Carlos Saves el Mundo

Belize

2008-07-20T07:52:00.002-06:00

It finally happened, I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. And to commemorate the event I left El Salvador with a few friends and hit the road for a short vacation in Belize.

Things started off with a real bang. We hopped a bus that we heard about through the grapevine that leaves from the Belize embassy and drops you off in the Belmopan, the capital of Belize. Well when we got there it was tiny and painted like a circus van covered in tourist signs. Things immediately got interesting when the tarp didn't cover the luggage and it rained. After solving that problem, we got going and one of the bags fell off the roof rack. Luckily it wasn't my bag, but we had to stop and re-organize all the luggage on the roof right there on the side of the highway. In the best decision of the day Matt and I decided to have a quick beer in Guatemala before crossing into Belize. It turned out to be the best decision all day because the two people we were supposed to leave at the border weren't being let through, and although we were supposed to leave them, our drivers wouldn't leave. So two hours later we finally loaded up our van and to our surprise, instead of leaving two people, we picked up an extra. Meanwhile through all of this the others in the van talked about us "Gringos" to the drivers, fully aware that all spoke spanish and understood everything. But everything was redeemed upon getting to Bryan's house and finding two large pizzas and cold beers waiting for us. Nothing says welcome like beer, pizza and a friendly face.

The second day was just as adventurous. The plan was to get to Placencia, a beach peninsula in the southern part of Belize, by taking the local buses. Well we got on the 12pm bus and it was like bizarro world. The bus was colorful, but not as colorful as we had been used to. The seats had not been adjusted to try to squeeze in three and two passengers and people weren't elbowing you to rush to the seats. The bizarro kicker was that the vendors started getting on and selling all the old favorites IN ENGLISH. I had never even thought of what to call plantain chips in english until the other day. Two buses and a water taxi later we got to our hotel. We immediately changed and jumped in the ocean where Erin and I were promptly stung by a jellyfish. All was made well by finding a restaurant that served more mexican style food and the Guatemalan waitress was relieved to speak to us in spanish.

The third day had little special to speak of except that it was a pleasant day spent by the beach and exploring Placencia. We had dinner at a tasty restaurant that we picked because there was an englishman playing guitar. Although the qualifications where lax for our restaurant choice, it was very good and I had an awesome piece of fish.

The fourth day was the big one. We had reserved a "Rasta Sail" the previous evening and were desperately hoping for the rain to pass so we could have a good day on our boat. On our way we wanted to stop by the office and see if we were going out or if there was a refund available, however it was closed. So we just went to find the boat and our Rasta Captain. We wound up sailing out into choppy water and driving rain. Angie did her thing and complained most of the way, but we made it to a private caye, appropriately named Sipro Caye (spelled differently than Cipro, but pronounced the same). Once there we swam to shore and Jasp, our Rasta captain, cooked us up a Barracuda and a vegetable dish on an open fire. Then he took us for a snorkel all the way around the island before we got back in the boat and steeled ourselves for a a sail back to shore and more rain.

The fifth day was spent relaxing on the beach again and trying to make proper time to the bus back to Belmopan and Bryan. Again he was our saviour with a pasta and salad and beer as always.

The Most Selfish Thing I Have Ever Done

2008-07-08T08:57:00.002-06:00

Think hard about that. What is the most selfish thing you have ever done? I know I've done my share of selfish things. None of us are free from our childhood fits when we NEEDED that new G.I. Joe or Barbie. Not just childhood flights of fancy, how many of us bought that awesome new album instead of a text book. But I'm not talking small selfish actions, I mean something huge that affected everyone around you. I did something like that. That something was joining the Peace Corps.
I know what everyone is thinking, Peace Corps is a selfless thing to do, not a selfish thing. That is true, I have been working in another country, for the welfare of another people, in another language for changes that I will never be able to enjoy. I am sure everyone who has benefitted from that work is sufficiently thankful. The truth is that I joined the Peace Corps in a large part for selfless reasons, the desire to do something for my fellow man, to live up to the values I have been taught, to give a bit of the bounty that I was born with. But at the same time I would be lying if I was to say that there wasn't substantial selfish motivation as well. On a whole I think I am getting the better part of the benefits of my Peace Corps service.
Peace Corps is and always will be an intensely personal and selfish thing. You are separated from friends and family, cut off from familiar places and things and generally isolated from what you knew. You must develop the courage to confront your new situation, the motivation to get up and do something, the fortitude to withstand failure and the confidence that what you are doing actually matters. When all is said and done here, the only constant of my service is me and what I have learned. I can only hope that the people I worked with picked up even a fraction of the personal knowledge or life experience that I did. However, these people can't help me in my life outside of Peace Corps.
It seems odd that the most selfish thing I have ever done is also the most selfless thing I have ever done, but the two are not mutually exclusive. Nothing seems so contradictory about the fact that helping others also helps yourself. I also don't see a problem in allowing myself to reap some benefits from serving others.

Only What I Want To Do

2008-07-01T11:54:00.000-06:00

Over the past two years I have met with what is both a unique challenge and a unique opportunity. The truth about Peace Corps work is that we have to make it happen ourselves. Although we are supposed to work directly on what our community needs and wants, that doesn't mean that we are obligated to do anything that our community asks. We have the option of picking and choosing our work and projects. Which, when weighed against the fact that we pretty much have to pick our projects then do all the legwork to make them happen, means that we have complete oversight over our work.
So I have been doing only those things that I have wanted to do over the last two years. And if I did anything I didn't want to do, it was completely my fault and nobody else's. I can't think of a time in my life that I can say the same thing about. Before Peace Corps my life consisted almost entirely of school, and although I have a lot to say on that subject, the truth is that I was forever obligated to work on someone else's schedule and turn in projects, papers, and assignments at the whim of somebody else. And I am staring point blank into returning to the US and jumping into work. That means that I will be part of the "normal" working world where I am responsible for deadlines, goals and productivity. And while ideally the goals and efforts of my employer will line up with my own, that isn't always the case and everyone feels some pressure over their work.
So it is with a great appreciation, and a great deal of sorrow that I look back on this mythical experience I have had, in which I am free to do whatever I want, whenever I want with whomever I want and for the most part it is work. For example, one of the Peace Corps' three main goals is to promote cultural understanding on the part of host country nationals, so anytime I stop and talk to people in my town about how life is different here, then I am contributing to that goal. Or choosing not get involved with environment committees in the local schools and not to get involved in other activities like soliciting money to renovate a community center. I have had complete oversight over my time management, my community involvement, my project work, my image and almost every aspect of my life. And while it wasn't a complete change, nor exactly as I would want to lead my life in an ideal situation, it taught me a lot about myself and how I conduct my life.

Dates

2008-06-29T12:49:00.002-06:00

So everyone knows I finally have all my dates relevant to returning to life in the US sorted and plane tickets purchased. On July 15th I cease to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and become a normal American again. That same day I leave for Belize with several of my buddies here to have a good time and drop one friend off to work for Peace Corps in Belize. I get back to El Salvador July 22nd only to rush off to my house, pick up my stuff and my dog and fly to LA on July 26th.

That is where the planning stops. I don't know what I will do in LA or how long I will stay there before leaving for Utah and a more permanent part of my new life. I need to stick around long enough to get my life back in order and get my car packed but I don't really know what that means.

Seeing the Sites

2008-06-10T14:08:00.002-06:00

A while back it began to dawn on me that I have been here over two years at this point and still haven't done many of the things that everyone says are "must sees" in El Salvador. It always sort of happens like that I think. You spend so much time just living and trying to fit in that you forget that you can be a tourist in your own back yard. I mean it wasn't until I was ready to run off to college that I got out and really started to see lots of LA that people from anywhere else think of. Well I decided that with so little time left, it was now or never.

So I called up one of my friends and planned a day out in Juayua. For a brief background, Juayua is a pueblo in the middle of the tallest mountain range in El Salvador and located on what has been deemed the Route of Flowers because of the beautiful scenic nature of the road and the flowers that bloom there year round. Every weekend there is a huge food festival and market in the town square in Juayua, which although I have been to Juayua, I have never managed to get to before. Nearby there are natural waterfalls that flow not from any river, but directly out of the volcanic soil that makes up the mountains. I got up early, met Kelsey in Sonsonate and headed out to hike the waterfalls and then eat to our hearts content.

Along the way we ran into some friends who told us about an archeological site in the middle of a coffee plantation just up the road and decided we had the time and energy to go there as well. It is the site of former Mayan sacrifice and worship. It dates back to the pre-classical period here in El Salvador, and although the vast majority of artifacts have either been removed to the national museum or the owners personal museum, there are still three rock idols remaining and the footprint of the worship area. The idols are round and not of local rock, which indicates that they were moved from a great distance and intentionally set in their positions.

When all was said and done it and done it started to rain while I was headed home. I also missed the last bus into my site, which meant that I had to walk it. I had never attempted that road on foot, only on bus or bike. So I threw on my headlamp and trekked back home with 10 pounds of dog food on my back, rain on my clothes and a smile on my face. I actually managed it in around 35 minutes and beat the bus home.

I would do it all again too.

The End Is Nigh

2008-06-04T21:19:00.002-06:00

In the interim since my last post my life here has been changing considerably. I already shared a bit of the unusual circumstance of sharing a town, a house, work and friends with another volunteer. I am trying not to be in his way and let him start his life. But at the same time, I can't help but be both a little jealous and a little annoyed everywhere I go. People have taken to asking me his whereabouts and why he isn't with me as the first item of conversation everywhere I go. At the same time I know he gets called Carlos all the time and people wonder why he can't really speak spanish, but I can. I imagine it has to be a little more trying for him than it is for me since I am already so comfortable and well known there. But for the most part his presence isn't so much a nuisance as a portent that things are coming to an end.

A few weeks back we had our official Close Of Service (COS) conference which detailed the administrative, personal and work related processes of finalizing our time in Peace Corps and saying goodbye. It was weird to sit there and listen to people telling me what I would feel and how I should go about conducting my last days. As if it was all a little unreal and part of some crazy dream that I knew would happen but never really believed I would participate in. The conference also outlined all sorts of administrative minutiae and reports that are necessary to convert ourselves from PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) into RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers).

So for the past few weeks I have been lazing around my town, and allowing myself to settle into what I call Peace Corps senioritis. I know that I need to start phasing myself out of my work and phasing my replacement in, so I basically send him to the vast majority of scheduled meetings and either don't go, or just sit in the crowd. I don't want to step on his toes you know. Plus I have been writing all manner of reports; formal reports in the third person, informal reports about all my projects, spanish reports with recommendations for my community, quarterly reports and whatnot. In all the slovenliness and report writing I have basically given up reading books and parked myself in front of my computer either writing or watching digital versions of TV shows that my friends have given me (both english and spanish).

For the last 3 days I have been camped in San Salvador for my final Spanish interview and my COS medical evaluations. The Spanish interview went well, I was rated as Advanced Mid, which is only two spots below the highest possible on Peace Corps propietary language scale, the highest spot basically reserved for only native speakers. As far as COS med, it is a lot of pooping in cups, running around to appointments and waiting around to see doctors or get results. I make use of some of the down time to hang out with some friends that I don't see very often and to take care of some of the other administrative stuff like final evaluations, closing talks with staff members and other things like that. Fortunately it still leaves my evenings free to hang with Sam and Angie who I scheduled my COS med with.

We are staying at our friend Amir's place and living in style for at least a short time. Tonight we crashed a catering open house that another friend had a table at. It was meant for people who were planning to host events like weddings to come and see what was available, but we used it for a free dinner and better food than we could ever hope to afford on our salary. I have to say it was one of the best nights of my Peace Corps experience.

Tomorrow I have more of the same medical stuff, but I am buying a plastic kennel to fly Kaya home in. The thought is that since the Country Director and my Program director are coming to my sight for my final Sight Assessment, I can buy a kennel and hitch a ride in the Peace Corps vehicle to get myself and the kennel back home in.

Considering the general pace of my life over the past two years I never really realized that PC could be this much of a rat race at the end. I mean I am rushing all over for appointments and meetings and struggling to fit in time for friends and my site. I mean I haven't been home since Sunday night, but after I get home on Friday I am heading out on Saturday to get some quality time with another friend before my time and hers are both too hectic to see each other. Luckily I don't feel much guilt about work or my site (besides my close friends there) because I have my replacement there to pick up my slack.

Welcome Matt

2008-05-14T08:55:00.002-06:00

I have a new house and a new volunteer. I knew there was a possibility that a new volunteer would be assigned to my site in the new group and that I would have to share my town for a while. Well the possibility is now a reality and he is a pretty cool guy, so I lucked out. Since he is a guy I offered to live with him, and immediately afterwards Lipe (old neighbor) offered me one of his houses which is twice as large as my old one for the same price. So now Matt and I moved into what is either my 4th or 5th house depending on how you want to count. So I am averaging a different house every 6 months of my Peace Corps service. The new house is huge and what I am most excited about actually has sinks, two of them. Those are indoor sinks. Plus, the bathroom and shower are indoors. I don't really care for indoor bathroom and showers anymore since it means water and smells IN the house, but the sinks and a counter in the kitchen are godsends.

Otherwise life is good. I made it back to El Salvador in one piece after my vacation in the US with no other problems than a small fear of populated elevators. The swearing in and party were fun and I enjoyed hosting some friends at the Sheraton again. I will have to invent a reason to come in a get a room in the future. I am still not terribly into large parties of the sort that we had, but I go for the sake of seeing other volunteers. It gives me a chance to see people in a different situation. Namely with their hair down, ready to have a good time, and actually cleaned up and looking like people. Unfortunately it comes with the inevitable party problems. A few people get a little too drunk, there is always the noise in the club and the general chaos of getting around San Sal at night.

Slowly the reality of the last swearing in, having a new volunteer in my site and going to my COS (close of service) conference is making the reality sink in that I have more than just one foot out the door. Already I am jealous of Matt because people in my town have so readily started trying to get him to come to things and not me. I will have to deal with that and just allow myself to slowly get phased out. My PSP is helping. Plus having a new house to get organized helps too.

Urban Safari

2008-04-07T12:05:00.003-06:00

Yup those are baby lions we are holding. I don't really know why they were at the mall or why they were letting people hold them, but the travelling circus had baby lions. Of course when presented with the opportunity to take this photo we jumped on it. I mean who wouldn't?

I Spoiled My Appetite

2008-04-05T14:48:00.002-06:00

Yes that is right, I went to my friend's house last night to have dinner as I usually do and I wound up ruing my appetite before they could make my dinner. First I should describe my usual dinner: a small piece of fresh cheese, some beans (usually similar to refried) and an egg cooked in salsa. That gets the job done, but yesterday I couldn't even eat that. Why, you ask? Mangos.
Yes, I spoiled my appetite by eating about 5 mangos before I called it quits and told Javi (my friend's son) that if I ate anymore I wouldn't eat dinner and I would probably get the runs. But its mango season and I have to hurry to eat the mangos the way I like them before they are all too ripe, or worse gone. I like them when they are green on the outside and just turning orange inside. That is when they are still a tad crispy, not acid anymore, but not sweet-sweet yet and dan't leave strings in your teeth. Plus, if you put a little salt on there they are just awesome. Of course there is always the line of too much of a good thing and I think I nearly crossed it last night. Luckily I didn't.
I look forward to a few more mangos today.

Internet Links

2008-03-22T13:44:00.003-06:00

Ok, since I am currently stuck in San Salvador due to yesterday's lack of transport and my opinion that going home would be a waste of time just to leave again early tomorrow I am enjoying a degree of free time in the office and looking at the internet.

First a link to a YouTube page for Municipal Development for Peace Corps, El Salvador full of videos I edited:
http://www.youtube.com/user/munielsal

Second, a fun link with an essay outlining the theory that Calvin and Hobbes (my favorite comic strip)grew up to be the characters of Fight Club:
Calvin and Hobbes in Fight Club

Third, a comical indictment of religion posing as science which came up last night in a discussion regarding Scientology and Intelligent Design:
Pastafarian

I want to talk a little more about the first link. I don't know how often I mentioned it, but I did a huge amount of work on a Municipal Development documentary for Peace Corps, El Salvador for use as an informational video and training tool. This YouTube page represents our solution to distributing it to friends and family to help better explain what it is we actually do. Until now I had sort of forgotten it because instead of going to my In Service Training I was on vacation in Belize and missed my boss's official announcement of the page eventhough I helped him put it together. I really hope that everyone that reads this blog takes the time to watch some of the clips and tell their friends about it. I also plan to make it a permanent link on the right side.

Have I Changed?

2008-03-07T13:04:00.001-07:00

Everyone talks so much about how Peace Corps changes your world view and how you see your every day life. I believe them and then at the same time I find myself questioning that nearly every day. Lately I have been meditating on whether I can discern a change in my behavior.

On at least one point, how I deal with beggars, I find I am completely unchanged. I don't know whether to blame my college years in Berkeley, my American upbringing, my personal attitude or what, but I know that I don't see a change. I am, if anything, asked for handouts more regularly here than anywhere else I have ever lived in my life. Yet I still coldly turn everyone down. It breaks my heart a little every time I sit back and think about it because I want to be different, and at least on face value I am here to help relieve the effects of poverty on Salvadorans.

I don't do it with a cold heart. In fact I really do want to do something to help, but handouts just aren't the way I can see to help. First things first, I am one of the most recognizable people in my town and if I give even one cent to anyone, then everyone will know and come running to me. I can't really have that happening. But that still isn't the whole story. I encounter the same problem of drunks begging that people regularly encounter in the US. It is fairly pronounced, and while they run off to get their liquor, they are actually destitute in every sense of the word. Still I can't bring myself to support that way of life.

I understand there is a cause and effect question here. Perhaps their poverty and nearly non-existent chance at improving that life leads to the alcoholism, perhaps not. There is always the classic "they are drinking their little bit of money away and can't work because they are drunk" argument. Honestly I see both sides, but it doesn't change how I act.

So in the face of all this, what does it really say about me? Am I changed?

Better Late Than Never

2008-03-01T10:43:00.002-07:00

So I meant to update my blog a week ago when I finished translating with my friend Dan and his Medical Campaign. Basically what I have to say about it is WOW! Dan works for a Lutheran organization here in El Salvador and he helps organize trips of various Lutheran church groups to do public service trips here and then he acts as their translator. Occasionally, like last week he needs help translating because one person is just not enough.

The first thing I need to say is that the group in general was an interesting mix and, being mid-westerners, were amused by almost everything. The kind of amusement that can get old in a matter of minutes, especially when they are constantly pointing out what have become common, everyday sights to me. I have gotten a little used to being the entertainment while people let their Peace Corps curiosity run wild, but this took the cake.

After finally getting used to their personalities I started to translate for one of them that was testing for reading glasses. That is a thankless and boring job because its basically endlessly asking the same question and guessing at which glasses they need. Plus its not exactly medical, I mean they were just reading glasses. I got fed up after about 30 people came back telling me their vision was blurred and I had to repeat for the millionth time to take off the glasses, they are only for reading. Then I discovered that the guy I was translating for was an electrician. I gave up and moved over to an actual medical area.

That is where all the madness started. I moved to help a nurse take triage type info before sending the patients to one of the doctors. Well I basically helped figure out what was going on with some of the people that were a bit more embarrassed or less forthcoming. I heard more about lots of body parts than I ever really cared to, but I credit a medical family for not even batting an eye when I was being told all that stuff. I esencially diagnosed what we believe to be a case of chlymidia when the guy was telling me he had UTI like symptoms. I knew something was up then and just took over for the nurse. The doctor had to do a private exam and then we had to convince him to bring in his girlfriend. It turns out she had a nursing child and didn´t want to take the drug coctail. We finally convinced them both to take it by explaining that she probably had it and was giving it back to him after every treatment and that was why it wasn´t going away, additionally it could cause her to be infertile. That did it.

Later on the second day right as we were cleaning up a girl came in with a huge absess on her leg and the doctors decided to immediately cut it open, drain it and bandate it. All sounds routine, but we had no sterile water, no drainage kits and only dental syringes and lidocaine. So they numbed it with the dental lidocaine and flushed it with the same and then used a sterile glove finger as a McGyver drain. Meanwhile Dan and I are translating what is going on to the poor girl and her Aunt who was with her. The amount of crying, consoling and medical jargon flying around was nuts and I was sort of running around helping out. I felt a little like a scrub-tech. All went well though and the girl is better for it.

Afterwards I spent a few days relaxing and getting some personal time in. I promised Alana, who is leaving, that we would hang out and I would get a salon haircut before she left. So I did that and now I am sporting a bit of a feauxhawk. I also hung out with Mirna and her family, who Samuel met, for their daughter´s second birthday. That was all so necessary between the hectic translating and this last week because work is seriously picking up in my site. I am riding all over the place on bikes with my counterpart setting up school environmental committees and planning activities with the kids. It will be a packed last few months.

2008-02-20T16:18:00.002-07:00

Just thought that since I am at the office and have internet access I would post some of the photos on my camera from the Belize trip including this gorgeous panorama. There are lots of good shots of fishing and some off road Golf Cart action though.

I am off to do a bit of translating. Then when I get back I will be working on a map for a safety and security presentation. Interesting stuff for me, but unfortunately very boring to talk about.

Back from Vacation

2008-02-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that means I am back in El Salvador, and I think I need a day or two more to re-adjust after the amazing vacation I just took.

It started with renting a car and picking my brother up at the airport. Renting a car was something a little crazy for me, not that I haven't driven since I entered Peace Corps, but I hadn't driven in El Salvador yet and it was a trip. I hope he enjoyed briefly seeing my town, because it was nice to finally have someone come and see how I live and actually understand a bit of what I have been saying. As much as I try to explain it, I don't think people often really understand without actually seeing and doing.

The actual trip was fantastic and I don't think I want to describe it too much because that would take forever. Needless to say the food was one of the highlights for me because I just don't get anything that I would qualify as "cuisine" ever. Even the random down time was fantastic since I was constantly laughing at something that one of the three of us said. We played a lot of cards and just chatted quite a bit, which suited me fine because I don't get to relax with friends or family all that often. Plus relaxing is sort of the pace of life I am used to by now.

For sites, Actun Tunichil Muknar (I hope I spelled it correctly) took the cake and I want to upload photos as soon as I can. Basically it was a cave that we had to hike, swim, wade and climb to get into and once inside we saw the remains of Mayan sacrifices including human remains. That was totally my speed because not only did we see Mayan remains, but all the other outdoors stuff was an added bonus. Not that anything else we did was shabby, I mean we went snorkeling, diving, saw Tikal (the largest Mayan Pyramids in Central America) and golf carted around. I hope to have pictures up at some point.

The icing on the cake however was that my SIM card got stolen on my return trip to El Salvador. This after Samuel's phone and SIM got stolen when we were leaving. So I couldn't call home or the Peace Corps when I got in. Today I managed to talk a phone company person into getting me a SIM with the same phone number though and I am connected and ready to face the world again.

2008-01-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

First things first I have been slowly working on that piece of art for a while now for multiple reasons. First, my computer doesn't like huge photoshop files and likes to choke on them, so I can't work on it very much at one sitting. Second it is a completely new style for me and it took some time to figure out and decide how I wanted to work with it. But after stewing over it for so long I thought I would upload it and let it see the light of day. I don't really consider it finished so there will likely be a future version fixed up and with a mild background.

About my life I have been feeling both bored on a relational level and hectic rushing around. Two more of my closest Peace Corps buddies left about 10 days ago and slowly but surely the reality that Peace Corps volunteers in a country are in a constant state of flux is getting to me. I mean of all the people I used to hang out with this time last year, one remains and because of my move she is really far away. So I have been dealing with a form of the loneliness that comes and goes here. Mostly it takes the form that when I am bored and need to talk to someone, I don't know who to call or text so I just sit around and keep my thoughts to myself. To top all of that off, my boss Bryan, who is amazing, is leaving to take a better position with Peace Corps in Belize at the end of the month. Sad for us, but amazing for the volunteers in Belize. Unfortunately I will miss his last days because of the vacation that I am going on at the end of the month.

However I have been running back and forth all over the place quite a bit lately. I have started to install and train people in other sites to use my database that I was working on so heavily and so far it has taken me to two different volunteer's sites. Both were decently near by and fun to see. I have also been putting lots of touch up work into the documentary and now another internet short that I was working on for the Municipal Development program here. These sort of became a rush issue to get them done while Bryan is still around and so that I can see Bryan before he is gone. I feel like I haven't really done any work in my town for a long time, mostly because the City Hall was closed until recently and also because I have been running around so much. I'm trying to settle down until Samuel comes so I can feel like I got lots of good community time in before I run off again. But at the same time it vacation time. It has been since last May since I really took anything that resembled a real vacation, so I am very ready for this.

New Years

2008-01-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of keeping people up to date with my life and because I have been around lots of internet connected computers, I will let you know what I did for New Years.

I hopped on a bus with Kaya and went to a beach in La Libertad called El Tunco. That roughly translates to The Pig. I have heard two different stories about why it is called that, one is that a large rock in the water looks like a pig, the other is that when pigs were being created, they came to the beach to bathe and party and someone saw it. I am inclined to think both are false because I don't think pigs were "created" or that they came in from the ocean, also I think that the rock looks nothing like a pig. Anyway, a bunch of volunteers were there and we had a whole hostal reserved for ourselves. It was a bit of a mad house between my dog, the Crowe's dog and the various dogs that lived there and the multitude of volunteers. I tried letting Kaya have some freedom off the leash, but she quickly demonstrated just how much of a puppy she was, so she spent the rest of the time on the leash.

