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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment