San Sal for a good-bye lunch for a good friend – Allison. Getting there was harder then I thought – who knew there was a rush hour at the bus terminal…not me. Anyway, she has just finished three years of service and is heading home. During the last year, she has been working in the office as support to volunteers in the field – and she’s helped me out a whole bunch. So, attending a lunch and bringing a small gift was the least I could do. Yes, I gave her pottery. I’ll miss you Allison!

After the lunch – I had the longest trip home ever. There was sooo much traffic. I think I crashed early just because of it.

And well, that brings me to today – Tuesday. I’m working on a few things but do have time to go post this.

Later!

Back into the wild blue yonder!

So, it is always a ruff return to work after seeing family. Especially since I had to return directly to my site after dropping them off the airport. Hurricane Felix threatened to come by (don’t worry, I only got about an hour or two of heavy rain fall), so Peace Corps locked us down in our sites and didn’t want me to spend the night in the capital.

Though, the return was made a little easier with the arrival of a package from my wonderful sister and Nora – the foreign exchange student my family scarred so long ago!
Both packages were filled with lots of good stuff – Maryann always knows what to send, but is insisting I share the chocolate…I think that’s wrong, and Nora sent some shirts from a small business she’s startin out.

I am personally thrilled with my shirts.

Any who, onward to what has going on down here.

I was sitting in on a meeting between my artisans and an NGO called ADEL that is working with them also. For the longest time ADEL has been talking about bringing the some pottery wheels and a communal oven or two – I’m talking about months. On Thursday, my artisans turned to ADEL and told them they were rethinking the pottery wheels and ovens – but could they ask for something else. I know this sounds wrong – but it felt good to see someone else getting screwed around with. He he he he he.

Other then that, it’s been working on starting an environmental thing. The town hall still isn’t sure if they want to solicit funds from an NGO (or that I would solicit) or if they think they can do it all by themselves. I’m going to write a work plan that includes community participation (cleanup campaigns, reforestation, and the like), education and recycling. I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going.

I also got to talk to Mario – a lead guy at the local branch of Ayuda en Accion (help in action – an NGO from Spain, I believe). He’s a great guy and easy to get along with. Last Friday I spent about an hour in his office chit chattin about what he wanted to do in the community and what I was up to and how he could help. He says he can help me out with everything – and I believe him.

Here is where the weekend was – but, I didn’t do anything and so is not worthy of much more then a line.

Another little surprise came when talking with one of the teachers from the local school. I got there so we can practice his English. He started talking about the civil war – he grew up in this little town and remembers when the war started. His mother had left around 5 am to go mill the corn and came back quickly because there were soldiers everywhere and they warned her that a fire fight was going to break out – and it did, about an hour later. Apparently, guerillas use to train here by the waterfalls and in one of the cantons. It didn’t receive the most action, but it wasn’t as peaceful as I initially thought.

Also in respect to the town – September celebrates El Salvador’s independence! I, personally, think they should rename the month to reflect the shear number of parades they have. They have at least 4 or 5! It’s insanity. Anyway, this month usually means me blowing up a lot of balloons…and I have. I think I have almost passed out at times – but darn those arches look good.

Maybe I should actually explain some of the events. The first parade is to inaugurate the month and the civic week. The second parade involves only the kinder gardeners marching around town. The third…I guess isn’t quite a parade….is when students run from Sonsonate to the pueblo to bring a torch – the independence flame? They then run around town before presenting it to the Mayor in the town park. The fourth parade takes place on Independence Day (the 15th). And the final act is at the end of the month – a band competition and a closing ceremony. In all the parades – the baton dancers go in front and then the band follows. Occasionally, they have native dancing and once I saw cheerleading outfits. So far, I have managed to escape having to sit at the table of honor or march in the parade…..I’m not sure how long my luck will last.

That’s about all I’ve got for now…Salud!

The Great Parent Visit

So, being the nervous person that I am – I believe I arrived at the airport before my parent’s flight ever-left Miami…but that is to be expected.

They walked through those airport doors, with a look of bewilderment, and I screamed out their names and it was a joyous reunion. You could almost hear the band in the background. Hugs and kisses were given all around before heading over to the car rental agency – Avis.

They found our reservation and gave us a ride to the hotel in which they are stationed. This brings about our first little snafu. The girl who dropped us off – left with all our baggage still in the trunk…thankfully she returned quickly once called upon. The rental took a little longer then usual due to a hidden fee (evil lying Avis) but we were soon on our way.

Though, it was at the rental agency that I was reminded it was my father’s b-day…my bad. The rental agent started talking about saying happy birthday and I was like….oops. But who could blame me with the excitement of seeing my parents after 8 months?!

Anyway, we were then on our way to the hotel in San Salvador…or at least we thought. We missed a right and somehow were on our way to Sonsonate. We caught it early enough and pulled a U-turn…a very scary u turn. Dad pulled into oncoming traffic without the ability to enter into our proper lane. Dad asked me what we were doing, I said we were about to be hit and better to move to the side street….I believe I heard an up tick in the speed in which mother was playing yatzee.

After all that excitement – we made it to the hotel. I actually wasn’t that bad of a place. We then hit up Tony Roma’s – it’s nice to eat steak that you don’t have to tear in accordance with the grain of the meat. Not that I am complaining. We then just settled in for the night and I took and extremely long hot shower.

In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast and then made our way out to Suchitoto. It was a beautiful drive – well, at least after we had excited the main city. Suchitoto is a colonial town that is located next to a man made lake. The lake was formed by the construction of a dam. When we arrived, we found the tourist office and two Peace Corps volunteers – they are a married couple that had just been assigned there. They offered their suggestions and then we were on our way.

The hotel we stayed at was incredible! It definitely was decorated in a colonial feel and was owned by a lovely French family. The food was amazing – even when I accidentally got it with strawberries.

Now about the town – as mentioned, it is a beautiful town that is nestled in the greener area of the country. We enjoyed walking around and seeing the colonial church. The church is in need of restoration – but it is absolutely beautiful. You can kinda of see how the church in my community must of looked or felt. It’s a pity that the people accidentally ruined it while trying to improve it. But more about that another day.