The actual party was a mixed bag of volunteers in various states of drunkeness and a few of their parents or embassy friends. I mostly abstained because I wasn't in the best shape for drinking and I had my dog with me. But I did enjoy the hijinks and the company. Plus I got a wicked sunburn, which may be worse than a hangover since it lasts a bit longer.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

For Christmas this year I accepted my boss's invite to an open house type party on the 25th not because I really wanted to celebrate Christmas, but because I wanted to see all my Peace Corps buddies and so that I didn't have to be lame and lonely. The side effect of that decision was that there was no transport to/from my site on the 25th, so I had to leave and go somewhere for the 24th, which can be a little crazy here.
The decision I made was to ride my bike to my friend Sam's house in Candelaria which is about 15Km or about 10 miles. It wasn't too rough a ride, but it was windy, and with my luck the wind was blowing right in my face and slowing me down to a crawl. But I made it after a little work and got to Candelaria. I was a bit on the hungry side after that long ride and the small lunch I had to avoid a stomach ache. I had completely forgotten that dinner on the 24th is often eaten very late at night. What I was also pleasantly unaware of until getting to Sam's is that his family intended to take me to mass with them. We went a bit early, which directly contradicts everything that I have come to expect of timeliness in El Salvador. So Sam and I went over to hang out with Sarah, the former volunteer there who was visiting her old host family, and to kill the time. To my utter surprise Sarah immediately introduced me as jewish, which flung her host father into a tirade about why my "race" insists on inculcating hate in their children and murdering arabs. I just sort of smiled and waited it out. Then I went to church and played the nice catholic boy attending mass. Then they got communion all ready and my stomach decided to remind me just how hungry I was. It was screeming at me "you go get that wafer, you suck it up and get me that wafer!" Never in my life have I wanted to receive communion more than I did on Christmas Eve.
Then the morning of the 25th we hopped a ride with Sarah back to San Sal and got ready for the party at Bryan's.

Always Surprising

2007-12-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

After five years living in a fraternity house and more than a year and a half in The Saviour I thought I had seen just about every random thing that I could see. On the 22nd I saw something that brought the two together like never before. I was invited along with some of the young people in my community to go to a pool/restaurant (think tiny water park). The first surprise, which in all honesty shouldn't have surprised me, was that a church group showed up and set up a portable mass in the middle of water park. Only here would anyone think to combine pools and mass. I felt a little guilty because I was there with my buddies and we were drinking a bit, though trying to be a bit inconspicuous. Nothing says El Salvador to me like a nice jewish boy having a beer in the middle of mass.
Then in the middle of all the madness I spied someone in a shirt that looked a little familiar. On closer inspection it said "Semper Pi". I realized rather quickly that it was an Alpha Epsilon Pi shirt that was a knock off of a US Marines shirt. I had seen that shirt before at a convention so the rest of it I could recite from memory, "The Few, The Proud, The Circumcised". I decided then and there that he had no idea what he was wearing and it was my duty to inform him. Luckily I knew the word in spanish for circumcision and was capable of fully explaining it to him. He seemed incredulous at best upon being informed that he was wearing a shirt advertising someone had sliced him up a bit. Then he one upped my by changing into an AEPi Stands With Israel shirt. Yes that is correct, the very same shirt that was sold at convention and given to all the brothers that went on birthright. I had to explain that shirt too. I had to explain that almost all my friends from college had that exact same shirt. Then the incredulous Salvadoran started asking me all about what Alpha Epsilon Pi was, which led to me explaining fraternities a bit, and realizing that the relatively simple act of explaining a circumcision led to a full scale discussion about fraternities to a Salvadoran who had never heard of either before in his life. I was in a bit over my head and I gracefully bowed out when one of my friends called to me.
The rest of the day was spent in the pool or on the water slides with my buddies and their kids. I never thought playing in a kiddy pool with a 2 year old could be so much fun, but I learn new things every day here in El Salvador.

Fiestas!

2007-12-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have mentioned to a few people that my town has been in the midst of Fiestas Patronales, or the yearly patron saint festivals. The time of year depends on who the patron saint of the town is, but by some happy coincidence my new town and my old town have the same saint and therefore the same dates for fiestas.

My current town, El Porvenir, has a larger and more full schedule for the fiestas than my old town though. It all started a little while back with the election of the queen for the fiestas. I was invited to sit at the table of honor, not really knowing what to expect, but not really wanting to turn down an invite either. So I showed up on time, which was foolish because lets be honest, its El Salvador. Well to my surprise it turned out to be a full scale beauty pageant. I was a little shocked to see how young the girls looked, and really shocked when they started announcing their ages, chest sizes, waist sizes and weights. I mean I didn't need to know that the sort of cute one was 14 and only weighed 98 pounds. That was what got me, there was no second thought of parading a bunch of underage girls in front of 100s of ogling men. Needless to say things weren't all of that calibre.

Most of the activities are small parades for the various queens and such. Some are parades with kids in masks like above. Others are just people doing dances and enjoying hearing themselves on microphones.

My favorite event was a BMX bike show where people were doing flips and such. I mean these were amateur Salvadorans that they brought in. Not all of them did flips, lots just did basic jumps or took their hands off the handles. They guy pictured got major air and did a flip over another guy. I almost lost it when I noticed he was close to hitting the flags and then almost clipped the guy below him as he came down. You can see he is coming in a bit low. After that there was a skateboarding event, all part of extreme sports day. I didn't really enjoy the skateboarding as much, but I did get out of the sun for it, which was nice. Plus there was good music for the skateboarding.

One of the days was Tropical Invasion, which just meant lots of live bands, none of which were even slightly tropical. I enjoyed the first one which was a ska band of sorts. Last night there was a rock band in the park which I listened to for a while until I could hear my ears ringing from the volume and then left. They were good, but I don't understand the Salvo obsession with volume.

I bought a bike and today I am off on my bike to have a meeting about improved stoves then hand out permission slips to kids who I am taking to the camp later this month. Fun stuff.

Thanksgiving and Beyond

2007-11-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last year I hung out with Stephen and Barbara and we cooked chili at Stephen's house. This year I did manage to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. It is sort of a Peace Corps norm here to organize groups of Volunteers to stay with Embassy families and eat and drink and be merry. However this year there were more Volunteers than the Embassy could provide families, so Barbara and I went and stayed with another American couple who work for a Christian NGO called Samaritan's Purse. We had a good time and most importantly lots of good food. Unfortunately they had work early the following morning, so we got dropped off at the Peace Corps office a little before 7.

Since there was a game yesterday in San Miguel, I decided to relax on the 23rd in the capital and spend the evening with Kelsey to celebrate her birthday. During the day, with lots of time on my hands and most volunteers still crashing from turkey overload and the shock of staying in a nice house, I decided to go to the Anthropology Museum. I liked it. It was a little on the small side from an American or European stand point. I know that archeology was a relatively recent movement here and isn't so well followed right now, so I was prepared for a relative dearth of artifacts. Still the museum had some good stuff and information that the residents here just don't know. I was aware of a sign that said there was an archaeological site in Cara Sucia while I was living there, but the people brushed it off telling me it was nothing and that nothing ever came from it. Not true apparently, Cara Sucia was one of the earliest known cultural centers here and pre-dates the classical period with the Pipil Indians, keeping active until shortly before the colonial period. So there were some pleasant shocks, but I think they need to spend more time and energy on the cultural and historical background in the museum and cut back on the religion display (which is mostly modern christian) and the artisan display (also mostly modern) because they don't really give anything that you can't find everywhere here.

Kelsey's birthday was relaxed. We hit up Tony Roma's in typical American style and had burgers, desserts and some drinks. Mostly she wanted to just relax and hang out, so that is what we did.

Then yesterday I went to San Miguel for the monthly soccer game. Man oh man was it a scorcher. I think I very nearly got heat stroke and Ryan, another volunteer, I think did. I say I think I nearly got heat stroke because luckily we had substitutes and I could get off the field, drink some water and hang in the shade for 5 minutes or more. There was a pretty intense play where I (playing midfield) ran from a deep defensive position to push an offensive drive, but our lack of footwork caused a turnover and I had to turn an sprint back down the field. I chased my man down, got a defensive stop and cleared the ball. As soon as I could I called for a sub and got off. I managed to get all the way off the field, heave a little and then vomited a bit in the trash can. It was epic according to one of the Volunteers. So I relaxed a bit and had some water and cooled off before jumping back in to finish up the game.

After the game we hurried off to San Miguel for Carnaval, a once yearly festival that takes over the city and has music at nearly every street corner, a parade, dancing in the streets and just an all over the city good time. Erin, who organized the game, also organized a hotel in San Miguel so we were safe to go out and have a good time. I didn't stay out too late or drink too much since I didn't want to wind up severely dehydrated or worse. It was a good time, but I don't think I would do it again even if I were going to be here. Several Volunteers had attempted pickpockets. We were all prepared and didn't carry any phones, cameras, wallets or such like that so no harm no foul. Big huge festivals just aren't my scene. But I chalk it all up to getting a cultural experience and seeing more of the country.

Right now I am passing through San Salvador on my way back home to Santa Ana. I've been away from home for a few days and I want to get back to my dog and my new bike. Plus I need to get working on my part of the youth camp we are putting on in December. I am excited about that since it will be at Lago Coatepeque, a beautiful crater lake not too far from where we all live.

Getting Along

2007-11-01T16:01:00.000-06:00

Since Juayua not much has been happening. Life has slowed down a bit in my new site and things are starting to run like they always do. Missed meetings, no transport, people not showing up on time... all the things that drive Peace Corps volunteers nuts about working in El Salvador.

I've been driving myself nuts checking on my dog constantly and worrying about leaving her for more than a few hours. Basically I'm afraid she'll chew off her little splint. Its just coban and its tough to keep a dog from chewing it off. I tried hot sauce and aloe, which worked a bit. Now I just have to deal with the funky smell of her splint every time she comes limping around.

I got away for a day to get up to a soccer at another volunteer's site in Metapan, Santa Ana. It was gorgeous, one of the most gorgeous places I have seen in this whole country. We had the privilege of playing in the shadow of a waterfall. How often do you get to play on a field on a mountain with a waterfall in the background and goats on the field? Seriously, and not only was it gorgeous, but we won for once. They didn't put in a whole new team in the second half like usual. All in all a great game and a great night spent hanging out afterwards. We stayed in two cabins overlooking the valley below. We cooked an improvised dinner of chicken fajitas, chorizo and burgers which were all amazing.

I have almost finished my municipal promotion database which I planned to have implemented by January 1st. This should give me plenty of time to troubleshoot and fix it up so other volunteers can get it installed in their municipalities too. Then I will have a great reason to go around visiting volunteers and installing databases in various places around the country. I'm actually rather excited about it.

In January I think a few of us are going to put together a thinking outside the box camp. That basically means we will take a few kids from each of out communities to a site out on a lake and give some presentations about creative thinking and problem solving. Thrown in will be some fun ice breakers and soccer games and whatnot. Should be fun.

Unexpected

2007-10-16T22:20:00.000-06:00

Life is moving at a rapid pace for me now. Last week was a good week in general. I got a lot accomplished comparatively and there were some pleasant surprises along the way.
I'll start by talking about work. I met 3 girls, two that have previously received scholarships and are trying to renew them and one whose family is so poor that she sought me out to try to get a scholarship so she could go to tenth grade. I helped all three of them fill out their forms and made a mad dash to San Sal to turn in the two that were due yesterday, October 15th. Since I hadn't really been working on anything of that type until now it is both fulfilling and depressing to see that school is so affordable and yet families still can't rummage enough to send their kids. I'm desperately hoping that all three of these girls get their scholarships. Two are just trying to get through high school and the third is looking to get to a university, which is dreaming bigger than 90% of everyone I have met in this country. I'm crossing my fingers.
For pleasant surprises, I got a few amazing phone calls almost back to back on friday. First, to my surprise, Rebecca called me from France. It knocked me for a loop. I had talked to her not that long ago while she spent her brief stint in the US between France and Japan, but I didn't expect a call from so far. Needless to say it was like a breath of fresh air speaking to a friend from home that isn't part of my family. Then just afterwards Fabio, my host dad from training, called who I haven't seen in months. It was just nice to hear from him and it lifted my spirits even more. So by mid-day Friday I was on a bit of a high. I had a great meeting with an NGO who works on environmental concerns in my Municipio, I spoke to Rebecca, and then Fabio called.
Then the weekend came and life continued to be good. Mirna, the woman that runs the comedor that I eat in, offered me one of her tanks of propane so I don't have to cough up the extra $32 to replace the tank I left behind in my hasty move. Plus she made me the best pan relleno I have had since I was living near San Vicente. So you know, a pan relleno is like french bread stuffed with vegetables, chicken, cheese and other goodness cooked in chicken broth. That doesn't really do it justice, but it was amazing. I also purchased two artisan made tables that I should take possession of next week.
Right now I am in Juayua, a beautiful mountain community that is cool and just generally nice to be in. I am here for a regional meeting of volunteers and taking advantage of some free WiFi. Unfortunately blessings come with curses, and I decided to bring Kaya, who proceeded to either break a toe, or almost break a toe upon meeting so many cool new people. So tomorrow I will take her for a second opinion to a Vet I trust in Santa Ana. Quite frankly I think its broken, but the vet said no and gave her a cortisone shot. She is limping pretty bad though and it isn't looking any better. So much for trying to take care of her, it just isn't possible with a puppy in this country. Cross your fingers for her.

