Real Date: Tuesday, September 5th
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a gringa like myself can be accepted into life in a small Salvadoran town. Amongst the bogus offers of marriage and trips to neighboring Central American countries, I´ve received countless invitations to accompany my work counterparts to trainings, charlas, to view ongoing projects in the cantones and to soccer games in nearby cities, as well as invitations from new friends to eat dinner at their homes, meet their family members (all 50 of them) after church or hike the nearby hills or San Miguel volcano. Only outside the US can you meet someone and in five minutes time go from being a perfect stranger to receiving a personal invite to a birthday party of an uncle´s cousin´s newphew where, ifyou attend (which you must) you will inevitably run into 10 more people you either already know or who are related to people you´ve previously met. I have no problem with these immediate friendships and impromptu gatherings, other than that often times they are so spontaneous that I´ll agree to go somewhere, right this second, and before I know it be gone for 12 hours. Last week I told a friend that I´d head to a canton in the municipal area with her to "ver un partido de futbol" - she texted me to go at 9, we left at 10, and by the time we were done trecking through the mud, eating various meals and accidentally missing the bus back to the pueblo 3 times it was 6pm. I may have returned "bien sucia" and covered in ant bites but I´m glad I went, as I´m generally grateful for these chances to get out, try new things and meet some cool people.
For those of you who know me well and enjoy laughing at my imperfections (i.e., anyone I´ve known for more than two days) here are a few things to keep you entertained. Last week I went with a friend to her house to learn how to tortillar, or make tortillas, a business which has sustained her and her family for years. In 2 hours time I not only dropped on the ground more rolls of dough than I managed to cook as tortillas, but I spilled dirty water all over my skirt and burned a finger on the stove. I successfully made 7 tortillas in 2 hours - Marina, my friend, made about 100. Then, on the way out of her kitchen I failed to notice a low-lying part of the ceiling and smacked my head directly into it, hitting myself so hard I was literally propelled backwards on my butt. Once Marina got done fearing for my life she not only laughed at me for the rest of the day but took pleasure in sharing the unfortunate incident with a number of my other friends in town. When I showed up for work the next day there was a motorcycle helmet on my desk. I was in the midst of telling my counterpart that I´m not allowed to ride on motercycles (PC rule) when he interrupted me and said, "no, es para cuando esta andando en el pueblo." He and my other "hilarious" friends want me wear it when I´m walking around town, for my own safety. Dad, I´d like to take a moment to thank you for teaching me early on how to laugh at myself - this way, the gringa going to the corner store with a bike helmet on is just funny, not horribly embarassing.
During the times when I´m not attempting to get people to actually take me seriously, I´ve been trying to talk to as many as I can about where I can start working in town. So far the director of the school in town has gathered together 2 groups of students for me to work on projects with - we´re going to start with the ever-so-popular PCV starter project; painting an enlarged map of the world on the wall outside the school. I´m excited to start this up becauase it´ll be a great resource for the students, who oftentimes do not receive geography courses, and a fantastic opportunity to get to know the kids and teachers on a more personal level. In addition to this, I have "great ambitions" to conduct a census of the resources of each school in each countryside canton in the municipal area. It seems as though Muni volunteers can easily spend 2 years just in their urban towns, but I have more interest in branching out and getting into the poorer rural areas, to help bring them up-to-date. Many of our canton schools consist of only one or two classrooms, with limited access to water, electricity, computers and materials for the students. While this idea is really pretty over my head at the moment, I´m hoping to carry out this project and then use it in the future to work on small infrastructure projects, perhaps in collaboration with the Ministry of Education or NGOs both nationally and internationally located.