We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake – a wonderful view. And then headed out for a tour of the lake and a waterfall with a local gentleman. He picked us up at two and we first headed over to the waterfalls. The falls were formed by lava flows and have a very distinctive look. When the rock breaks, it breaks in log form – so when you look at the falls they look like logs stacked. Very fascinating. Around the falls was also an overlook at the lake. It had old tables from when there was a small business there. Unfortunately, the business didn’t survive the civil war.

Next up was the ride on the lake. It was a private ride and just a little bit wet – we just beat out the rain. On the trip out, our guide explained how underneath the lake was a small village and hacienda. People had actually refused to leave and drowned. He also told how the Salvadorian president received airplanes from the US during the civil war – he decided to show off these planes above the lake. The only problem was was that Suchitoto was a gorilla strong hold – so 6 of those brand new planes were shot down into that lake. I sometimes find it amazing that more Salvadorians don’t hold a grudge about US involvement in the civil war.

Anyway, after the fun of the day – we just chilled in the hotel, swam and enjoyed an amazing dinner…I miss ravioli. I also recall watching a bad movie – whatever.

The next day we were off to La Palma. The receptionist at the hotel suggested we take the ferry over the lake – the trip would be quicker and nicer. We agreed and headed down to the lake and after traveling a sketchy road and waiting a little while, we discovered that the ferry wasn’t running that day. In order to be accurate – mom wanted to call and I just dragged my feet…which was the reason for the delay. We then turned around and managed to find our way to the proper roads (which was always and adventure) and get to La Palma.

La Palma is a small town located up in the mountains. It is know for an art style started by Fernando Llort – it’s a painting style that involves bright colors and images of the countryside and people. Anyway, the entire town is decorated with these sorts of paintings – the pharmacy, family homes and restaurants…which makes finding a store that sells them tricky at first. But never feel – we found the way! After some shopping, we returned to the hotel where Dad and I hopped onto some horses for a small ride. It was a small ride cause A – my saddle was too small B- those horses had definitely seen better days and C- the horses didn’t have bits – it was just a rope over the nose…not something I like if I want to trot or canter. It’s a shame cause the trails we rode on would have been perfect for such activities. After that we just relaxed in the hotel. I believe we watched a lot of the US open, had dinner and headed to bed.

The next morning…Saturday?...Mom woke up sick – evil stomach sort of sick. After finding out that the docs office wouldn’t be open till 11ish – we thought it best to get on the road and hit up the lab in San Salvador. Yes, I brought my mother to a lab – but I shall leave out the finer details. An hour later we learned that she had amebas. We then headed over to the pharmacy to pick up the proper drugs – no prescription needed. While waiting for the diagnosis we went food shopping (I am FULLY stocked) and had lunch – at least Dad and I did. When we were all done, we continued our drive to Juayua.

Juayua is a small town that is known for its food festivals – they have them every weekend. We stayed in a small hotel where Mom slept the day away. The bright side was she picked the perfect day to get sick – it was just a day we traveled on. That night we hit up a small restaurant for dinner and met some guys who were traveling around the country. I was personally shocked that they chose El Salvador for three weeks of traveling – but why not. They had just come from a celebration in a small town – it celebrates the eruption of a volcano that happened in the 1800’s I believe. And how do they celebrate this – you may be asking. By playing dodgeball where the balls are actually on fire. I’m not kidding. Anyway – it was nice to chitchat and then we were off to watch more of the US open and head to bed.

Sunday we enjoyed the food festival and market. The market up there is a small market – very manageable – and has venders that sell nicer stuff. I can still feel my father cringing. We wandered around the market picking up small things and then headed into the church to see a famous carving of Christ. It is called the ‘Cristo Negro’ or black Christ – carved by a Mr Quirio Catano. We then settle down for a nice lunch before going to our final destination – my place!

A small note – yes we did do a lot of traveling, but you have to remember that El Salvador is a small country and our longest drive was no more then 3.5 hours – and that’s coming from one part of the country to another. The drives also tend to take you through beautiful scenes. So…it’s not that bad.

Anyway, we got to my town Sunday afternoon. Little kids quickly came and stared as we unpacked the car. Now, a church group had come in July and brought luggage too – but that luggage was filled with clothes and toys for them….they were a little disappointed when that didn’t seem to be happening this time around.

After settling down for a little bit – we walked around town a little. I introduced them to Iris and we chit chatted before heading off to see more. I just showed them the general stuff – we didn’t go in anywhere cause it was Sunday and nothing was open. We visited Jessica for a little while and check out two of my artisan shops.

Then it was back to the house to relax before dinner. Dinner was something Iris and Sonia put together for Mom and Dad. They bought the chickens and cooked it all up – I just contributed the cake. It was a small dinner – but it really gave both groups a chance to meet – get to know the other sides of my life. When they found out that it had been Dad’s birthday – we all sang and completed a Salvadorian tradition of smearing the icing on the birthday person’s face. Yes, I do have a picture.

That brings us to Monday. I woke up just fine – but apparently there are a lot of noises that I have learned to block out…like the bus that passes at 4 am or the chickens that wander in front of the house and whine at all hours. Oops. Other then that, Monday morning was lovely – Dad made pancakes and then we waited for the parade. Yup, a parade went past my house on Monday. It was to mark the opening of the month of Independence. I then took them out to meet the people I work with. We went to the church and met up with the gringo priest that was down visiting. A conversation with him is always interesting. And then it was off to the town hall to meet everyone I work with – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Once I had introduced them around there, we hit up lunch at the nice comedor, did some shopping at my artisans place and then chilled in the house waiting for Mayra to come home to go to the waterfalls. Instead of walking out there – we drove. Not just cause we’re lazy – but cause Mom still wasn’t up to full strength and there was the real threat of rain. Of course, my parents loved the falls – who wouldn’t. We didn’t stay to long cause you have to cross a river to get there and everyone was worried the level of the river would rise. I should explain – the road is actually submerged in the river by about 1 – 3 inches. So, when it rises it can be tricky to pass.

Then is was time to go home, take some showers (Dad the cold shower and Mom the hot bucket bath) before meeting my landlord. It stands out in my mind for the following conversation. My landlord turned to me and said, ‘Barbara – I was looking for you the other day to ask if you wanted to borrow these chairs for your parents visit’ I translated this to my mother and she said, ‘that would’ve been great since the chairs in her house are really uncomfortable.’ I panicked for a moment before remembering that my landlord doesn’t speak English and then turned to my mother and said ‘those are his chairs’ and then I turned to my landlord and said ‘my mom thinks the chairs are beautiful’ – nice recovery….I know.