Ok, So I'm Settled I guess

2007-10-09T14:09:00.000-06:00

Well after a little time I am what should be called settled in and getting work under way. I say should be called settled in, because as usual I am a bit slow about getting things purchased and getting my house completely set up. I still don't have a table, a place to put my cooking range or a propane tank since the move. I am experiencing the same laziness of a year ago, where it takes a bus ride to a city to purchase anything, and arguing about delivery or paying a pickup in order to get said things back to my house. So for now, no stuff, and that means I either do my work on the floor, or laying in my hammock. It also means an almost dead stop to my creative impulses a la photoshop since that for sure requires some work surface and free time at home. For now the plan is to contract someone local to hand make me a table and a little cooking stand.

However work has already taken an upswing and gone for a bit of the same. Yesterday I went and met the two girls in my town who receive scholarship money and made plans to fill out their forms for next year. Today I was supposed to go with my counterpart to a canton to help a school group form and environmental committee, but somehow when I got there, they left without saying a word to me, even after I confirmed that I would go yesterday. So ups and downs as I expected, but overall positive. I have done some work on the database I was working on before and plan to get it up and running on my counterpart's computer by the start of the year. Sometime this week the NGO that helped with a tree project and a stove project with the last volunteer is returning for a meeting, so I hope to crash it and get in on the ground floor of any work that can be done in my municipality.

I have also reaffirmed my love for hammocks in the past two weeks. In fact Kaya has sort of adapted to pushing me in her own annoying way. When I lay in my hammock for extended periods of time and start ignore her, she runs into me from below, sometimes causing me to resume swinging, other times stopping my swinging altogether. But she wants human contact and I suppose ramming speed is the best way to get it when I'm nose deep in a book and swinging away.

In other news I am thinking of getting a bike which would ease my transport problems around my area and get in a little exercise at the same time. Some time soon I will go check out bike and used bike prices. Just hope I am not my usual lazy self and wind up putting it off until it is no longer worth it.

Fresh Year, Fresh Start

2007-09-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

In what I feel is a somewhat appropriate turn of events in my life, immediately following Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, two holidays that stress making a fresh start, I have picked up and moved to a new town in El Salvador. Most everything in my life is all upside down right now. My house is similar in size to my last one, but not as nice. I finally have water 24 hours a day, but there is no light in the bathroom and I don't think I can drink it this time around. I'm paying more for my house, but the backyard is shared and I don't really have a place to let my dog run around except on my poorly fenced in porch. In addition I don't have a backyard where she can do her stuff, so that means at least a short walk every time I come home and her constantly hanging out at the door for one reason or another. The people are friendly enough, but I am dealing with a bit of the opportunistic trying to take advantage of the new "gringo" in town.

So far though I am happy I pulled the trigger and got myself to a new town. I have been given a chance to start over that most volunteers never get and I am hoping to take full advantage of it. I am hoping to identify all those things that I did which contributed to the failures in my previous site and do whatever I can to prevent them. Already I am happy to be living so close to my counterparts. Last night I had a pleasant talk with the new mayor while walking home, something that never would have happened before because the mayor didn't live in town and furthermore, he seemed rather indifferent to me from the first day. The school has a good amount of computers, so I had a meeting to check them out this morning and see what sort of state they are in and what programs are on them. I hope to get a few more good learning programs on them and possibly shake up how they are teaching computer use a bit. In addition I would love to get internet in there.

Meanwhile I am exploring Santa Ana, the closest city, for the first time today accompanied by a few of my Volunteer friends.

I would love to write everything on my mind with regards to the time of the year and the move, but I don't know that people want to read a post loaded down with theology or that I have the cash to pay for the time that would require at the internet cafe. Suffice to say it feels good and I wanted to share.

2007-09-21T16:03:00.000-06:00

I missed it before, but L'Shana Tova. And for today, I hope everyone has an easy fast. I'll be staying with my Peace Corps country director for Yom Kippur and attending the Temple in San Salvador.

Check out the photos I just uploaded of Engineers without Borders that came to my area and stayed at my house. Just click the Webshots gallery link on the right. -->

Night By Candlelight

2007-09-09T17:20:00.000-06:00

So I am sure we have all been caught in power outtages before, they happen right? Well I got caught in a pretty long one, from just before 6 p.m. to around 11.

First and foremost I want to stress that cooking by candlelight is not an easy task. I had started to cook just before the sun was going down, chopping vegetables and whatnot. As it got dark I moved on to carrots, right then it started to rain fairly hard. Just as I was peeling the carrot with my rediculously sharp American knife, the power went out. So for the record, attempting to peel a carrot without any light and with a very small, very sharp knife is most likely a very bad idea. I was simply too lazy to go get my candle, expecting the power to come back on any minute. I mean usually the power goes out for 5 minutes max. Well I was wrong and I had to give up the good fight against the carrot and give in to the candle and my head lamp. Some boiling pasta and a simmering sauce later I realized that my head lamp needed new batteries and I most likely could not get them in the pouring rain and pitch black outside, if a tienda were even open.

So I sat back to enjoy my sorta cajun, sorta seafood pasta by the meager light of a candle and I sat thinking about what I would do for the night. There really ins't much to do with the power out, as you can guess, so I settled for just eating my pasta in the by candlelight, wondering why that passes for romantic.

Once the reality actually set in that the power wasn't coming back on any time soon, I busted out my lame little headlamp and decided to read until the batteries gave out, which lasted about until 9 p.m. By then the only things left in my house with power were my iPod and my computer, so I settled in my hammock and put on some tunes, reflecting on exactly why many Salvadorans get up so early. Not that I never thought of it before, but it became painfully clear that they get up early not to work early, but because they go to bed so early. After six it is pitch black, and lots of Salvadorans either don't have electricity, or never got accustomed to using it to stay up late. It is only the young kids and the drunkards that are ever out past 8 or 9 in my town anyway, that is why I am almost always back in my house by then.

So feeling well adjusted, but not exactly exhausted, I leaned over and blew out the candle a little earlier than I had planned. It was a relaxing evening, interupted only by the blast of the lights I forgot to turn off waking me up.

Now I am desperately awaiting any sort of contact from an Engineers Without Borders chapter because I need to arrange them housing and food, but I lost the dates and I know it is coming up. Additionally, I have no idea if I will be able to be around during those days or not because of the High Holidays and other administrative concerns. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they told me the 17th, I don't know why that date sticks out in my head, but it does. Also the 12th sticks out, but I am hoping it is only because it is both Rosh Hashana and Rebecca's birthday.

P.S. I put up some new stuff at DeviantArt

Opening Day

2007-08-23T15:53:00.000-06:00

Every now and again we all get the chance to take part in a "cultural experience". I'm not talking about the Cultural Experience stuff like Fiestas that everyone recognizes as part of the culture and something to take part in, I'm talking about the everyday sort of stuff that nobody would ever know is different or special until you stop and explain it to them.

Not to long ago in Cara Sucia a new supermarket opened and I had the opportunity to be there for it's grand opening. Things were a bit crazy. I mean Car Sucia always has street vendors, but they were crowded outside the Despensa Familiar with unusual concentration and selling fewer products than usual. It was rather noisy, but I couldn't really see what was going on because of the crowd and all the vendors. I sort of pushed my way through and into the parking lot. It was then that I noticed that there two DJ's in the parking lot, along with a moon bounce and several little stands to sign people up for cell phones and whatnot. I forged on ahead and moved inside. Indoors I found another DJ in hte bag check area, where I gave over my bag in exchange for a locker key and a hand basket. I made my way through the free Salva Cola gauntlet and finally I was inside and ready to shop.

I first made my way to the bread, hoping to snag my whole wheat bread at a better price than usual. That wasn´'t happening, my way was blocked by a crowd of youngsters hoping to get a hold of some balloon animals that the Bimbo (bread company) reps were making. So I decided to move on and found my way to soups, where for all the hub-bub they only had one variety. Ok, so that was excuseable, salvadorans pretty much only eat one variety anyway. Over to the snacks now, I picked out a few I liked. I couldn't just add them to my basket though, the friendly woman had to put a labeled bag on each individual snack item to emphasize the fact that I had chosen Diana brand snack products. Finally after similar experiences in each and every aisle I decided it was time to bail. I paid, recovered my bag and got out.

In the parking lot I stopped to reflect that the old market was far better: less crowded, more variety, similar prices, and no DJ's, clowns, balloon animals, moon bounces, give aways or other distractions that really just masked the lack of products. De Todo, you will remain my market for as long as it takes.

Local Beer

2007-08-20T20:02:00.000-06:00

It has been a tradition for me to get around to new places and try a local Beer when I am there. I just added another beer to that list. I have now had Salvavida in Honduras. It is one of their big national brands and reminds of Coors for the most part. A little bitter, not too dark and smooth enough to drink a few if you want. Nothing great though.

Honduras was pretty, at least Roatan was. It reminded more of the Carribbean than Central America because the island is home mostly to African Americans left there as a result of the slave trade generations ago, and that they speak both english and spanish natively. The beach where I was was gorgeous, soft white sand and crystal clear water that I just couldn't make cloudy by kicking up sand. I only spent a few days, but I would have spent more if I could have. It had jungle tours to try, good snorkeling, better diving, decent hotels, a cool little town at West End and all sorts of Dolphin encounters available. I think there are other places with some ofthe same sort of stuff or better, but I don't know if they have it all. I doubt I'll be back soon, but I do recommend it.

I also had the pleasure of helping to welcome a new group of Volunteers into the country and look forward to working with them. There are a number in my region and it should be interesting to be the "old" Muni group now.

New Photos

2007-07-25T18:12:00.000-06:00

More than anything else I just wanted to draw your attention that there are new photos in my webshots gallery.

Done!

2007-07-19T11:16:00.001-06:00

It has been a long time coming but the 3 Day Youth Camp that we were planning is finally over and I took a full day and a half to relax and just sit around in my house and feel tired. I am really glad its over, but mostly because I was getting tired of all the planning and moving of dates. It was exhausting, but worth it. I don't know that I'll being doing anything similar again during my service, but it was very rewarding to see the kids enjoying themselves and to see that they were sad to go home and leave their new friends. In spite of still being exhausted I think the camp was a bit of a pick me up because I have had the 1 year blues so to speak. Things just weren't going my way and I have not been super excited about work, but the camp gave me a bit of a recharge with regards to success and my community members.

After all this I have found a bit of new respect for my camp counselors over the years. Being the nominal "adult" in the boys cabin was a bit of a restless experience. The first night they wouldn't be quiet and I gently tried to quiet them down, but I let them have a little fun knowing that they don't get out much and that this was something special. Needless to say I didn't really sleep at all with the noise and the occasional drip from the roof on my leg or neck. The second night I did some fun hammering though because we needed to get up early and I needed my sleep after a second long day. Fun Hammering is one of the least fun activities I have had the misfortune to be a part of. I just don't enjoy telling others that they can't do what they want to do.

I have tons of photos of all the madness/work that was the Camp, but my new found internet situation means I need to pick and choose what I upload and also that I have to remember to bring it on my USB drive to the internet cafe. Today I did not remember.

That Sound

2007-07-05T14:26:00.000-06:00

I meant to post this yesterday as part of my post, and thereby make it a little more upbeat and fun, but I needed to go and do other things. Now today I am waiting around in Sonsonate and figured internet is a good use of my cash. Anyway...

So for while there was this animal in my yard that would make the craziest squakish sound, enough to startle me at first then make me laugh as I got used to it. I'd call it something along the lines of a demented toucan in terms of sound. Well this animal mostly made the sound in response to other loud noises at night, especially if I was calling my dog or coughing.

At first I was simply content to do my best demented nocturnal toucan to try to sucket the little guy into making the sound so I could laugh at it while I brushed my teeth. With time amusement turned into curiosity and I started to wonder where it was hiding and what it was. Of course my first thought was that it was a bird because of the sound it was making. Plus time after time the noise came from the tree behind my pila. However, try as I might to target the little bugger with my headlamp, it always managed to stay hidden while blasted me with high volume screeches.

I had all but given up the game and decided that I would just have to live not knowing what or where the mystery sound maker was. Then just a few nights ago while sick and barely dragging myself out to brush my teeth and blow my nose I saw my pila frog sitting at his usual spot and looking rather content. Then Mr. Pila inflated his neck and did his best crazy toucan impression. At first I couldn't believe my eyes or ears. No frog in the history of me has ever made that sound before, certainly not with me right in front of it. Then I began to feel stupid for never having suspected the pila frog as the noise offender. He always seemed so calm and happy sitting on my pila waiting for a good swim. Slowly those thoughts began to give way to disappointment that I no longer have the mystery to keep me entertained at night. I just have to hope the pila frog sticks around and continues answering my calls.

