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!