Afterward we headed off to dinner at Pizza Hut (cause that’s fine dinning) and picked up the last few things…like a fan. Apparently Mom and Dad didn’t enjoy the first night without the fan. Anyway, we had a lovely dinner and then brought back pizza for Iris and Sonia. We also gave them their gifts. It was then that Iris said that we should head over to Don Justo’s house and say hi. Don Justo was great and invited us right in. It was interesting to see his reaction – very mayor -esk.

Tuesday came way too quickly. One more shot at Daddy pancakes, a packing up of the car and a tearful goodbye with Iris and Sonia. Iris was nice enough to pick up a little present for my parents – key chains.

Then we were off to the capital. We checked out the Peace Corps office, had a nice little lunch and went to the airport. Again – a tiny snafu with Avis, but then they were on their way. I think saying good-bye is always the hardest part. It didn’t help that I had to get back to my pueblo that afternoon – so I was in a rush. (Peace Corps had us on lock down for the hurricane that was going to hit but never really did).

It was really great to see them and I can’t wait to see them for Christmas. There is nothing like being spoiled like your parents.

Operation Beautification

Operation Beautification

So, I crawled back to my site on Saturday morning and prepared to face the week.

What about Sunday you may ask – that was spent at a rodeo. It was up at San Pedro Puxtla…where my new neighbor is located. So, I went to chill with her. I grabbed a ride with my Mayor (cause there wasn’t a chance in hell he wasn’t going) and had a great time. It’s bad, I know – but I like going there with the Mayor cause he’ll pick up the tab to get in. The rodeo itself was nice and we got there late enough that it ended before I got really tired of being there. Afterward – he treated us to a pizza dinner. Who could resist?! So, I got back to the house a little late – but it was well worth it. It turned out to be a better day then I thought it would.

So, bring on Monday! This is when I started writing the solicitation to another NGO to help us build trashcans in the community. The only problem is that there is a good chance I will be rejected and I have to write the stupid thing in Spanish. Yes – my dictionary skills are improving. I’ll keep you all updated on how that goes.

Tuesday I went back and translated at the eye campaign. I gotta say – it sucked. Usually, when you ask for volunteers to come translate for you for free – there are certain norms. First, you find them a place to stay and second you feed them. We weren’t served lunch, only one small snack. I also noticed that they would offer chocolate or drinks to those who came down from the US, but not to any of the volunteers – whether they be gringos or Salvadorians. I also really didn’t feel needed. So, I didn’t go back on Wed.

Now from Wednesday through Friday, I spent a lot of time working on the aforementioned application.

I also started the first raffle for my artisans! The raffles are to help them pay for the labor – their part of the deal. So, if you want in on the chance at winning a beautiful new blender to liquefy your beans with….drop me a line.

I guess that brings us to the weekend. Before I head into the title of this entry, I’ll chit chat about my meeting with the Priest. So, I’ve solicited a university (yes, I solicit a lot of people) to come out and draw up architectural plans for the church. You see, the church down here is from the colonial era and is need of repairs – shoring up of the walls and a new roof. Every time these people have come to see us, this Priest expands his ‘vision’ of what he would like to do. I’ve told him a number of times that I will only help search for funds for the aforementioned two things – but I don’t believe that has sunk in. My only other problem is his quest to save my soul. I won’t lie – I don’t go to mass down here and that is my choice…only he sees this as being horrid. So, he harasses me every time we meet as to why I’m not at mass. I find it frustrating that someone who keeps asking for my help also tries to hold something over me. But, as I have promised my sister – I will be nice and continue to try and do my best.

This weekend was also the massive beautification project of my home. That’s right, the parents are coming and the house must be clean. I swept the ceiling (yes, that is something you have to do down here – they get mad dusty), the walls and the floor. The garden has been cleaned up, the turtle bathed and everything is just waiting for them to come. I assure you – it took a full weekend to do and I’m talking about a one room house. Though, I will admit that I found less scary bugs this time around but have noticed a mountain of ants starting to find niches. I think at some point I had enough poison around to take an elephant down.

Monday and Tuesday were just days spent getting ready – well, expect for Monday night. A long time ago – I would say about a year – I came to my little community and my neighbor volunteer invited me up to celebrate her patron saint festivities. I agreed and somehow found myself dressed up as a man escorting ‘women’ across a stage in the annual cross – dressing competition. I swore to Rachael then that I would initiate her replacement into the tradition…and Monday night I completed that promise.

It was a long night of screaming cat calls at all the lovely ladies – sweet revenge I assure you. My favorite was the young ‘lady’ by the name of Barbara….can you say ‘Que Barbara!’ – doubly sweet. They competed in everyday wear, bathing suits (best part by far) and evening wear. I’m proud? to say that it was someone from my community that literally brought home the crown… and a $100. Not bad for one night spent in heels.

Alright, it’s time for me to finish packing and get ready for the padres! They come tomorrow!!

A new cell phone and an anniversay

So, I’ll do a quick take on what’s been going on down here.

I guess I’ll start with last week when my cell phone decided it didn’t want to work anymore. Since I didn’t feel like having to scream into the phone to have people hear me, I went and bought a new one. It wound up being twice as much as I thought it would be since I wanted to keep my own number. I was pretty mad about it for a while, mostly cause it was so expensive, is an ugly phone and I didn’t even get a free umbrella out of the deal. What is that about!

So, we’ll now cut to when I was home the following day. I decided that making cookies would be awesome. I made the dough just in time for the power to go out….my oven is electric powered. I thus took it as a sign from God that I should eat the aforementioned cookie dough. I felt pretty nauseous for the rest of the night but I think it was well worth it. Though, I’ll tell ya, it’s pretty spooky down here when there isn’t any power.

There still wasn’t any power Monday morning – so I had to cancel the eye campaign I had scheduled for that day. Since I had the day free, I decided to head into Sonsonate to translate for another eye campaign – some docs who came down from the US to check out eyes. I got there just in time to find out that translating started on Tuesday.

I went on Tuesday, but only because my pueblo still didn’t have electricity and because Luis gave me a ride. I really wasn’t gonna go by bus – was feelin a little ill.