2007-07-04T11:03:00.000-06:00

People want to know what I have been up to and eventhough I try to update whenever something cool happens, it seems not much cool stuff is happening. After working in the capital for that week a while back my work slowed down in my site to almost a grinding halt.

When I got back to my place I went over to talk to my buddy Rudy who is the security guard at the City Hall and I was told that the plan to finally move most of the people in the City Hall to a second location in Cara Sucia was finally going through. I was a bit confused as to what that means for me and my work, but Over the course of working by myself most of the week and only stopping in occasionally I found that the City Hall has been mostly gutted and of the 45 people that were in the building, only about 6 remain there now. They also took out the wireless internet, so I'll be paying for internet from here on out it seems and won't be able to use my computer for it.

Then I hosted a trainee for their Immersion Days activity, which is basically when a trainee stays in a rural community set up by a Volunteer for 2 nights, then stays with the Volunteer to discuss the actity for one night. It went alright and the trainee enjoyed himself, but it didn´t go how I wanted, which nothing here ever does. Basically the lady he was supposed to stay with dished him off to another man to sleep and a different lady altogether to eat and had nothing to do with him. Like I said it was fine, at least she was responsible enough to make other arrangements, which I am thankful for.

After all that I took the trainee back to the Capital for a 4th of July celebration and soccer tournament thrown at the Sheraton. My reservations got all screwed up and I had to call my Mom to get them squared away, but luckily we got things worked out and it turned out to be free (or I hope so, gotta keep an eye on my credit card statement.) My team (Municipal Development) almost won the soccer tournament. It ended in a high stress shoot out and eventhough our goalie blocked two shots, we missed enough to lose after 7 shots. I didn´t spend much time at the actual 4th of July bash for some reason, but we all went out afterwards.

I wound up getting sick though and I have spent the last two days mostly holed up in my house trying not to cough or sneeze on every square inch of tile that my house is made of. I think Kaya believes I am dying.

Almost Famous

2007-06-19T17:57:00.001-06:00

I said it might happen earlier, but today I was in La Prensa Grafica which is a local newspaper as part of an insert for SalvaNatura. So my press debut has happened in El Salvador and I think I may have a future in eco-tourism modeling and Angie agrees with me. In reality it never mentions my name or that of Peace Corps, but I'm in pictures all the same. Several other volunteers have already mentioned that they saw me in the paper. I tried to get my hands on a few copies for posterity sake, but so far I have only gotten one copy. I will try to buy more on my way back tonight.

As stated in the last post, one year in country has come and gone, so quite a few of the volunteers from my group met up and celebrated at playa El Tunco (The Pig) which is named after a rock which bares no resemblance to its name's sake. It had all the hall marks of a classic beach bash; friends, alcohol, playing in the waves, creeping girls out with mustaches, sunburns, non-potable water, basically the works. Seriously though, I had a good time mostly because I got to sit back and hang out with lots of people I talk to often, but see very seldom. Mostly I played Euchre, my new favorite card game, which I only get to play in large groups of volunteers. A very Salvo thing happened when I got there, my sandals broke within two hours of arriving, and before most people were around, so I spent the entire weekend walking around barefoot. I did this because, like I said my sandals broke, but I also happened to have left my shoes at the hostal in San Sal. So I made like the locals and walked around sans footwear, which amused the other volunteers. Then on the way back a large truck managed to spill corn on the highway and a scene that could only happen in El Salvador ensued. The other cars pulled over, but not to help out or for any other humanitarian reason, but to stop and collect some free corn for themselves. At first it was a bit of a "whoa, what is going on?" moment, but we saw it for what it was after a few seconds.

Now I am crashing in San Sal for the rest of the week helping my program director get started on a documentary for our Municipal Developement program. It is a good effort and more reason for me to play with computers. The only downside is that the revolving door of volunteers makes it so I have nobody to hang out with on a regular basis.

A Whole Year

2007-06-07T09:17:00.001-06:00

As Matt Ladd so pleasantly reminded me, today marks 365 fateful days since I departed that magical place known as the USA. Add two if you want the number of days since I left home with nothing but two bags packed with hopes and dreams or rather clothes and bug spray.

As I sit here eating a bag of chopped mango drenched in hot sauce and salt an reading online manuals for MySQL, PHP and CSS I am struck by how much of my life hasn't changed, but so much has. What makes me Me is still all there and persisting no matter what surroundings I find myself in. You just can't seem to tear me away from computers and projects that involve them. So I find I am researching the possibility of implementing a database system to track the actions of a team of social promoters here, which would serve to modernize the Alcaldía and better understand the work the promoters are doing. Another project entirely, but somewhat related is the possibility of putting up a website for my municipality. (A schoolboy type dream has me designing the site, then asking them if they would like to host the database online so anyone could see what the promoters are doing.) So yeah, same old me, chugging away at learning new things on a computer, but this time it has real world applications.

Meantime everything else around me is different. I don't think I ever would have had mango as a mid-morning snack in the USA. Not that I didn't like mangos before, but they sort of seemed like a luxury before and were only available for a short time. Not to mention I bought my mango from a lady who walks around with a basket of fruit on her head and sells all manner of local fruits for a quarter. I wouldn't have tolerated my current living situation in the USA, but it has made for a fairly comfortable and regular existence for me here. I mean my backyard isn't fully enclosed, I can see the Police next door (and in turn they can see me) when I walk to my shower or bathroom or am out washing clothes. At first I was sure to be fully dressed, but I have given up caring. My landlord also makes use of my backyard for a sort of rotating storage area of his materials and for growing of whatever he sees fit, plus there are always workers coming and going, so the doors stay open. Really it doesn't get to me except occasionally when they use up all my toilet paper or soap, and the small fact that I can't just let my dog run around my yard ever. But occasionally if I am in a rush and leave my dishes out, I come back to a pile of clean and stacked stuff, so it has its perks. Plus I don't really have to clean up after my dog, since one of the workers always seems to do that. I mean Kaya always goes to the same place, so its not hard, but its nice have it done for you.

What do I miss and what don't I miss? Well I miss driving for sure. I could use a hot shower now and then. Strangely I could really use a Nacho Cheese Chalupa from Taco Bell. I am completely wanting for Thai food. A couch or some other large, comfortable place to relax would be a welcome change from plastic chairs. And a washer and dryer would be a godsend based on the endlessly growing pile of dirty, sweaty clothes. But I am glad to be away from the mad dash that is commuting and working (not that I was really doing either) in at least LA. I could be fine if I never saw another Starbucks. I am still glad I am not in school I enjoy being one of the tallest people around. I am enjoying not being surrounded on all sides by suburban sprawl. I didn't watch too much television as it was, but I am glad to only get a glimpse of it occasionally.

All in all it has been a long haul so far, but I don't regret it. Certainly I am looking forward to the day I can say I am a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, but mostly for the experience of redefining myself in the US and not really to rush out of here.

What Happened?

2007-05-31T10:37:00.000-06:00

For those that are interested in what transpired in my meeting with my counterparts and my program director, things worked out alright I think. As far as I can tell they were a bit concerned that I am not doing as much of the kind of work they were expecting coupled with the fact that the rumor mill has been working over time in my area and somehow they go word that I have been saying less than flattering things about the local government. My response was basically to ignore the complaints about my work and just present some ideas I had already had. With regards to the rumors, I just assured them that I am not supposed to enter into politics and that I think they were just that, rumors. I also assured them that I would be a little more conscious of what I said and who I said it to. My program director thinks I handled the situation well and thinks things will work out just fine. I have my fingers crossed.

The rainy season has officially begun and so has my task of sweeping my house every hour or so. This may sound strange because nobody in the US thinks of it, but I have to sweep water out of my house. Yes, you read that correctly, SWEEPING WATER. Basically my roof leaks during heavy rains making a mini lake by my front door and window. There is just too much water to soak up with a towel and quite frankly if I tried that it would never dry. So I sweep the water out under the space under my doors. You would be surprised how well this actually works.

Yesterday in and of itself was a strange adventure. It all started early in the morning with my friend Erin getting a call from one of her counterparts asking if she could round up a few Peace Corps friends to bring into El Imposible for some sort of event for SalvaNatura, the NGO that runs the park. I agreed to tag along and it turns out it was a hike to some pretty spots in the park for a photo shoot which will eventually be used for an insert about SalvaNatura in one of the newspapers here. It was a nice hike and all but I felt super awkward. They had insisted on Peace Corps volunteers because they wanted white "tourists" for their photos. So I spent the day feeling a little self conscious and posing for really strange photos. Maybe I'll be famous, we'll see. If I can get my hands on some of the inserts and I'm in it I will try to send some copies out to people.

The Great Debate

2007-05-23T15:52:00.001-06:00

I'm referring to Coke vs. Pepsi. And while I find I am a Pepsi man in the US, here in El Sal I have converted to a Coke man. I am not leaving my old favorite out in the cold for no reason, I find the formulas here are different and the flavors are screwy primarily from the use of sugar instead of corn syrup. So while in the US Coke is too fizzy and sorta coats your mouth with a corn syrupy cinnamon flavor (which I don't like), it doesn't do that here. On the contrary Pepsi here is too fizzy for me.

More than just the Pepsi/Coke issue though, I have been a little struck lately by the dynamic between the reality of Peace Corps work and what my City Hall and the people there seem to expect of me. They seem to think I have done next to nothing in my time here, which isn't entirely incorrect, I don't do as much with them as I originally thought I would. However somehow I think they have taken this to mean that I am not doing anything at all. Oh if that were only true and I was just relaxing. And so I have had to deal with a series of calls to my supervisor and the nail biting experience of waiting for a big meeting with my boss, my counterpart and my mayor in which I need to reinvent myself so to speak and present old ideas in a fresh way. Plus I need to find a way to ask them to be more open with me without criticizing or offending them. I'm trying to relax about it, but it sorta stays in the back of my mind.

Mean time I checked out a possible project today and I'm ready to present to others and start work on them. So as I get close to my second year things are starting to look busy and I'm feeling the pressure to succeed from my office.

Dress Me Up In Stitches

2007-05-09T13:49:00.000-06:00

She's doing fine, but photos seemed in order.

I feel like I should rename my blog so it has more to do with Kaya. That seems to be most of what I talk about.

I am working on getting a 3 day camp together for the beginning of June, which is approaching very quickly. It will cover self esteem, gender, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS/HIV, reproductive biology and family planning. Those are all big topics that I think get glossed over in schools here. I am specifically working on a condom activity, a few gender activities and an activity where they burn phrases including the words "I can't ...". Plus I am soliciting transport from the alcaldia since I am the Municipal Developement volunteer.

Also I have become a bit of an unofficial go to person to translate visa applications. I mean several people here speak English, but somehow I am the guy. Thats ok, at least I feel like I am contributing to the legal process rather than illegal immigration. If promoting that means being their visa translating bitch, so be it.

Big Things

2007-05-02T08:16:00.000-06:00

Ok not really any big things, I lied. Things have been relatively quiet here as usual, but with a little less for me to do recently in terms of work so I've been enjoying a little bit of exploration and whatnot.

Two weeks ago a new group of volunteers swore in so on a Thursday I headed to the capital to meet some of them and join them to party in their honor. That was fun as the swearing in party usually is, but this time it was a bit smaller, which is fine by me because I am not one for huge dance clubs and so much noise I can't think. I prefer a pub or dive bar any day. The following night I stayed in the capital because on Saturday there was a Peace Corps soccer game. Friday I think wound up being more fun than Thursday because we stopped at Happy Hour at the Intercontinental for 2 for 1 margaritas and a free Nacho Bar. The occasion was to say goodbye to the 2005 Rural Health volunteers who are leaving as of now. We also went to a second bar where the Peace Corps crowd was a decent size and I had a good time hanging out with volunteers I don't usually get to see.

The soccer game was a bit more eventful than usual, owing in part to the strange start it had due to the previous evening's debauchery on the part of several volunteers and the difficulty in getting an early start. One or two volunteers never got over the previous evening's alcohol and decided a little hair o' the dog was in order, but that just led to further drunkenness on the field. On top of all of our other minor issues, it was stiflingly hot and humid. I thought I would honestly pass out the first half. The second half we decided to play skins and for some reason this had a huge effect on our game and we actually scored a few goals. I still thoroughly enjoyed myself even with all the set backs in the game and the blisters on my feet.'

This last weekend the Alcaldia was closed Monday and Tuesday, so at the suggestion of a few volunteers in the area we set up a hike for Sunday that would take us into El Imposible, over the peak in the park and out into Tacuba, the pueblo to our north. I have no idea the distance we hiked, but it took us a little over 6 hours and at least 4 of them were spent hiking uphill. The hike was absolutely gorgeous and I wish we had spent a tad bit more time just relaxing and looking, but we wanted to get into Tacuba at a reasonable hour and relax some. On the way we saw the bridge that is actually named El Imposible and gives the park its name. The view from there is pretty spectacular and on either side there is a pretty severe drop. It was a little overcast so we couldn't see as well as I had hoped, but people say you can see the ocean, Guatemala and the city of Ahuachapan from the bridge. We continued on to the peak where there is a community called Naranjitos in which a new volunteer got assigned. We stopped for a few to meet him and relax. After as steep descent we came upon Tacuba where we lunched upon ice cream and soda and then had some time for showers and hammocks at our hostel. We spent the night in Tacuba playing some cards and having a few well earned beers before heading back by bus on Monday which took us about 4 hours in total. I am glad we did the hike and I am surprised that I'm not actually sore after all that. I plan to try this hike again at some point, hopefully when the ground isn't as muddy.

