Tuesday, March 27, 2007

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.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Another weekend in El Salvador

Another weekend in El Salvador

So, I won’t lie…I’ve been in a funk. I think I’m starting to enter into that “I hate El Salvador” stage, so you’ll have to forgive the blog entries with a negative tone. Most volunteers experience this and I am told it will not last forever. One can only hope.

Where to begin….

I have birds! Or at least it use to be in the plural. He is a green, small parrot. I had two, but one escaped Saturday night while I was changing the food in their cage. I would like to think he’s still out there, but…he probably wound up being food for a bigger animal. All well…at least I still have one.

Well, before all that fun … Iris and I enrolled in a competition! We’re gonna make an ‘alfombra,’ or carpet, out of salt, sand, ash and food coloring. It’s this cool thing they do every year on Good Friday. I can’t wait to try and make it. I’ll keep you guys updated on that.

Otherwise, I wound up going to Heidy’s sister’s Sweet 15 Saturday afternoon. That’s right, they celebrate the 15th birthday, not the 16th. It was a little on the boring side because they are evangelicals. There fore, you cannot dance….it’s against the rules. Neither can you drink or do anything fun. Hehehe. I had the pleasure of sitting with Jessica and her cousin. Her cousin is in the US working and just down visiting for a few weeks. At first it was nice with a good conversation, then the cousin started to like me. So, of course, by the end of the party he wanted to take me out on a date and was asking for my number. I politely declined. Guys here can be quite forceful and insistent. They just don’t get that I may not be interested in dating.

So, that finished up Saturday.

Sunday was a good day to. Iris and I went to a resort type thing with Victoria and her husband. They are a great couple and always very good to me. Well, first we went to this event at an NGO. The NGO, AGAPE, was celebrating it’s anniversary. So, we checked out a band or two and ate before heading out. At the resort thing, I got to ride a horse for a few minutes for free! It was fun. Though, it was western style….it still felt good. Then I just chilled in the pool and in the hammock. It was sweet. They’ve invited me to join them in hiking a small volcano during the coming weeks. I said yes, but that we’ll have to go slowly. In exchange for how nice they are, the husband asked me to come to his school one day just to talk in English with a group of girls. He would of course provide the ride…so I told him yes and to plan it for the 9th or 10th of April…when Maryann will be hear and can help. I’m sure she’ll love it. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

We got back really late, but the disturbing thing was the trip. We passed by an accident, and there in the middle of the road was someone who had been struck by a car. They were trying to cover him from view with branches, but he was still visible. I wonder what happened.

Alright…now to get back to trying to find a ride to go buy bricks and molasses. Don’t ask.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

AIDS

AIDS

If you remember, a few weeks ago I took three students to a weekend camp about AIDS. This past Tuesday and Wednesday, we completed the project by repeating the charlas in 6 different classes.

The beginning was just a basic definition of AIDS and how it affects the body. Next, we set up a true or false game. Each student was given a piece of paper with a statement on it, They then had to say whether it was true or false. Later, we went into explanations of why something was true or something else false. It was an effective way - considering the time constraints and the attention span of the average teenager.

It was a little trying at times because some classes were horribly mis-behaved and the teacher usually left during the charla (presentation). I can’t say I’m all that effective at controlling students since I still screw up on my Spanish…it doesn’t really enforce the in charge image you want with kids of that age.

So, in the end, I’m glad I did it, but it was tiring.

Monday, March 05, 2007

a nice long weekend

A nice long weekend

Friday came and I went to San Salvador! All the girls in my group decided to get together and have a girls night! It was great.

We all met up at the Princess – a nice hotel – and relaxed pool side, then jacuzzi side. It was a great time to catch up with what was going on in everyone’s life. I am now back in the loop…at least for now. I’ll probably be out of the loop by the end of the week – but that’s ok.

We treated ourselves to a nice dinner and then just hung out in the room. That’s right…12 of us shared one room. I slept on the floor.

The next day – Saturday – I did some shopping. I didn’t mean to, but I found this cute little shirt and since it was only $5, I went for it. I only hope Maryann doesn’t steal it when she comes to visit. I might hide it. I also looked at some birds…if you didn’t know, I’m looking for a cute pair of birds to have as pets – I’m not a cat person and dogs are just too much work down here. I went to the pet shop, but they wanted $150 for a pair!! I was like – I think not.

Later that day, I traveled out to Apaneca with a few other volunteers to go on a full moon hike. That’s right, at about 8 or 9pm, about 19 of us climbed up about an hour to a nice spot on the side of the mountain under the full moon. It was really quite beautiful. There came this one point where we were all standing on some sort of small wall in a line. It was quite picturesque to see a group standing in a line in the moonlight. I’ll have to hunt down someone who has that pic.

Any who, when we got up there we set up two tents and started a fire. We even had smoores! There was a little party with bluegrass music playing and bottles of wine all around. A good time was had by all. Though, I must say…it was cold. I slept outside and was freezing even though I had on two layers of pants, 2 shirts, a fleece, socks and shoes, and a fleece sleep bag thingy. At some point in the night I woke up really cold and then Erin offered to let me snuggle with her…I said yes.

So, needless to say….I didn’t sleep either Friday night nor Saturday night. But that’s ok.

Sunday was a long day just because I was so tired. On our way back from Apaneca, we stopped in at Guayua. It was a touristy town that has a food festival every Sunday along with a nice size market. We chowed down on Mexican food and had a look around town. Angi bought a puppy…a German Shepard puppy. The father of this puppy was like a small pony. But, she fell in love and took that puppy back with her. I looked around for birds, but only found types that I didn’t like. I talked with the woman and I was able to talk down here price by over $10 – but I still didn’t want them. Though, I am proud of my bargaining skills – go me!

After all that, I was thrilled to get my but back to my site. I think I was asleep by 8:30pm and very happy to be so.