Wednesday brought on my great escape! I’ve been getting a little snappy in my site and I think it was because I hadn’t been out of my site and chillin with out volunteers in a long time….so I fled! I got to head into the capital for my mid-service medical. Peace Corps checks you out medically at the beginning of your service, at the middle and at the end. It turns out I had a cavity and two wisdom teeth that should be pulled. They filled the cavity (which I’ll have Dr. Levy check out when possible) and denied the yanking of my wisdom teeth - apparently I have to be in pain for that to happen….

I got to stay at the new hotels the Peace Corps is using. Apparently, the place we’re using now has a neighborhood that is getting a little shady. The only problem with the new places are that they are so far away from everything. They’ve also started using three places – so there is no central meeting spot. So, I think we’ll continue to use the current place but with just a little more caution. Though, I will admit that the free breakfast at the new place was nice but the cold shower was harsh.

That night, my group and the new group had dinner – to welcome the newbies. We gave out superlatives and had Mexican….I enjoyed getting a beer. That night I met my new neighbor – Monica. So far, so good.

Thursday ( I know, I’m just blowing through everything) was their actual swearing in…which meant it was my one year anniversary as a volunteer! How insane is that! Anyway, it was overall decided that our swearing in was better then theirs…but we tried not to rub it in. The ambassador came and spoke – we thus had camera crews filming the event. That was a first – since the crews aren’t allowed into the embassy where swearing in usually takes place.

Afterward – it was time for pizza (from the Hut – cause that’s high class…seriously) and a little relaxing before the party. The party took place at a club located in one of the nicer malls. Overall it was great to get out, drink a little and get dancing. A few people didn’t recognize me right off the bat – apparently I look way different in contacts and nice clothes. All good.

That was pretty much it for the festivities and the weekend. I spent one extra night in the capital before heading back to my site. I just needed to tie up a few details and have one more hot shower. You’d be surprised how many ails a hot shower can cure.

Then came Saturday morning and I got on a bus back to the pueblo

A project

Dear Friends and Family,

Hard to believe – but I’ve hit the one year mark all the way down here in El Salvador. And contrary to what some may think - I don’t spend everyday in my hammock reading. Actually, I’m working in cooperation with a community group to realize a project.

In the small town of Santo Domingo de Guzman, in the western department of Sonsonate in El Salvador, works an artisan community. This group of over 60 men and women specializes in red pottery. As this group grows, it is coming across situations that restrict the expansion of their business. These limitations are presented in the form of production capacity and skill training opportunities.

The group concluded that they would focus their attention on improvements of existing ovens, construction of communal ovens and skill trainings. The new ovens will be communally used and centrally located. Existing ovens will be modified to include a chimney and a roof, among other work. Skill trainings would include work on a pottery wheel and painting classes.

Many of you have asked for ways you can support my activities (some of you haven’t...but your still getting this email with hopes that you always intended to offer help) and I’m asking for that support with this project. No fears – I’m not asking for your help in doing everything. I’m working in cooperation with a local NGO (non government organization), the artisans, and the town hall in financing this project. The NGO has agreed to pay for the two new ovens, the skill trainings and all the supplies necessary for the skill trainings. The town hall will help with transportation of building supplies and the artisans, themselves, will pay for the labor. All’s that is left is the construction materials for the improvements. This is where I am asking all of you to step in.

You may be asking, ‘what exactly are these ‘improvements’ you speak of?’ Let me explain. Many of the ovens are open on top – we would like to close the ovens, install a chimney and build a permanent roof.

The chimneys will:

A. Funnel smoke away from houses - reducing smoke related illnesses
B. Reduce the amount of wood needed to fire the pieces – the heat doesn’t
escape
C. Prevent destruction of the roof – the lamina roof is destroyed by the
fire and smoke rising from the ovens.

The permanent roofs will:

A. Protect the ovens from the nearly 6 months of rain received by El
Salvador yearly.
B. Expand the lifespan of the ovens – reducing overall costs to artisans


My goal is a little lofty – approximately $3,500 dollars. $3,500! The project cost is high due to the fact that 11 ovens will receive work – that’s a lot of bricks, metal and cement. I ask that you give what you can and maybe toss my letter to a few friends.

You should know that all donations are through an official program – meaning they are tax deductible! Not that any of you need incentive to donate.

So, if you’re all excited and can’t wait to support your friendly Peace Corps volunteer (that would be me) – check out the link below. And when you donate – please check the box that allows me to see who donated. I would like to have the opportunity to thank you.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=519-089&region=latinamerica


And if you don’t like the whole donating on-line thing, checks can be sent to:

Peace Corps
OPSI
1111 20th St. NW
Washington, DC 20526

Just make the check out to Peace Corps and put the project number (519-089) in the memo.

Thanks ahead of time! ¡Y que le vaya bien!

Barbara
PCV – El Salvador 2006-2008

The rest of the festvities

Wednesday night we were off to see the 1st night of bands. I forget what they call it…calabacas? That is so wrong, but anyway – it’s just a night where a company brings a bunch of different acts to sing and perform. They might include a mariachi singer, a rock band and then a woman…a naughty woman.

The first night was going great – until it started to rain. They had to put the show on hold for a few minutes while they cleared the water off the stage. I think the performers were worried about getting electrocuted. I stayed till 10:30ish – till right after the rock band played. The band was good – but you could tell the lack of audience participation was frustrating them.

That brings us to Thursday. Thursday was a blah day – no big events went down. They had a small thing called the ‘tarde alegre’ – which means the joyful afternoon. It’s just an afternoon meant for kids – clowns, piñatas and prizes. I was just thankful for the day off.

The second night started well enough – but I was just tired. So, I enjoyed the bands as they played, but the moment the drunkard started hitting on me and the other one dancing in front of me for me – I booked it home.

I’ll take this moment to relate a moment of vocabulary building that happened that night. During the festivals, women come and sell candy – it’s a type I’ve only seen down here and hard to explain. Anyway, I was with Iris, Sonia and a few others when we went to buy this candy. Me, being curious, asked what the different candies were made of. One was of molasses and peanuts, other from coco and so on. We came to one and I asked again what it was and they said it was made from zapote. Now zapote is a red fruit (never seen one, but have been told), but zapo is a frog. Well, you can see where this is leading. I stared at Sonia and said, ‘it’s made from frog – that’s horrible!’. She then proceeded to laugh and explain all over again. I don’t think I’ll be living this one down for quite a while.