Tomorrow I am taking my dog to the Capital to have her spayed since she is already 6 months old and I don't want any male dogs coming a suiting. I am taking her so far because of a horror story with another volunteer in my area and her dog which almost died as a result of a less than professional job if you ask me. So its nothing but the best and most difficult for Kaya. I'll let you all know how it goes.

54 and counting

2007-04-16T15:25:00.000-06:00

EDIT: 55
Thats how many books I've read since I've been in El Salvador. Actually probably tonight or tomorrow that will be 55. As you can tell I am a reading junkie, its how I pass time here. And we aren't talking little dinky books here, some of them are pretty substantial like The Fountainhead and The Count of Monte Cristo, while others are the 6 Harry Potter books. Still I feel like I'm at least expanding my mind in my down time and it keeps me busy.

As for my trip to LA I'll sum it up that no matter how long I spend in the US, it seems to fly by. The result of being there is that LA will always be familiar to me and it will always hold a place in my heart as where I grew up, but for now I felt just a little out of place there. Its the feeling when some place is no longer exactly home. I felt like I was driving around a ghost town or something, so many places hold memories, but the people connected to them are no longer there, or are some other place in LA. I used to get that feeling a little bit back in college, but often enough some of my friends were around, so the feeling wasn't so complete.

In term of my cultural reaction to being in LA, I wouldn't call it reverse culture shock, but it puts things in stark contrast. There are things that being in the US we take as the base level of necessity which very much aren't. Things we have learned to take for granted which I never want to take for granted again in my life. Things like constantly running water, let alone hot water. Or trash service. I want to remind myself in the future that I had lived without, and it really wasn't so bad. Being back here I like it, but the US has made me lazy. I can't seem to bring myself to hand wash anything for the time being having been so close to washing machines and dish washers for a short while. I'm sure that rugged defiance will fall apart in the next day or two as I run out of passable clothing and need to cook again.

After every small trip back to see my friends and family it puts the cultural and economic differences into stark contrast. During training we all say we experiences culture shock, but I really feel we were eased into it what with the first few days in a hotel, living with a family, the training center, other trainees and whatnot. By the time I was completely immersed in and participating in the life here I was pleasantly becoming unaware of exactly how different it really was because my sense of comparison was fading. Now that I can jet straight back to my community and my life here I am allowed a better comparison that I hope never to forget and I think I would be hard pressed to put into understandable words except with lots of time and lots of pages. I don't know I'll ever have that urge.

Minutia

2007-03-14T13:29:00.000-06:00

Well one of the things I wanted to accomplish on a personal level while on this crazy escapade called Peace Corps was get myself back in to drawing, both with pencil and paper and on the computer. I have made big steps in that direction and gotten back to my DeviantArt Gallery which is also now in the links section on the right side of this page. It features some old digital art and some more recent stuff. Beware that most of the pencil and paper stuff looks pretty lousy on there because I have to photograph it rather than scan it, so the contrast if off as well as the color.

Cambia La Vida by ~if0rg0t2remember on deviant ART
That is my most recent digital piece. Anyway, check out the gallery if you like and let me know what you think.

Also due to my Stateside visit at the end of this month I'm a little scatter brained to wrap up some work here before I run off for a while.

I'm also all confused about what to do about music. My iPod got stolen on a bus and since its HD is as big as my computer's I hadn't backed up most of my music, that means I will have to try to reconstruct my music library very quickly while home and make a fast choice about whether to get another iPod or some other player. It also means that instead of trying to a newer, more reliable digital camera I will have to go for a music player since I can live with an old digicam, but I can't live without portable music.

Kaya is good and I can already see myself missing her and feeling guilty for leaving her behind. I'll have to bring her back something to win her love back after she forgets about me.

March and April are the hottest months here, so I'm sweating up a storm. This is made more maddening by the 2 or so hours a day that I actually get water at my house, so I have to make sure to fill my pilas and take showers whenever I can if I don't want to bucket bathe. A fridge full of cold water helps a bunch. Also I've been going to a waterfall recently thats about 45 minutes from my house to cool down when other volunteers hang out. Its fun and I take Kaya. I jump off the waterfall and try to teach Kaya to swim, which she doesn't seem to want to do. I'll get some photos of the waterfall up pretty soon.

Easier Than Expected

2007-03-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, we all know El Salvador is a poor country. The average person here makes less than $5 per day and the magic thing they seem to want from us Peace Corps volunteers is some way of bringing them free money for projects. With that being said I had assumed that soliciting any Salvadoran entity, shop, person or otherwise, for a little cash to do a project would be difficult. I was ever so wrong.

The other volunteers in my area and myself are planning a 3 day camp for teenagers to teach them about HIV/AIDS, family planning, STDs and other related topics. We are writing a grant to get the majority of our funding, but it requires at least a 25% community contribution in money or in kind. We were struggling to get the in kind contribution up to a reasonable level and concluded that soliciting a little cash from high profile local stores, especially pharmacies, would get us a little more wiggle room, but we weren't expecting much. In a little under 2 hours we raised nearly $100 dollars and managed to have the manager of the local supermarket promise to solicit donations from his distributors on our account to get us free food for refreshments. Honestly most places that had an owner present easily handed over a few dollars with only the promise of putting their name on a small sign indicating our donors.

Color me surprised and I'd like to say that yesterday was one of the most fulfilling and productive days of my Peace Corps service. I doubt I will have as many pleasantly surprising days like that in my time here, but that one will keep me going for a while.

No News

2007-03-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

I've been running around a lot lately, mostly to Cara Sucia and other volunteer's sites right around me to work on workshops I have been planning for various things. It is keeping me scatterbrained and adding a sense of being busy an rushing around. Its not so bad though, at least its a change of pace from sitting around and feeling like I live in a sleepy little town. I'm still finding time for stuff like reading, possibly to the exclusion of things like laundry.

I think the time has finally come to break down and pay someone to wash up a bunch of my stuff just so I can get it back down to a manageable level. My pile of laundry has been steadily growing and I have been cutting into it little by little, but I have basically wound up washing my favorite articles of clothing over and over again and my less favorite things sit in my hamper because I just don't feel like doing hours of laundry except on weekends, but I've been using my weekends lately.

I've also gotta get things all together because my parents finally got their way and I am going back to the states for a bit at the end of this month. What that really means is officially filing for vacation time, figuring out who will watch my dog and when and making a list of what I am taking to the states and what I will be bringing back. I want to pack light if I can, thats just how I travel. I am looking forward to sleeping in my old bed for a change and seeing some friends though. Most of all I am looking forward to driving my car. It has been 9 months since I've driven anything, let alone my car, and lets face it I like driving.

The Other 6 Months

2007-02-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

I know I already had a post titled 6 Months, but this one is actually more meaningful, though the other one seemed really cool and important at the time. This time I have actually been in my site, that means actually working in my community for 6 months. Which also means that I am 1/4 done with my Peace Corps service. Crazy Stuff I know.

On the work side of things my Municipio has become the first in the country to create a municipal secretariat of women's affairs. I will be doing some behind the scenes work for this movement since the three people in charge of it want some assistance in designing a schedule and looking for groups to provide the trainings and workshops they hope to bring to our area. I have several ideas, but I will need to see some of the diagnostics that were done at the first meeting before really getting my feet wet.

It is all very exciting, but as a man it is hard to be completely on the inside of this thing. It is also hard to be publicly proud about this seeing as how El Salvador works, but I'm behind it and secretly proud.

Time still seems to be cruising by at an insanely fast pace, especially since I got Kaya. I just realised it has been over a month since I got her and a sudden change of scenery yesterday made me realize how big she has gotten. Photos can't seem to capture the change as I examined them as closely as I could, but at least I can't see it. Maybe someone else can. I updated photos of her in my gallery as well as some stuff of my community. Click my webshots link on the right if you haven't for a while.

You Can't Go Back

2007-02-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

Just to mix it up and not combine seperate thoughts, this is a completely different post.

For some time now I've been having little day dreams and very vivid actual dreams of Meadow Oaks Camp. Yeah yeah, I know that was like forever ago, but the kicker is I am 100% sure it is some sort of mental trigger for the delights of my childhood. I mean I have these very vivid sort of daydreams and whatnot of places and things that used to happen there, specifically the camp part not the school, which I have all but forgotten about.

I often dream I am paddling a boat around on Secret Lake and Greg (the counselor) is rushing up to turn on the sprinkler under the bridge to soak me before I go through. Or perhaps I am imagining swinging on the rope swing and splashing into Secret Lake, which few people used to do because there were rumors it was full of sewage water. I felt in on some secret as a school goer because I used to see it filled with fresh water near the end of the school year and know they cleaned it, although it acted as a bus parking lot a good portion of the time.

Secret Lake was the site of my first meeting with long time school companion Geoff Plitt and the site of my permanent image of him. He was a chubby kid in my group, a little older than me, wearing a Home Depot painting hat with pride and basically flaunting the dork he would become. He always wore who he was with pride, and I look back on it remembering how torn I was over that hat. I hated it, but secretly I liked it and I wanted into the dork club. Well I got in eventually.

I also vividly remember nearly every turn of the water slide, climbing up, sliding down, the changing rooms, the mysterious ticket booth that sat nearby, and sitting in the shade playing geeky dice games. I was a self proclaimed king of the slide, going down as fast as I was capable and skimming the water in the pool all the way to the steps. Ah good times.

There was the pool, where I used to pretend I couldn't swim. Unless of course I was going down the small slide or jumping off the diving board.

There were the jerks that stole my very first G-Shock watch and used to come to camp with Jack in the Box twisty fries every day.

The Snack Shack and the Slim Jims it sold.

That waft of horse dung as you walked to the lame little horse area. Which also happened to be where I mischievously locked my cousin Daniel in a latrine and shook it trying to tip it over.

Moto and getting my "liscense". In retrospect those undersized quads aren't nearly as cool, but hey, they were close to the mini golf course.

Right, the good ole days. The point is that is all gone now. Its gone, caput, over and done with. Nobody else will ever learn those secrets and have those memories because they are gone, making way for the expansion of Viewpoint School. I went to Viewpoint too, but it wasn't the same, that was school, Meadow Oaks was always more of a camp with long school times thrown in to me. I secretly never wanted that buyout to happen years ago because I knew that it eventually meant Meadow Oaks would slowly disappear. Now I have no place to sneak a peak at those years of my childhood except while daydreaming or sleeping. I didn't think I would get all nostalgic for that sort of stuff, but the years are coming on quickly and staring the rest of your life in the face sometimes does that to you. I mean I've been having these little flights of fancy since before departing for El Sal, but they come more frequently the longer I am gone.

Mostly though I miss Secret Lake and I don't know why.

Dia de Amistad

2007-02-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day, or as they call it here, Dia de Amistad.

I'm not doing anything special, unless you count hanging out with Kaya, maybe doing some laundry and getting some pupusas for dinner something special. I personally wouldn't consider it special because I do most of that every day. So continues another year in a huge streak of having nothing in particular to do for Valentine's day. Every seems to want to be on the other side of whatever they have, meaning if you have nobody you feel like junk and if you have a ball and chain you wish you were single instead of forced into this hokey holiday.

2007-02-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since I last posted. With regards to my dog I finally got the supplies my parents sent and everything is working out great. A proper crate is something my dog totally needed and the rest of the supplies give me extra stuff as the dog grows, like a larger collar and a cloth leash as soon as she stops trying to chew on her leash, until then I am using a chain.

Its been a busy time, but not all directly work related. I've been in and out of my site, which makes me sorta scramble around trying to figure out what to do with my dog. I spent two nights in order to go to the monthly soccer game and one night in order to go to a regional conference for all western volunteers. There have also been a rash of meetings for volunteers in my micro-region (four adjacent municipalities with 11 total volunteers). I am happy to be doing a little more group work, but it doesn't seem all that developed other than my area's planning a workshop for adolescents. Hopefully we can get on the same page as a group of volunteers and find a way to use the micro-region to support our projects and bring each other in.

As I stated I am finally working a little more closely with the other volunteers in my immediate vicinity. It is nice because they all live pretty close and I am getting to know where they all live by going to their respective houses for meetings. I also bring my dog along to their places because they don't mind and several of them also have dogs. So its like two meetings at once, we are working and our dogs are meeting. It kind of makes me look forward to when my dog is a little older and I can take her wherever I go outside the Alcaldia.