When I´m not seeking out work opportunities or walking around like a "special" person with my protective gear on, I´m visiting friends and traveling to get to know this country better. This past weekend I went up to Perquin, a town in mountains three hours to the north, to hang with a number of my training compañeros. Perquin is in a region that was greatly affected by the civil war here in the 80´s and 90´s - it served as a crucial area of guerrilla headquarters for training camps and radio transmissions and also saw more battles between the army and guerrillas than most parts of El Salvador. It was more than a bit surreal to stand in the war museum there, viewing photographs of young guerrillas who gave their lives to the leftist cause not 15 or 20 years ago. We also learned a bit about a canton called El Mozote near Perquin, where in 1981 the army massacred all but 1 of the 1,000 inhabitants due to suspicions that the town contained guerrilla sympathizers. Stories such as these are very much alive in places like Perquin. I´m attempting to get my hands on books to learn more about the war - if you have an interest in doing the same, check out this website http://mbeaw.org/resources/countries/elsalvadorcivilwar.html for a good list of resources. As if the emotional turbulance wasn´t enough we decided to put our bodies to the test as well this weekend - we went on an all-day hike to a beautiful waterfall that involved taking off sneakers and crossing waist-deep rivers in multiple areas, and at the end, jumping off an 8 ft. drop into the water at the waterfall. I have pictures of all of us forming a human chain and passing our backpacks overhead person to person in the river - I´m working on getting my photos online soon so you can have some visuals.
That´s all I got for now - September 15th is Independence Day for the Salvadorans so I´m looking forward to parades and celebrations all week long (because no celebration can last just one day around here - that´s just ridiculous). I hope Labor Day festivities were fun in the States! Happy 25th bday to EMQ and 24th bday to Sarah! Sar, here´s hoping you don´t get stuck in Eastbumfuck, Pennsylvania with the broken down car forever... I swear, only you would go on a cross-country trip in a standard vehicle without knowing how to actually drive it. Lisa and Steve, congratulations on your wedding this upcoming Saturday! In my three months in El Salvador thus far I have never wanted to come home so badly as I do now, so that I could see your wedding. Best of luck, congratulations and have a wonderful time on the European cruise... I´ll be thinking of you all day on the 9th. Thanks so much to Carrie, Steph and Margaret for sending me mail in Chapeltique! I just sent out a bunch of letters, so hopefully mail will be coming your way soon. Continued best wishes to the Muni/Youth ´06 group, I miss seeing you guys often (though there´s no lamenting over training), and best of luck to Amanda in Arizona... I don´t eat a pupusa without thinking of you. Joe, once you´ve gotten to Tanzania let´s swap country logistics... if it´s hotter there than it is in Aaron´s site than I imagine you have me beat in terms of heat and humidity, but I may be able to one-up you on the local diseases. Pools of stagnant water = mosquito breeding grounds = dengue = standard procedure for El Salvador. Aaron, I hope by now the "evil spirits" have conspired against you and brought some rain to wash your painting of the Red Sox logo off the wall. In my town, Yankee hats are sold in every market shop and the Red Sox are just that... socks of the color red. On a serious note, congratulations on making six months in country and getting your own place at your site! I want to see these basil and mint leaves when I come visit you in the desert. Much love to family and friends back home, you´re always in my thoughts and prayers.
Until next time, ¡vaya pues!
Erin
For those of you who know me well and enjoy laughing at my imperfections (i.e., anyone I´ve known for more than two days) here are a few things to keep you entertained. Last week I went with a friend to her house to learn how to tortillar, or make tortillas, a business which has sustained her and her family for years. In 2 hours time I not only dropped on the ground more rolls of dough than I managed to cook as tortillas, but I spilled dirty water all over my skirt and burned a finger on the stove. I successfully made 7 tortillas in 2 hours - Marina, my friend, made about 100. Then, on the way out of her kitchen I failed to notice a low-lying part of the ceiling and smacked my head directly into it, hitting myself so hard I was literally propelled backwards on my butt. Once Marina got done fearing for my life she not only laughed at me for the rest of the day but took pleasure in sharing the unfortunate incident with a number of my other friends in town. When I showed up for work the next day there was a motorcycle helmet on my desk. I was in the midst of telling my counterpart that I´m not allowed to ride on motercycles (PC rule) when he interrupted me and said, "no, es para cuando esta andando en el pueblo." He and my other "hilarious" friends want me wear it when I´m walking around town, for my own safety. Dad, I´d like to take a moment to thank you for teaching me early on how to laugh at myself - this way, the gringa going to the corner store with a bike helmet on is just funny, not horribly embarassing.