Any who, that brings us to the big day – Friday. In the morning was the carrera de cintas. For those of you who can’t remember the other times I’ve written about this – it’s when they put a clothes line across a street and guys charge at in on horseback hoping to get a small stick through a loop that has been hung on the line. Anyway, I was a ‘godmother’ for this event – which means I bought a present and gave it to one of the guys who succeeded in getting the stick through the loop. Once I gave my gift and got the free food, I was outta there. They had these events at a soccer field that has no trees. You can only imagine how hot it gets.

Next up was the finally of the soccer tournament. The first fought out 3rd and 4th place and then when for the championship game. Unfortuanatly, my team lost. But it was an interesting game – the winner was determined by penalty kicks. So, I’m sure the guy that screwed it up for my team will never live it down. At the end of the games, I was drafted to help give out the prizes. I was ok giving out the cash prize, but then they gave out soccer balls as prizes. I’m not against the prize itself – but who was giving the prize. The prize came from the political party ARENA and the balls were even the political colors of ARENA. I told people that next time I wouldn’t give out a gift from ARENA. They got all mad – but I laid it down, Peace Corps has rules on being apolitical and I don’t like being associated with one party. We’ll see how it goes next time.

The grand final of the day was the dance. It started with a parade of the queens, again, then moved on to fireworks before the actual dance began. The dance was split up between two sections – one was regular disco playing techno, reggaton and the like, the other was a Latin band that would play meringue and salsa. The two sections switched on and off. I enjoyed my time but wound-up leaving at around 2 am – I got tired of dancing with guys I didn’t know and of the numerous drunkards around. Dances are good during their first few hours – but after that there are just too many drunk guys to make it enjoyable. I, thus, headed home escorted by Luis Ernesto. Yes, I do think of my safety and never walk home alone at night.

The only problem with going home was that the speaker for the disco were maybe 4 or 5 yards away from my front door. Granted, they were facing the other way, but they still managed to cause my house to shake, rattle and roll. Thankfully, they switched to the band (which was further away) and I fell dead asleep.

I believe the only reason I woke up on Saturday was my birds. They always get so annoyed when I sleep in. Saturday was a wonderful introverted day. All week I just felt like I never had any time to myself. I was going to go to a cock fight – but I didn’t want to go alone (to much of a guy event – didn’t want to go as a solo girl) and the heat. So, instead, I stayed home, read and made browning. When I finally did make it out of the house, I stumbled upon an event in the park. The culture house put on an afternoon of traditional dancing and music. It was quite nice to sit in the cool park with some friends and chill.

I guess that brings us to the final event of the great Patron Saint Festivals of Santo Domingo de Guzman – the second rodeo and dance. This rodeo was definitely a losing propect – I think maybe half as many people showed up this time around. The problem was that it wasn’t advertised well and another group was having an event for free in a nearby canton. (size order of communities with – pueblo being the largest – canton being a subset of a pueblo – casario being a subset of canton)

I was in charge of selling the higher priced beer – of which I sold a total of 35 bottles in a little over 6 hours. Go me.

The dance I can’t tell you about because I didn’t go. I had had enough and called it quits. I heard it, but decided that staying in was my best option.

And now it is Monday and time to go do some food shopping.

Where was I....

Ahh… the artisan fair and the banners. Well – I got the two banners, a little late, but I still got them. I sent a few guys to hang them up – at least they said that’s what they were going to do. Truth be told, I haven’t seen them….makes me wonder.

Any who – I had the grand inauguration of my artisan market on Monday….it was ugly. It was as if someone beat it with an ugly stick. We started about an hour and a half late, half the table of honor didn’t show up and I could count on my hands how many people were in the crowd. I think the entire thing lasted about the length of the Salvadorian anthem doubled. That anthem is incredibly long. But, such is life. I was told that I spoke well – and isn’t that all that matters?

The fair is getting better as the week goes on. I’ve had a few more vendors come and rent space…this is awesome ‘cause it allows me to recoup the money I spent on setting the thing up. We’re only charging vendors from outside the community for space – everyone within has space for free.

I guess I should write about what else is going on during our Patron Saint festivals. Sunday was the first rodeo (we have another one coming up next Sunday). I somehow got stuck dispersing food until about 3 pm….that’s when I left to go clean and set up the communal house for my grand inauguration, see above. I wish I could tell you more about the rodeo, but I didn’t get to see any of it - not even the cool horses that dance.

I don’t believe this Sunday will be any better – or only slightly better. I’ll be selling the tickets for the beer! One for them, and one for me, one for them, and one for me……

Monday was my event and in the afternoon, they had a small dance for the kids of the community. It was set-up by an AIDS group – so naturally they were giving out information about AIDS and how to prevent getting AIDS. The gringos in the church weren’t exactly thrilled about that. I won’t go into the conversations we had – but they were precious.

Tuesday was the Tropical Invasion. I know, funny having a tropical invasion in the tropics – but whatever. I didn’t actually check this out – I was too busy sleeping. Man – it was worth skipping.

That brings us to today! I got myself up at 4:30 am to go see a mariachi band sing. It was actually quite nice – there weren’t too many people and the mariachis sung well. We also had the parade with all the queens – some on horseback and some on cars.

I should explain the queens – they have queens for everything down here. The head queen is the Queen of the Patron Saint Festivals, the lower queens include the Queen of the Artisans, the Queen of the Rodeo, the Queen of the Carrera de Cintas….all that fun stuff. I should have been a queen – maybe next year…if I’m still here.

I’ll fill you in on the rest of the activities when the fun is done – quizas Monday.

Alright, time to go check my fair and dance – What are Patron Saint Festivals without a lot of dancing?!

More Gringos Then You Could Shake A Stick At

This was a frustrating, interesting and very quick week down in El Salvador. I guess I’ll start with the above title.

I still have the gringos down that are working with the church. Some are leaving, new ones are coming – so they are in a constant state of shift. They’re interesting because of the difference in how we live. I live out in the community, them in the confines of the church (for the most part). Some of them are truly petrified to go hang out where there are adult Salvadorians. For example, I invited some to go with me to the soccer tournament this past Sunday and they seemed excited to go. Later, when I asked if they were going to go – they weren’t so sure….someone had told them that there were a lot of drunkards at the tournament and it wasn’t a safe place to be. I told them that I go every Sunday and have never felt unsafe – so, I convinced a few to go. I think they just get easily spooked and I don’t think the priest they are with does anything to discourage it. Those that aren’t afraid don’t always have the sense they should. Saturday night, I was at the town dance and two gringas (an older woman and a 15 year old) were standing outside the front gate just to watch what was going on. I chatted with them in the beginning and then went to go tend to some other things. When I looked back, they were still there – which wouldn’t be bad if it wasn’t for the fact that they were the only to girls standing outside in the dark surrounded by men. I walked over to them and suggested they head back inside the church.