Speaking of outside the Alcaldia, I finally got my chance to enter El Imposible with some community members. i wanted to take my dog but I was advised against it, and I'm glad I didn't. The hike was a little to long and hard for Kaya to have accomplished at this point. We hiked out to the source of water for our town and I finally have a full understanding of why we only get water for about an hour and a half a day. The system is really rather poor and old. I can't even begin to describe it in a reasonable manner here. I took pictures, but they just seem to highlight the innate beauty of the forest rather than the water system. Still, I am glad I finally got in there and have a better understanding of both the water system and the forest now. I can't wait to get back in there for a purpose other than work. All this of course is because we are trying to find a way to upgrade or replace the current water system. 2 hours of water a day just doesn't cut it, and often times I don't get home at the correct hours to fill my pila up. That means restricted water use for bathing and washing of clothes and such.

I'm also hopeful to start a project with Habitat for Humanity. I don't want to jinx it, but the lady I spoke to seemed interested in trying to get a meeting together with my mayor and see whats up. They are spreading into our region and I think they can provide some support for replacement housing for families that lost their homes in October floods. Personally I like the way Habitat works rather than other NGOs. Families have to work and pay for part of the project with them and I think that adds value to the home and teaches Salvadorans to take matters in their own hands rather than wait for a free project from some crazy rich country. Seems much more sustainable to me and I have made a conscious decision to avoid projects that just hand people stuff with a non-visible money source and a management that isn't of the community.

Walk the Dog

2007-01-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how quickly once can settle into a routine. Before I picked up Kaya I never really thought about my comings or goings. My house was where I slept and where I could catch some time alone without people constantly asking me why I don't have a girlfriend and why I don't go out with Alana. (Another Volunteer, surprisingly everyone seems to know her and they all think we should be married by now.) But now my house is that place I have to go to every few hours to take care of my dog. And I can't think about spending more than a few hours away without making special arrangements. My day pretty much goes like this now:

-Get up at 6 or earlier and take the dog out, then feed her and do my thing while she is eating. Take her out again just before leaving.
-Go and do whatever morning work I have, usually meetings in the Alcaldia or Cara Sucia.
-Get back after lunch and let the dog out again. Spend a little more time with her, then head out again.
-Get back around 4, take the dog out and then play with her for a while. Or perhaps take her for a walk and get looked at like a crazy man.
-Make the dog's dinner around 6 and either concurrently make mine or go get some food after she eats. Either way, she eats before me.
-Relax and do my thing at night, but keep a constant watchful eye out for house soiling. Get a few minutes of obedience training in here and there. (She can pretty much sit on command now)

So with all that I am set to try to leave Kaya for about 2.5 days and play some fútbol in the East. I hope she takes it well and I hope she doesn't revert to peeing all over Erin's house while I am gone. I don't really know how she will respond to staying with someone other than me for any period of time, but its gonna happen eventually, so we'll see now.

Work is going pretty well. There are lots of regional type meetings happening so there is plenty of time to interact with other Volunteers right now. My Social Promotion team is going full steam teaching some of the themes I had written and I am tying to search out some other work to do since I neither get invited to each workshop, no do I want to be at all of them. I will attend the ones that are for the communities closest to mine. I seem set to help behind the scenes starting a municipality wide women's movement, which seems like it might be pretty interesting. Of course I won't be able to enjoy the fruits of that or flaunt my involvement, but thats ok.

Anywho, I got bored and shaved my beard into a fu manchu. I get bored with my facial hair easily, and what else can I do with the prohibitive amounts of hair on my face? So I goof around a bit for funsies. Interstingly enough only one comment so far. I would have expected a slightly larger response, especially from all the female volunteers. I guess the stache is so popular here that any variation means I'm a real man.

Kaya

2007-01-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ok so I talked about it for a while and thought about it even longer and I finally just went for it and got a puppy. She is a 2.5 month old Boxer and I named her Kaya. Obviously you all want pictures, so here you go.

Kaya

I am still figuring things out a bit, so I am temporarily using a stacking cube shelving unit as a substitute crate for training purposes. (Crate training is a humane way to housebreak a dog and keep your house safe from chewing.) She doesn't have any proper toys yet since there isn't exactly a pet store around here and people don't think of dogs the same way we are used to up north. But I am working on it. On the 26th I will head to the capital for other reasons and check out a pet store with my program director while I am there. Erin, the other volunteer in my town, is excited to babysit for me whenever I need to leave for a short time and she has already met Kaya.

Obviously I am super excited and don't want to leave her ever, but she needs to learn that I won't be there all the time. For now she is a little crybaby when I leave, but hopefully that will change with time.

Translate This

2007-01-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

So I got into the capital yesterday after a few days spent at another volunteer's site translating for a group of engineering students from CSU working with Engineers Without Borders. Basically it was a good experience and I am glad to have tried it out, and will be heading out this afternoon to try out a different sort of translating, for children.

Basically my translating time was spent with a team of the engineers that were surveying the community so they can properly estimate costs for the water project they are working on. Since there were only two translators, and the other was busy with another task for the engineers I was running back and forth between the people by the surveying viewfinder and the pole. That got interesting in spots where curious community members wanted to know why some houses were having marks put in front and others not, and also when some over-zealous men wanted to flirt a bit with the women engineers who don't speak Spanish. It can be hard to notice exactly when and where you should be to translate, especially when someone is barely within your view. Certainly it can be fun to watch the fireworks as complete chaos ensues due to inability to communicate, at least it can be amusing to the party that actually understands what is going on.

Aside from funny occurrences, translating can be an odd job. It is very difficult to keep yourself out of a conversation and instead simply translate what is being said or asked. One good example is that someone will often ask a question that I know the answer to, and I need to remember to pose the question to the other people instead of simply answering it myself. Plus it is hard to know how much of side conversations to translate, since the natural tendency of people who can speak a different language is to use it as a bit of a cover knowing that the other parties will never know exactly what was said. I do enjoy it though and I want to keep trying to do it as time goes on to see if I can get a little better at translating while people are still talking. I think the need to immediately repeat what was said in a different language could also result in better comprehension.

Happy New year

2007-01-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

Let me start by wishing the obvious Happy New Year to the maybe 7 people who read this blog. I missed the opportunity to wish anyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah, but my internet schedule was limited in December.

I had big plans for December, and most of them that were work related wound up falling through. I had planned to run a little workshop for my social promotion team to teach them how to run a meeting better and how to give a more effective informal training, but it got canceled. I had planned for one of the Volunteer Coordinators to come out and help me, but alas, since it was canceled she couldn't come. My plan to teach them some ice breakers went awry and got canceled as well because the meeting that I was to present them in went way overtime and my chance was lost. The city hall closed on the 22nd, so after that there was no working in that capacity. All work I did after that day was either done in the Peace Corps office or shut up in my house on my computer.

As much as work failed I did manage to get along pretty well otherwise. I went to San Sal a few times for meetings for other projects with Peace Corps Volunteers. Also I met up with a work friend of my mother's and spent Christmas Eve and day with them. They took me to a nice beach and to a town that is literally all pupuserias. I managed to eat a few pupusas that stand out in my mind as some of the best I have had, which is hard to do considering the sheer quantity of pupusas I wind up eating.

cslom

I also hung out with some community members who are part of a festivities committee and we went to a waterpark in a different department. I spent the day back and forth hanging out with the kids in the kiddie pools and trying to convince the guys to go down the water slides. Eventually I got some of the guys to go down the big, slow, curvy slide and some of the guys and a few of the kids to go down the slide that used the inner-tubes. There was a third slide, a big red one that had about a thirty foot straight down drop that nobody was going on all day. I figured it couldn't be that bad and so I did it and got a standing ovation by the people in the pool below. I wound up being one of only 3 people to go down that slide all day. I would have gone down it several more times, but I almost lost one of my brand new contact lenses on the first go and that was enough for me not to encore my performance. But now lots of my community members are talking about my trip to the waterpark and especially my love of slides.

cslom

We also had a bit of a holiday party with the social promotion team, complete with secret santa gifts and a home grilled hairless sheep. It was good fun and good bonding. I left just in time for everyone to start drinking, which I am not fond of sticking around for, for various reasons including my inability to understand drunken spanish and my desire not to promote drinking. Either way it was fun and a good chance to bond with the people I work with.

Now I am back in the City Hall and preparing to get back to the grind. This month I plan to get out and try my hand at translating, first for some engineers in a friend's site and second at a children's camp at a gorgeous lake. I have never translated before and I think this will be a good opportunity to see how I do. also this month I will finish up some work with other volunteers getting some charlas together and head out to play a soccer game. All in all I'd say it looks pretty exciting for January.

6 months

2006-12-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

In all the excitement I completely forgot to mention that as of December 5th it has been 6 months since I departed for my life in the Peace Corps.

There is a a saying in the Peace Corps community that the days crawl by at a snail's pace, but the months and years fly by. I must admit that as cliche as it is, that is how it has been going. Each day feels like it is never going to end and that it will only bring about another endless day. However time has flown by in aggregate and I can't believe how long I've been away. Seriously it feels like training just ended, but another group of volunteers has already come in, trained, swore in and moved into their sites, and that is nearly a 3 month process. I am already filling out my second quarterly report, which means 6 months and I stare at my computer screen dumbfounded at all the time that has gone by and all the activities I need to recall in order to fill in all the boxes and such.

I am now realizing that I have been more out of contact than I need to be with nearly everyone except my family. I have missed friend's birthdays and have been otherwise derelict in my duty to actually talk to people. I mean I have a cell phone and internet access on a semi-regular basis now, and I could call people if I just knew their phone numbers.

Busy Busy Busy

2006-12-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since my last post. I've been a little busy since Thanksgiving. Mostly Peace Corps stuff and lots of trips in and out of my site.

I had a meeting with my program director and all the Municipal Developement volunteers from my region of the country that was both refreshing and beautiful. We went to an area in my department called Juayua where we stayed in a quaint little hotel for a night and discussed our work and our problems. These things get us a little more connected with our job and give us a little kickstart when we are running out of steam.

I also managed to get out to San Vicente for what was several days of language class and what is called In Service Training. That basically means I sat through about 20 hours of spanish and about 10 hours of technical training. We learned some of the more technical stuff like how to properly fill out a few types of grant forms and what we should do before helping our communities look for grant money.

December snuck up on me in the midst of being pretty busy and it doesn't look like December will really bring about a change of pace. I am on my way back to my site today, but will be returning to the capital in only 3 days to work on putting together a presentation on how to run meetings. In between now and then I will be teaching my social promoters how to run some ice-breakers to freshen up their ability to run capacity building meetings. Somewhere in there I need to find time to organize my personal life because I just decided to move houses and packed my stuff up and put it in a temporary room in my new house. Then if that is all not enough, I need to brush up my web developement skills and head back to the capital on the 20th to put together a training for that. The end goal of course being a day workshop to teach a group of volunteers how to put together a simple website to promote their communities. Before I get that website workshop put together I need to find time to have another little training session for my social promoters on how to run a meeting and how to run a capacity building workshop, hopefully with the help of someone on the staff.

Of course December also has the holidays so that will also take up a bit of time.

Happy Turkey Day

2006-11-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I will be celebrating by heading to the closest Muni volunteers place and making a huge vat of chili. Turkey doesn't seem that easy to come by and we don't have an oven, so we went for the most American thing we could think of I am looking forward to it. Then on Friday I am off to the monthly PC soccer game, so pray I don't make a fool of myself out there. Should be a relaxing and fun weekend.

Oh, and side note, just after my father sent me a new flash drive I managed to get mine working. Albeit I lost all my info on the drive, it works now.

Edible Silverware and Grape Soda

2006-11-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't really spoken much about the food, and that is for good reason, its not really something to write home about without some other context. As a general rule it isn't as exotic as I was wont to believe before I left home. I was imagining Mexican food with a more native flair, so as you can imagine I was way off the mark. I'd say food here resembles mexican in that they eat beans, rice and things called tortillas, but that is about as far as one can legitimately compare the two. I find food here to usually be on the bland side and the menu is pretty limited; generally carne asada, pollo encebollado, rice, beans or some sort of simple soup.

The tortilla is something I wish to explore a little more. As americans we are too used to the Mexican idea of a tortilla. That is to say, a large, thin flat thing that is generally a part of other foods, but not generally a food on it own. It can be used as a wrap as in a burrito, a holder as in a taco or quesadilla or fried as in a tostada shell or chips. That isn't what a tortilla is here. Oh sure, its made from the same ingredients, but it isn't used in the same way, nor could you use one for the Mexican purpose if you wanted to. To imagine a tortilla here you need to think in terms of a silver dollar pancake of solid flour that has been grilled. It is small, thick and, if your luck is bad, sorta mealy. I couldn't eat more than one a day at first. I can tell I am becoming well culturally adapted because the amount of tortillas I consume daily is on the rise. Part of the problem is to change the way you think of a tortilla, it isn't really the meal enhancer I wanted it to be. I have also ceased to think of it as a side dish. Currently I like to think of tortillas as edible silverware. That is right, silverware. I am rarely given more than a fork to eat with, and forks are lousy for eating beans, rice or just about anything but salad on their own. So that is where the tortilla comes in, I use it to scoop things onto my fork, mop up errant sauce or bean juice, hold my chicken in place while I tear at it with my fork and whatnot. The beauty of it is that when it becomes soggy, limp or just otherwise broken, a quick bite restores its former glory by revealing a fresher part. When I eat lunch out I average about 3 tortillas now. I call that a win and in my mind I am now at least 3 times more Salvo than I was in training when I could barely stomach a whole tortilla.

