A little fun

I escaped from my site on Wednesday and headed off for some good ‘ole Peace Corps training, aka in service training. It was held up in Apaneca…a pueblo located on top of a mountain. In fact, it is the highest pueblo in the nation and that means it was actually cold at night. I’m not talking freezing, but fleeces and blankets….it was sweet.

Anyway, we got there and started off with lunch and didn’t stop eating the entire time. I’m talking big meals, desserts and snacks…I was so full, hell…I’m still full.

The training…well, I wouldn’t quite define it a training….more like receiving information. It gave backgrounds on different projects occurring in El Salvador and the state of El Salvador itself. Things such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the economy, and what the European Union is up to. They were presented by people from the embassy, the EU mission and other people in the know. We also got presentations asking us to reflect on our service and why we are here. Those were the more difficult presentations….I’ll get back to you when I have my response.

Anyway…the nights were just filled with catching up with everyone. It was just a nice time to slow down and relax. It went by so quick and when it was over…it was time for the weekend.

When I got back to the capitol, I headed off to the office. We have a new office and it is really nice. It’s huge…the only problem is that is isn’t near anything food wise. You kinda have to hike around to find stuff. Anyway, I went up the the medical office to get sun block and then somehow wound up getting a hepatitis A booster shot…don’t you hate it when that happens. That’s why I hate going to the medical staff….I always wind up having to have something done.

Anyway, that leads to Friday night - there were a bunch of volunteers in the capitol…some returning with me from the above mentioned IST, others for health, still others for the hell of it. So, we decided to go check out the karioki bar….but all the fun happened on our trip there. About 7 of us were walking to the bar when a bunch of Salvadorian police stepped in front us. We were originally confused and thought they were going for others…but no, us. We had to turn, face the wall, put our hands on our heads and spread our legs. Yes, I got searched by a female…don’t worry. But it was a damn thorough search, I must say. I also laughed the entire time….what can I say, I’m ticklish. It was cool by the end and we said bye to the police and got ourselves some beers.

Saturday was just a slow day…I stayed in bed till 9! I then went and signed up for scuba diving for Sunday. I actually took a refresher test on Saturday – I took that bad boy in Spanish and only got 2 wrong…I am bad ass. I can’t say I did much the rest of the day.

Which leads to Sunday – diving in a live volcano! Since I haven’t been diving in two years…I was a little nervous. The first dive didn’t go so well…mostly because I was over-weighted and the group got split into two somehow. But the second dive was nice. There wasn’t much down there – mostly rocks. But there were a few fish – I caught some sleeping, and occasionally the instructor would find a bullet. Apparently, during the civil war, the air force used the area as a practice place. So, there use to be a ton of bullets down there…now there are fewer because of the amount of divers who pick them up I guess. The group itself was a nice group who surprisingly all spoke English. Some were Salvadoreans who spoke English others were tourists…I guess you would say. Anyway, we finished way later then expected, but thankfully, another guy gave me a ride to the bus terminal so I could back home before the last bus left. I think I got back here at like 6:45ish….it was late and I was exhausted. But, well worth it.

So, on Monday I thought it would be just a chill, slow moving day – I was wrong. The Canadian Ambassador came to my pueblito to inaugurate the bridge and water system they helped construct. It was crazy…everyone was running around try to arrange everything…through my favorite happened at the reception, though it came close to not being funny at all. There are a few women cooking this huge feast and they were preparing the soup over a wood fire. What they didn’t notice was that the wind was moving the fire slowly till it eventually started the light the a hose connected to a propane tank! All the women started to run, I had no idea why since I hadn’t since the fire/propane tank combo…but thankfully, the mayor thought quickly and separated the hose from the tank before the fire could reach the tank itself. Never a dull day down here.

Alright, that’s about all that went down. It was an adventure filled weekend and I am exhausted.