The next gringos in town had my counterpart in the town hall confused. She comes up to me on Thursday and says that my boss is in town. I was like, are you sure….he usually doesn’t show up without at least a phone call. But, whatever. As I was walking down to the internet café, I came across two gringos that looked (not really, but to a Salvadoran) like my boss and a co-worker. I presented myself and asked what they were doing in town. It turns out that they were honest to God tourists! Who knew?! They were a couple that use to be into the .com’s and got out without going bust. So, now they travel the world on their boat – retired by their 40’s, not a bad way to go. They were in my pueblo doing some land travel. We talked for a while and they suggested that I find a way to continue living ‘outside the cubicle’….I’ll have to work on that. After we chit chatted for a while, I drew them a map and sent them on their way to the waterfalls. On their way back, they stopped by my little office to say thanks and take a pic of me. It’s kinda weird, I usually take pictures of other people to remember and tell stories – I’m now someone else’s story.

Now what made these first two gringo interactions (yes, there is another afterward) interesting was listening to their viewpoints on El Salvador or development. While conversing with the church group, one of the women told me it would be nice to live down here – where life is slower and there isn’t such an importance placed on what brand of clothes you wear. I found that fascinating because those classifications do exist down here – though they can be slightly different…such as if your family has a tv or not. I have visited people way out in the countryside that didn’t even have a cement floor – but they had a tv and stereo. And as for clothes – you can tell by which kids have uniforms for school and which kids go in regular clothes because that is all they can afford. Or the little girls that go around in pretty dresses because that’s the clothes they have, not because they want to. I found the tourists to of had a more experienced viewpoint on this. Maybe because they’ve been to so many of these countries. They’ve seen what damage development can do when done incorrectly – like making people dependent on foreign aid. They also made the point that many people just don’t think ahead down here – he’s offered people $100 upfront or $20/month for two years for the work they do on the boat and they almost always go for the first option. I agreed with him, but upon reflection – who could blame that worker. They’ve never been taught to think ahead, as our .com’er has, and that $100 would go a long way with food and clothes. Besides, by the time he’s offered the option of $20/month - when the guy is done with the work - that worker has already spent that $100 in his head. And who of us doesn’t do that – I do it all the time.

Then there was my third gringo interaction of the week. Remember, months ago??, when I built 3 fuel efficient stoves – well, the guy that invented the design I used stopped by my house on Saturday. How random! It turns out that he commissioned one of my artisans to build the stove, but only out of pottery. When he was talking to her about it, she mentioned that I had built a few…so him and his two companions came and found me. Granted – I’m not that hard to find down here. He turned out to be a fascinating guy who has made designing fuel efficient stoves his job. He was thrilled that I had built three and insisted on seeing one. We drove down to one of the women that had one and he checked it out…I got approved! After, we went back to the artisans place so I could check out the new design. We got to talking about it and him and I both agreed that it might be best to make the stoves out of to pieces instead of one solid piece of clay because of how fragile the clay is and how easily it breaks while firing. I told him I would work on it and send him pics if we figured it out.

That’s all for gringos…at least for this week.

Other then that – I’ve been busy. My laptop charger decided it didn’t want to work anymore and my computer promptly ran out of charge. It wouldn’t be so bad, but I had to go to the capital to get it fixed. I found someone closer – but they were more sure of their abilities then I was….so, I went further away. It actually turned out to be a nice day in the capital. A nice breakfast of croissants and tea, then got the computer fixed (for free!), then just windowed shop before heading over to some place for lunch that also happens to have free wireless internet. I somehow convinced myself to go back to my site.

My other headache this week was my artisan fair. I’m suppose to be receiving two banners from my town hall and a third from a NGO. The only way I can get the NGO to pay for the third is to present a bill. So, I asked the town hall for this bill and they have yet to give it to me. Which wouldn’t be bad, but I have a meeting with the NGO Monday morning at 9 am…..I may not get the banner and that would be such a shame.

Alright…I’ve written enough. I’ll fill you in on the rest next time.

Barbara´s Menagerie

So far I have (whether I want to or not):

• two birds
• a turtle
• ants (small, medium and large varieties)
• lizards (small and medium varieties)
• mosquitoes (blood thirsty variety)
• one giant black rat

and the newest addition.....

• a bat.

Lazy

Yes, I’ve been bad. I haven’t written as I should, but things have gotten a little hectic and I’m just lazy.

So, I’ll just give you highlights as to what has gone down –

I’ve submitted my proposal to Partnership Program for the improvements to my artisan ovens – this will be explain more in about a week…I hope.

Power Point presentation for Riki and Lori – if you want to see it, you’ll have to email me that request. It was about a gift for them that never quite made it.

Cleaned computers – this harkens way back to the first few months of my service when two of my schools solicited computers. The computers have arrived in the capitol and I went to help clean them. Their casings were really quite gross. The work was boring but it did have it’s up points – like when that really strong tremor happened. We’ve been getting quite a few of those…but, no…it doesn’t make me nervous.

I made cinnamon rolls from scratch – go me!

Went and worked in an English class. I was showing a teacher how to play a grammar game with his students. I cut a paragraph up into words and the students had to put each sentence back into order. They eventually got them all right – took some time though. I enjoy working with the teachers – the only glitch is getting them to replicate the exercises after I’ve done them. Sometimes they want me to do them repeatedly. We’ll work on that.

Our latest round of the soccer tournament went off without anyone getting punched or disqualified. Sweet.

I have 8 other gringos in town now – there a church group that comes down once a year to play with the kids and help in the school. Apparently, their priest served down here about 12 years ago and comes back multiple times each year. I saw him around Christmas time last year. You can only imagine their surprise at running into me on the street. They were like – you live here alone? Yup. The group will be switching members sporadically, but as a whole should be around for about a month.

