Week 2 Done and Done

Well, whoever said they're aren't some key advantages to being sick never joined the Peace Corps... at the moment I'm sitting alone in the training center waiting for lab results to come in from my, er, sample, and wouldn't you know that the internet is free. I knew that I was throwing up all morning for something! Enough of that talk, onto better things... yesterday right in the middle of training classes a few friends told me that I had a letter waiting for me. When I went to check it out I realized that I had not one but four... so a huge thanks goes out to Sarah, Lisa, Kadee and Allison my Peace Corps guru - you guys absolutely made my day. This second week has been a bit more intense than the first, so needless to say these letters are well appreciated. Please, keep on writing and I promise to get back to you either through email or snail mail.

We've been on the same training schedule as I recounted in the last blog entry, but classes are becoming more specific to technical training and the language barrier continues to be a challenge. There are days when I think that my spanish is actually getting worse, not better, but I'm told that's a normal way to feel around here in early days. Other than feeling rather ill I don't have much to complain about in reality... right now its all about taking it one day at a time, poco a poco. During this past week we traveled to visit a current agro-forestry volunteer in the countryside and also to take a tour of the capital, San Salvador. Also this week my community group accompanied the staff of the mayor in our town to a countryside province, to observe an interview between the staff and a 17 year old girl who has asked for help caring for her family. Both parents have passed away and she is responsible for feeding and clothing her 7 younger siblings, a responsiblity she accepts without requesting to break up her family. It was more than a bit surreal to be sitting in a large, air-conditioned mall eating Pizza Hut the next day in San Salvador. Between these trips I believe that I've begun to gain a perspective on how varied the dynamics of this country are. I have to wonder if the well-dressed people I saw in the mall have any idea of what the conditions are like in the countryside here... I know that if it were me in the United States, I'd most likely be clueless. I'm realizing now that if I can spend the next two years accompanying the mayor to the less-developed towns to provide decent, hard-working people with basic necessities, I will be more than genuinely satisfied with my time spent here.

As far as life in the community goes, I think the gringos are getting in more facetime and things are starting to slow down in terms of the newness of our presence. We're starting to play soccer in the street with the kids in our barrios, which has turned out to be a positive experience in multiple ways - not only are the kids incredibly talented and we have a great time, but just one game of soccer has changed these kids from being the punks who yell out "hey baby" from their doorsteps to a bunch of lively, energetic middle schoolers we can now consider to our friends. They may not be able to pronounce my name ("Erin" doesn't sound too pretty in spanish, so I now answer to "Errn") but at least they know my face and feel comfortable striking up conversation with me. One of the more amusing things that's happened to me so far in community goes along with the realization that no matter what we do, where we go, who we talk to in town, someone is always watching from their door or window. Last week I got caught walking home from the bus stop in one of the instant downpours that are some infamous in this country during winter. My skirt, shirt and shoes were soaked within minutes, and I think my umbrella served for more comical than practical purposes because it just barely kept the crown of my head dry, nothing else. Of course I was the only person on the street, because Salvadorans have a great way of disappearing indoors within seconds when it starts to rain here. I ended up at home looking and feeling like a drowned rat, but I thought, innocently, that hey at least I had my dignity because no one was outdoors to see me trudge home in such a classy manner. Little did I know a few days later that as I was walking back down the street making pleasantries to people, practically every person I spoke to followed their "buenos dias" and "como estas" with "Ud. se mojo el otro dia." It's wonderful, my community neighbors can't say my name and don't know what I'm doing here, but they sure as anything know me as the girl who got wet a few days ago. Now I'm learning - there's always someone watching, especially when the gringa is flying solo in a rainstorm and the entertainment value is up.

Speaking of learning, there's always something new to learn and attempt to remember each day. Just when I think that it is not humanly feasible to squeeze one more person on a packed city bus heading to town, the driver pulls up at the next stop and 10 more Salvadorans cram themselves into the other passengers. Just when I think I can't utter one more word in Spanish, I find myself giving a ten minute talk about my last vacation using the preterite and imperfect tenses. There are lessons to be learned each day but as of right now, the most prevalent has been that whatever limits I think I knew for myself and for others need to be redefined during my time in Central America. I'm already amazed at how incredibly hard people work and the tiny, significant steps forward that can be gained through presistance - I can only hope that I can fall into place in this mindframe as time goes on.

This upcoming week we are traveling to a remote site in El Salvador to live with a current volunteer for a few immersion days. I'm pretty sure that I will get stupendously lost trying to find my own way on said sardine-packed, crazy music-playing buses to my host volunteer, but should that happen I will just do as the Salvadorans do... end up in Guatemala, buy a coconut water from a street vendor, find out who he knows and crash with his third cousin twice removed for the night before it is safe to retrace my steps by daylight. I'm up for the challenge, remarkably more-so than I would have been 3 weeks ago. Until next time, know that I'm thinking of everyone and wishing you well. Best of luck to Aaron and his abyssmal french in Morocco (just kidding) and to Joe in South Africa... happy 24th bday! Love to all my friends and family.

