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.