Working on saying farewell to Rachael – she’s the volunteer in the site next to mine and she finishes her two years of service this month. She’s already came down for a bbq (I made some really good food) and I headed up to her side for her last dance. I hope the newbie they put up there is good. I’LL MISS YOU RACHAEL!!

The only annoying stuff was when people thought I just hadn’t shown up for two days and didn’t bother to ask what I was doing. Surprisingly, I was actually working in the capital. All well – such is life.

I believe that’s all the highlights – everything else was the usual stuff. Later!

A bunch of visitors.....

This week I had a whole bunch of people out visiting.

Let’s start with this past weekend. Saturday I headed into Sononsate and had lunch with another volunteer…pizza. I’ve been having a lot of pizza recently, but I won’t go into it. It was nice to see her and I think it did her some good to talk with another volunteer. She is still a newbie and is having some slight difficulties in her community. Some are taking advantage of her and charging her more for things then they should. I can understand that.

Sunday was just a day of getting the house in order and watching some futbol. My team won….did you have any doubt? How could they lose with my ball? Also, I cleaned up as much as possible – the boss came out during the week.

Though, the most annoying thing was cleaning up the poison. My brilliant rats ripped open the bag of poison to eat it. That would have been great except that they ripped it open next to my plates and dishes = I had to wash all my plates and dishes.

Anyway, back to the week. Monday I had the second meeting with my artisans – but this time only about half showed up. Those who came, signed the contract and are ready to go. Ohh..if you didn’t know, for anyone who is going to benefit from this program, they have to sign a contract stating that they will pay for the labor, supply two bags of clay (which they all have since they work with the stuff) and that the materials will only be used for the stated purposes – they can’t change they’re minds and use the bricks to build something else. It also appears the solicitation will include the construction of one new oven. I suddenly went from under budget to a little over budget. But such is life.

This week I had my boss come out for a site visit. Peace Corps does site visits with volunteers at least 3 times during their service. It’s a good time to reconnect and talk about what’s going on, what you want to go on and where you hope things are going. I always enjoy talking with the jefe – he’s a really relaxed guy and someone you really feel you can talk to. With him came another volunteer – Stephen – just hitching a ride and Rachael was down translating something. I had four people in the house (including myself) and only three chairs. So, I sent Rachael off to Iris’s house for the final chair. Oops.

¿Que más? I had two trainees come out for immersion days. I’m not sure if you remember me writing about this about a year ago, (I know, a full freaking year) but Peace Corps sends trainees out to a volunteers site. The volunteer then sends those trainees to live with families out in the countryside. It’s only for two nights – one full day. It’s the first experience they have living by themselves. I had difficulty finding the second family, the first one is going to Iris’s parents house. The second one is going to a family of another friend. I don’t know them, but I’ve been assured they’re good people.

So, my two trainees (Stephanie and Kara) arrived around 11 am on Thursday. We went straingt to my place so they could put down their stuff and relax. It was nice to get their first impressions and answer any questions that came to mind. We ate lunch with Heidy and then started to get ready to drop them off. We were suppose to leave at 2pm – that didn’t happen. The driver was off someplace and nobody was exactly sure where. Thankfully – Lito stepped up and gave us a ride. I dropped Kara off with the Iris’s family and Stephanie went to the family of Don Kokie. I then spent the rest of Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning worrying about them.

During this time of worry, I worked on a few other things. I got my haircut ($1 special, of course), was stood-up for a meeting…things of that nature.

Finally, it was Saturday morning. Iris’s mom couldn’t get to the drop off spot till 9am – which was fine because at 8am I still didn’t have a ride to go pick them up. Thus, I hunted down Don Justo and asked for one. He said the driver would be right over. He came about 20 minutes late….which was fine, we would only be about 20 late in picking them up. But, of course, we didn’t go straight to picking them up. We went in the exact opposite direction in order to go pick someone else up. So, we were an hour late. All well.

When we got back to my place, we just relaxed a little. I made some pancakes, they took some showers and eventually, we got ourselves out the front door. We headed into Sonsonate…the local ‘big’ town. Of course, we hit up Pizza Hut for lunch before heading over to Super Selectos – the supermarket. I picked up food for dinner, a new pot (my old pots were rusting and I’ve gotten tired of scrubbing rust off of my pots) and whatever else the girls wanted. We also managed to go see a movie – Ocean’s 13…the only one that wasn’t dubbed. It was nice to sit in the air conditioning and watch a movie in English – you could almost forget where you were. Afterward, we ran back to my place, cooked dinner and got ready for the dance.

My community was having a dance on Saturday in order to present the candidates for queen (queen of the patron saint festivals). We only stayed about 2 hours, but it was enough to have a good time, dance and fend off some bolos. I think we got back to my place around 10:45ish. We were all ready for bed when we heard the evangelicals start singing. It wouldn’t of been so bad, but we could still clearly make out the music from the dance. It was like a battle of the bands…right in my house! I think I slept like a rock anyway.

That brings us to their final day here…Sunday. We woke up, had some more pancakes and hiked it over to the waterfall. It took about 40 minutes to get over there. Those girls walked so fast – I’m so slow nowadays. I’ve just gotten use to the pace that Iris walks. Anyway, we got over to the waterfall and there were more evangelicals there singing. It was so weird. We still got in and swam.

After all that, they took showers and I then threw them on the bus to head home. It was really nice having company out, but it was sooo tiring as well. I was just so nervous in taking care of them and making sure they had a good time. I believe they did.

I spent the rest of the day…..watching futbol and working. I went down to the field to watch my team play, but the game got cut short. Someone of the other team got really mad at the ref and punched him. So, that team automatically lost. Thankfully, a large fight was avoided and there was just general discontent after for a while. Once everything settle down, I went home. Once there, it was time to get the house back in order. I still haven’t finished washing everything. What a pain.

A slightly weird week....

6:15 am on Tuesday morning and someone is knocking on my door – do they not get that I am not awake/alive at this hour? It was a little girl asking/saying, “Don Justo wants to know if your coming to the town hall today.” I said yes and thought it would be the end of it. Then she started asking for a quarter for cheese? I don’t know, I don’t get it. The strangest part is that Don Justo never sent anyone to ask if I was going…..I swear I wasn’t dreaming.