And so it begins

Its about 2 here as I sit in my host community to finally write a real blog entry. I apologize for the last entry, a few friends and I shared an hours timeon the computer and with my 15 minutes (for which I paid a quarter) I had just enough time to read a few wonderful emails and give a shout out that Im alive. Im able to go into more detail today, training sessions only go until noon on Saturdays.

Life in El Salvador thus far has been a whirlwind of myriad emotions. I should start by saying that my fellow trainees are truly fantastic people, which of course makes this experience that much more enjoyable (and bearable). Its amazing how quickly you can bond with those you have just met over topics such as what type of "churria" (diarrhea) you have and what sorts of animals climb in and out of the latrine you use. Weve lost one person so far, but I think that most of this group is in this experience for the long run. Its encouraging that the dropout rate in El Sal is low, compared to most PC countries. Were not exactly the "Posh" Corps here, but El Sal is a small, fairly modernized country and in that respect, volunteers here have the advantage of being in close proximity to one another and having a few sought after amenities on hand, such as close access to internet, cell phones and flush toilets. There are four of us living with individual families in my host community and were continuously supporting one another and making each other laugh with our daily stories of our experiences adjusting to life here.

For now life is structured to the T. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays we all stay in our respective communities for spanish classes and community contacts, and Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays we travel to the training center in San Vicente to work as an entire group. Our classes in San Vicente consist mostly of learning about the municipal development program in El Sal and what that means to us as volunteers. I finally have some sound answers as to what Ill be doing here for two years. This country is broken up into 14 departments, each with its own governor and a certain number of municipalities. Each municipality is governed by an elected mayor, and its our job to be assigned to one of those mayors (alcalde) and work in the alcaldia. As a volunteer I{ll be able to provide "asistencia tecnica" and help out the city council andcommunity groups to strengthen the projects run out of the alcaldia. Were able to pursue whatever projects we wish, as long as their are a priority in our town. Im not sure yet what types of projects Ill be doing, but that will come in time.

When were not together all of us in San Vicenter were broken up into our community groups in our host sites to practice spanish. Classes can consist of anything from learning grammar to going to the park in town and conversing with someone about the history of the pueblo. On Wed we went into the local primary school and I made friends with 25 4th graders. Our Salvadorena profesora is very patient with us - thank God. We are her "bichos", or young ones, in class, which is quite appropriate given that spanish does not come as easily as I would like. Its difficult to speak all day long in a language when you have to think through each word before you say it. My friends and I constantly comment on volunteers who have gone to countries where they didnt know a word of the language, and how difficult that must be. As stressful as it can be, Im learning and with much practice I hope I can learn enough in the next two months to get by on site in August.

As far as life in El Sal goes, there is much to love and much to get used to. Yes, the dogs bark all night, its always hot and there is always the threat of a bug, type of food or drop of unboiled water to make you ill, but Im surprised already by how trivial these things seem in comparison to the essence of our experience here. I{m even strarting to get used to constantly being stared at and called a gringa. By far what hasmade me the most excited about being here so far has been the Salvadoran people themselves. The only people here who seem to be in a rush are the bus drivers- everyone else has the time to stop, ask how you are and really care about your response. The people in my host community are laid back, friendly and generous, and always willing to engage in conversation about politics, religion, gangs and the economy. Im learning new things each day just by living- for example, if I say "coge el autobus" instead of "escoge el autobus", Ill get laughed at for wanting to "grope" the bus. In particular Im learning to laugh a myself and my mistakes, to roll with the punches and to take everything with a grain of salt.

We have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks - a trip to a current volunteers site on Monday, a trip to the capital San Salvador on Thursday, and in a few weeks, trips to climb the volcano and learn how to surf at the beach. And of course, each night I have my family to get to know and my spanish book to practice with. Im content thus far, although I miss everyone at home and thank you for your continued support and love. There is an internet cafe in town that I can access about once a week, but if youd like to write to me my address is-
PCT Erin Dussault
Cuerpo de Paz - El Salvador
Correo Nacional
Centro de Gobierno
Apartado Postal 1947
San Salvador, El Salvador, Centro America

Please write, Id love to hear from all of you! For now, take care and know that I am wishing you you well.

Hola a todos y todas

I am safely in El Salvador, sitting in an internet cafe in my training town right now with three of my fellow trainees. I don´t have much time, but I wanted to update this to say that I am alive and well! I´m living smack dab in the middle of the country for the next ten weeks for training, and my host family is fantastic. El Salvador is very rainy right now, the bugs are big and the stomach bugs bigger, but there is something incredibly welcoming about this country and the people I have had the pleasure of meeting so far. At the moment, we´re just trying to become accustomed to our families and practice our spanish, but in a few days we´ll begin with spanish classes and community contact projects, such as talks to the students of local schools and small projects that we pursue as trainees. There are 26 of us in total from all over the United States and a few from Australia, and everyone is easy to get along with. There´s much to say and not enough time to say it in, so for now I´ll just say that I miss everyone very much, as well as hot showers and food that doesn´t have beans and tortillas somehow incorporated in it, but the sacrifices seem worth it so far. Of course, I think of all of you often and I look forward to speaking to you via email or phone (ojala!) Much love and God bless, Erin