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.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
‘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!
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!
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