When I finally did get up, I found that I have a new ‘cat’ or ‘rodent of unusual size’ visiting my house at night. This time, thankfully, not in my sink. Unfortunately, on top of some clothes. Yes, I will be sacrificing more peanut butter and taking whatever it is out…at least hopefully.

I also found out that I have a four legged spider in the house…I just feel so bad for him that I won’t kill him.

I’ve learned, this week, that getting three signatures on a tiny letter can be a full days work – even if one of those signatures is your own. You would think that you could locate a priest within a church, but he’s hardly ever there. And then faxing that same letter – I won’t even go into it.

Though, on a brighter note, my meeting with my artisans was a success – almost everyone showed up. They are also all in agreement with paying for the labor and will sign little contracts next Monday…YEY!

I just got back from a little celebration for a friends b-day – Sonia. Not the aunt of Iris, but another Sonia. I’m going to be teaching this one how to make pizza dough sometime next week. Kinda random – but she asked me to help her find a recipe and I did. I also tried it out – I make good pizza. Anyway, she lives a little further outside of town – through a few cow pastures. Which wouldn´t of been bad – but we had to come home while walking in the rain. Something about crossing a river before it got to high.

That brings me to Friday night – all nice and dry, took a hot bucket bath and everything. I´m sitting there talking with afriend about the meaning of the term ´booty call´ when my phone rings. It happens to be a bunch of bolos (drunkards) singing feliz navidad. Iris listens in and agrees that it is a bunch of bolos – but then turns to me and asks how they got my number....I promptly reply that of course they have my number, they´re my family. And thus went my night/week.

A weekend that didn't go the way it was suppose to...

Originally, I was suppose to be going to the beach but that was not to be. Instead, I was asked to be a godmother for a soccer team. Meaning, I would parade with them around town on opening day and then give them a soccer ball. So, no beach but God mothering.

Friday night was the gran final of my favorite soap opera - la fea mas bella. I was disappointed. It ended how I thought it would - which is great, but most of the final was scenes from a concert they held while filming the final. So, all the good stuff ended 15 minutes into it and then I was stuck with people singing. Errr...though, I did enjoy the brownies I had made for the event.

Saturday was when things went down hill. I got sick again - this time with a nice fever of over 102 degrees and a bad stomach. It took me down slowly and reached its peak around 8pmish. So, I called the nurse and she told me to take some un-aspirin (that is literally the name on the package), drink liquids and come into the capital early the next day to go to the lab (since it was the only one open on a sunday).

Sunday morning comes around and I've lowered my temperature - by taking unaspirin and sleeping with a fan on me - and I crawl onto a bus. And then I crawl onto a second bus. And then I walk (crawl) twenty minutes to the lab. It was so bad. I got diagnosed with a nice stomach infection and a UTI. I get the weirdest symptoms when I have UTIs - like knee pain. Anyway, it was bad and I wound up staying the night in the capital.

Though, what really got me was that I couldn't be the God mother anymore, I gave the ball I bought to Mayra and she was the God mother. I was so mad - I spent my money on that stupid ball and she got to give it. Errrr.

Anyway, it's now monday. I'm in the capital and procrastinanting. I really just don't feel like getting on the bus, I will, I just don't feel like it.

Time starting to fly by…..

I can’t exactly remember everything I did last week – I think it involved me doing a lot of writing and investigating. It’s also what I did for most of this week.

You see, for the proposal I’m writing – I need accurate information about the prices of certain building supplies (ie – cement, sand, bricks….), so, I went to a few hardware stores to get price quotes. What I wouldn’t kill for a good Home Depot.

Putting this budget together is a little on the irritating side, but, it’ll be worth it in the end…I hope.

And incase you are completely lost as to what I am talking about – here’s a summary. I’m writing a proposal to get funds to make improvements to the ovens of artisans in my community. These improvements include constructing chimneys and permanent roofs. The application requires a full detailed budget – that’s the part I’m working on now.

While in town, I had lunch with another volunteer – she was having a bad week, so I treated her to some food. We lived large and had Pizza Hut.

Last week I also managed to kill off whatever animal was using my pila (sink area) as a bathroom – yes, I had to sacrifice some peanut butter to mash in with the poison, but it was well worth it. I also got to see the ‘rodents of unusual size’ that now live in my backyard….I went to bed early that night.

What else can I tell ya about? My mail carrier doesn’t want to carry my mail to Sonsonate for me, he thinks it would be better if I did it. When I see him next, I’m going to have a conversation with him about the job of a mail carrier. I hate the post office. If you have any questions or doubts about my hatred of the post office, please feel free to ask Maryann.

Or I can talk about how I made some of my own pottery – a turtle and a tray to be precise. All the artisans thought it was funny – seeing me covered in clay and having a blast. It took me three different visits to finish the pieces – once for the body of the piece, second for the details and the final to polish it. Unfortunately, only one piece survived firing – the other was just too weak.

We are also in the full swing of the rainy season – aka ‘winter’. It’s nice some days – just relax in my hammock, watch the rain fall and drink some tea.

That brings me to this week. Monday was the inauguration of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Mobile Clinic – it’s in town for the week. They do free medical work for children up to 18 years of age. It’s a brand new thing – the first one in Central America. Basically, what it is is that they have this big RV filled with doctors and stuff – then they drive from town to town. Not a bad thing.

Tuesday morning was spent building another fuel-efficient stove – this time up at San Pedro with Rachael. We did it with one of her small schools. I have a feeling I will be returning to San Pedro in the future to build more stoves. This could become quite the unintentional project.

Then I continued working with the English teachers. It’s mostly just working on their grammar and pronunciation. One is all about it and keeps me late just to practice speaking in English, the other can’t wait to get out. I’m also helping with different ways of teaching English – mostly with games. The last one was tic/tac/toe and the next will be a sentence game. I only do it in two classes with the teachers so they learn how to present and play the game, after that I leave it to them to do it in their other classes. I don’t want them to become dependent on me to execute the games. I hope they integrate them into their curriculum, but who knows.

Other then that, I just went in search of a candidate to be Queen of the Patron Saint Festivals with Don Justo and Heidy. I just sat there…nothing new. But it was fun on the way back when Don Justo first had to swerve to miss the cow and then swerve the other way to avoid the chicken. Ever just have any one of those days?

Alright, time for the weekend! Who doesn’t like a good soccer tournament?

*Just learned that the mail carrier will take my letters – something about a joke gone terribly wrong.