During the times when I´m not attempting to get people to actually take me seriously, I´ve been trying to talk to as many as I can about where I can start working in town. So far the director of the school in town has gathered together 2 groups of students for me to work on projects with - we´re going to start with the ever-so-popular PCV starter project; painting an enlarged map of the world on the wall outside the school. I´m excited to start this up becauase it´ll be a great resource for the students, who oftentimes do not receive geography courses, and a fantastic opportunity to get to know the kids and teachers on a more personal level. In addition to this, I have "great ambitions" to conduct a census of the resources of each school in each countryside canton in the municipal area. It seems as though Muni volunteers can easily spend 2 years just in their urban towns, but I have more interest in branching out and getting into the poorer rural areas, to help bring them up-to-date. Many of our canton schools consist of only one or two classrooms, with limited access to water, electricity, computers and materials for the students. While this idea is really pretty over my head at the moment, I´m hoping to carry out this project and then use it in the future to work on small infrastructure projects, perhaps in collaboration with the Ministry of Education or NGOs both nationally and internationally located.
When I´m not seeking out work opportunities or walking around like a "special" person with my protective gear on, I´m visiting friends and traveling to get to know this country better. This past weekend I went up to Perquin, a town in mountains three hours to the north, to hang with a number of my training compañeros. Perquin is in a region that was greatly affected by the civil war here in the 80´s and 90´s - it served as a crucial area of guerrilla headquarters for training camps and radio transmissions and also saw more battles between the army and guerrillas than most parts of El Salvador. It was more than a bit surreal to stand in the war museum there, viewing photographs of young guerrillas who gave their lives to the leftist cause not 15 or 20 years ago. We also learned a bit about a canton called El Mozote near Perquin, where in 1981 the army massacred all but 1 of the 1,000 inhabitants due to suspicions that the town contained guerrilla sympathizers. Stories such as these are very much alive in places like Perquin. I´m attempting to get my hands on books to learn more about the war - if you have an interest in doing the same, check out this website http://mbeaw.org/resources/countries/elsalvadorcivilwar.html for a good list of resources. As if the emotional turbulance wasn´t enough we decided to put our bodies to the test as well this weekend - we went on an all-day hike to a beautiful waterfall that involved taking off sneakers and crossing waist-deep rivers in multiple areas, and at the end, jumping off an 8 ft. drop into the water at the waterfall. I have pictures of all of us forming a human chain and passing our backpacks overhead person to person in the river - I´m working on getting my photos online soon so you can have some visuals.
That´s all I got for now - September 15th is Independence Day for the Salvadorans so I´m looking forward to parades and celebrations all week long (because no celebration can last just one day around here - that´s just ridiculous). I hope Labor Day festivities were fun in the States! Happy 25th bday to EMQ and 24th bday to Sarah! Sar, here´s hoping you don´t get stuck in Eastbumfuck, Pennsylvania with the broken down car forever... I swear, only you would go on a cross-country trip in a standard vehicle without knowing how to actually drive it. Lisa and Steve, congratulations on your wedding this upcoming Saturday! In my three months in El Salvador thus far I have never wanted to come home so badly as I do now, so that I could see your wedding. Best of luck, congratulations and have a wonderful time on the European cruise... I´ll be thinking of you all day on the 9th. Thanks so much to Carrie, Steph and Margaret for sending me mail in Chapeltique! I just sent out a bunch of letters, so hopefully mail will be coming your way soon. Continued best wishes to the Muni/Youth ´06 group, I miss seeing you guys often (though there´s no lamenting over training), and best of luck to Amanda in Arizona... I don´t eat a pupusa without thinking of you. Joe, once you´ve gotten to Tanzania let´s swap country logistics... if it´s hotter there than it is in Aaron´s site than I imagine you have me beat in terms of heat and humidity, but I may be able to one-up you on the local diseases. Pools of stagnant water = mosquito breeding grounds = dengue = standard procedure for El Salvador. Aaron, I hope by now the "evil spirits" have conspired against you and brought some rain to wash your painting of the Red Sox logo off the wall. In my town, Yankee hats are sold in every market shop and the Red Sox are just that... socks of the color red. On a serious note, congratulations on making six months in country and getting your own place at your site! I want to see these basil and mint leaves when I come visit you in the desert. Much love to family and friends back home, you´re always in my thoughts and prayers.
Until next time, ¡vaya pues!
Erin
posted by Erin @ 4:06 PM
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