Now for the Grape Soda. I hadn't tried it here until today. I had been trying to consume fruit flavored sodas prior to leaving the United States knowing what I was in for. Well I didn't know. Sunday morning I went to a large meeting with members from 6 of the communities in my municipality where there was a training and a zonal committee being formed. It is regular here to be given a random refreshment during the course of a meeting and I was given a grape soda. My first grape soda in El Salvador. I figured I didn't know what it tasted like so I went for it. I wasn't impressed. In fact I'd say I was rather dismayed and repulsed. I found it to taste rather similar to the way my spray fixative for my drawings (or the glue I used to use on plastic models) smells. It gave me an instant headache and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I made a rather horrendous face. I tried to play it off cool, like I just wasn't thirsty since I didn't want to ruin the meeting or dismay all the others happily downing their grape sodas. For a full 45 minutes of the meeting i couldn't focus and I just kept getting grape soda aftertaste in my mouth and trying to hold back those whole body shivers you get when you think of something disgusting or hear nails on a chalkboard. I can't remember a large portion of the training because I couldn't concentrate on anything. With my luck they like to put the Gringo in front to show off that they have an American here to help out. Generally I try not to grimace at the food and find a better, more sensitive way of explaining my distaste. In this case I had to try very hard not only to hide my distaste, but my lack of focus that it caused. Needless to say I will not be drinking any more of the grape soda here.

A Very Uncomfortable Place

2006-11-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, not that uncomfortable, the title just seemed funny if you get reference...

I have been living with a toilet that didn't have any water going to it for about two months. That means I have been flushing by filling a guacal and dumping it in the bowl after I was finished with my business. Well finally after bugging my landlord he installed a tap above the tank of the toilet to fill it, which is better than nothing for now, but presented other problems. After the inaugural flush I noticed that there was quite a bit of dirt going down the drain. That in and of itself wasn't shocking, I expected a little dust and debris. What was shocking is that a colony of ants had decided to take up residence in my own personal toilet. They have probably actually been there longer than I have, and have been enjoying the generally secluded, dry tunnels provided by the inner-workings of a busted toilet. However I am making it my personal mission to drive them out. With every flush more and more of the little buggers go swirling to their doom. I underestimated the tenacity of ants though. Every morning they are back and working up a storm in my toilet, and every morning I flush a horde of them to kingdom come. I wonder if or when they ever give up and move on? They had my entire yard to choose from, and they chose the one place I have to actually sit my ass on.

Everyone talks about how there are only two religions here, Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity, and how the subject of religion will inevitably come up rather quickly in conversation. I was rather surprised by how I managed to escape that subject until now. But it caught up with me and three times in the last day I have had to explain that I don't want to go to any of the churches here and that I am in fact Jewish. The problem is that I have to explain what Judaism is as well and thats not the most comfortable thing in the world to people that only understand that Christ is the savior. To them, if you don't believe in the son, you don't believe in the father. I try to concentrate on similarities, and explain that Christ was in fact a Jew, a rebellious one, but a Jew. Still I don't think most people quite get that I believe in the same god, but in a more limited context. I just have to hope that by now I've made enough of an impression that they don't think I'm some monster who hates Christ, and that news doesn't spread like wildfire that I am not a Christian. So far so good, the people that know don't seem offended except for the one lady that keeps trying to drag me to culto and convert me.

On the upside I have been getting along great otherwise. A new volunteer stopped in on Monday to see the Pueblo and she is currently staying in the Park with one of the curators. She has the option of living in the Park or in the Pueblo. This presents me with the option of exploring new housing under the guise of looking for housing for her. Plus I have been meeting more people by doing that. I like my house, but if I can find something cheaper and in better shape I may jump on it for the new year. I'll wait to find out what the new Volunteer wants to do though.

As far as work goes things are settled pretty much now. I work on my computer forming documents to put in a binder that will be used to train community groups for the most part. We are forming zonal committees and at the same time training them. I am working right now on teamwork, but we already pretty much made info for leadership and project planning. The overall plan is to create 9 modules, 8 of which we will make, one of which a team of women from a local university will make. The three I already mentioned are part of the second module, to be used in December. I am still going to lots of random meetings though, which I just chalk up to learning the culture and getting my face out there. I am hoping with time more people will advise me of important things. Right now I rarely get notified of most things and only a few people do the inviting, and usually on the day of.

Another decent drawing

2006-11-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

This time a slightly different subject. I tried a bit of perspective and shading.

by cslom

I keep thinking about this particular drawing and what about it I don't like. I really hate the hair, and as such I took up two more pages in my sketchbook sort of exploring the possiblities of quickly, but convincingly drawing curly hair. I went so far as to recreate the drawing in miniature to test the method I devised. I also despise the eye. It is central to the drawing and commands attention, but of everything it looks the least real to me, especially the dark spot in the white that I can't seem to erase. I need to work on drawing convincing eyes. I think it worked out in the self portrait, but not in this one.

I was bored

2006-11-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

I was bored and I figured someone out there somewhere might get a kick out of this. Particularly either Albert or Sherwin.

Yesterday Was a Good Day

2006-11-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those rare days where everything seemed to be going my way. The day started simply enough, but just kept getting better. I got good news in terms of finding info for projects, I got a call from my PCVC looking to organize a regional meeting and best of all I got a call from the APCD from AgFor looking to place a volunteer in or near my site to work in the national forrest. All good news. And the rest of the day seemed to be going just as well.

by cslom
I have been sort of willing myself back into the habit of drawing and it finally bore something. I would say I am happy about that drawing. I am flopping back and forth between drawing for realism and developing my skill for line weight and such, and going for my older comic style. My hope is to develope some sort of style somewhere in the middle, a style more my own and at the same time not as childish.

A Better Update, This Time with More Eagle

2006-10-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

Immediately after I complained briefly about the bus situation here and how I am tired of it, I of course had to go get on a bus to go back to my site. Barbara and I walked to the nearest bus stop and hopped on what we affectionately call one of the “chicken buses”. The idea being that between major cities there are two types of buses; “especiales” which have A/C, nice seats, a movie and a finite passenger limit, and the “chicken buses” with the cramped seats, people standing in aisles, bad transmissions and all manner of whatever anyone wants to carry on the bus and swing in your face, including of course chickens. (Here I should add that on the previous bus I had a bag of chicken swung inches from my face, and if I ever doubted that there was such a thing as a plastic bag full of live chickens, I don’t doubt it now.) It looked like we were in for a good ride, the bus was fairly empty and we each got our own seat and window. Well a few minutes into the ride just after getting on the major highway towards Sonsonate I spotted a car stopped in our lane. Our bus driver put on the breaks but not quite hard enough, and at the end we sorta careened and came to a sudden stop behind the stopped minivan. Our sudden stop was immediately followed by one of those long drawn out sounds of tires screeching, the kind where you clench your teeth, shrug your shoulders and brace for the sound of metal colliding and glass breaking. Luckily there was no such sound. It was then that Barbara and I looked around and noticed we weren’t entirely in our own lane and traffic was creeping around us slowly and angrily and somewhere in the confusion the minivan in front of us had left and now we were the ones causing traffic. Barbara observed that the engine was off and the driver was attempting to start the bus with no success. More confusion ensued and words were shouted and before I knew it all the male passengers were getting up and getting out of the bus. They proceeded to push the bus backwards on the highway so the driver could pop the clutch in reverse and get us on our way. Success thankfully and the rest of our ride proceeded uneventfully, but with me secretly scared that we would stall again every time we had to stop to pick someone up or let someone off. I mean it is the habit of these buses to stop rather short, with or without reason, so it seemed we could stall again at any time.

I’m still in the process of meeting people in my town and getting privy to what is going on around here other than just what the team of social promoters is doing. People are slowly opening up to me and more willing to have substantial talks with me or introduce themselves, other than just the regular questions of “what are you doing here?”, “when are you going back to the US?” and “wow, can you really speak Spanish?”. It was finally admitted to me that there is an ADESCO in San Chico. Although I wasn’t exactly invited to the meeting that day, I have now met the president, introduced myself to a few members and asked to be notified so I can attend the next meeting. I also discovered that my town is in the process of starting up a new water project to increase our water services. We currently have running water, but not in the whole pueblo, and it shuts off for at least a few hours every day. This project sounds fairly promising and I hope it goes off without a hitch. I am worried that if we need a lot of funding it may be turned down in view of the fact that there are plenty of communities here that need water more desperately than m pueblo. I have introduced myself to the water committee and look forward to their next meeting with the mayor. I am happy that I am finally getting into projects in my community and not just other parts of the municipality.

I am actually a little surprised at how well I am getting along with people in my community and meeting more people considering lots of little things. October has been relatively filled with events and reasons to take off for the weekends or for a day here and there. Between a communal birthday celebration at a beach, my getting a GI infection, a soccer game and a Halloween celebration, I have spent a good deal of time on the weekends away from my town, but I am managing to get more contact in this month than in the previous. I suppose I am just not running around as much with the promoters and the short emergency that took everyone out of my office gave me plenty of time to just sit around and talk to people. I have been developing what is known in Peace Corps circles as “site guilt”, which means I feel bad for spending so much time out of my site. But I have been arranging my calendar and it looks like I’ll be spending much more time in my site this month and the few things I have planned are getting more into my work than some of the stuff I had been doing before.

Rushing

2006-10-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

I am rushing through the capital right now on the way back to my site from a Halloween Party. It was fun, and it was random. I couldn't decide on a costume so I went the random route and bought the funniest things I could find as a costume. I don't really wanna describe it, but it was about as random as Stephen who went in a Moo-Moo and shaved his hair into a mohawk. Hopefully there will be pictures to come, then you can see for yourselves.

I wanted to do a little ranting for once. I haven't really gotten a good rant in here on this blog yet. I am frustrated right now about a few things and I'll keep each brief. First my flash drive died, so my best source of getting info from my computer to the rest of the world has gone caput. I don't know what happened, but it won't show up on any computers any more or disk utilities. Also I am getting a little tired of the buses. I know I've been fed up with them before, but moreso now that they aren't a necessary evil for training and I use them at my choice. They suck, they are crowded, I stepped in some vomit on one the other day, and they have the tiniest seats. Seriously it is like they bought an extra set of seats and put them in between seats, and not only that, they stretched one side a bit to have a hand at the farce of trying to get three people into one seat with nowhere to put their knees. And can the rain stop already, the rainy season is supposed end in October, I didn't know they meant on the 31st. Seriously this month has been the hardest, most intense rain.

Ok thats enough ranting for now. Gotta run.

The Week In Review

2006-10-22T12:51:00.000-06:00

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It has been hard to make or receive calls in my site due to mysterious cell issues. I don't believe it is my phone, since I tried on multiple phones and the outcome seems the same, choppy and screwy sounds and sometimes no sound at all. So if you tried to talk to me I am sorry, I think Tigo is doing something to the cells in my area.

The week started well, with a cool meeting for a human rights group aimed at forming a network to investigate, educate about and combat human rights violations. This is not directed at illegal border crossing even though it sounds like it, it is directed at violations perpetrated against the will of the victim, unlike border crossing which often violates human rights, but the victims choose to proceed of their own free will. Either way, this sounds like a promising project, and they insist on having me take on a position in the committee eventhough I told them that I shouldn't really take one on besides support and advice. We'll see as time comes, but I am happy to be a part of it and look forward to spreading info about this if it turns out well.

For the day before my birthday I was in the capital for medical and wound up spending the night. Randomly one of my pals showed up, so we grabbed a few beers at the hostel that night. That was pretty much the extent of my celebrating.

Only a few people in my town knew it was my birthday. There was talk of slaughtering a goat for the occasion, but that didn't happen and I don't think I am too broken up about it. I had planned to hang out a bit, but that day a river overflowed in Cara Sucia and washed away a few houses causing the mayor to declare an emergency situation. That took everyone away from my town and left me to spend the evening relaxing in my hammock. Wasn't a bad birthday, but a relatively lonely one.

Saturday I met up with lots of volunteers for the monthly soccer game. (Each month it is at someone elses site.) We played hard and had a great turnout, but we still got our tails whipped. We did score though, and so it wasn't a complete loss. Besides we spent the night in a huge house on a gorgeous lake in Santa Ana, which reminded me of either Tahoe or Matt's lake house in Washington.

I told you so

2006-10-18T13:14:00.000-06:00

Just so my mom finally believes us I now present photographic proof that the new landcruiser is the same as the lexus vehicle. Not that I would doubt it after having ridden in them many times here, but a photo is worth me saying it a 1000 times.

by cslom

by cslom

Nothing of Importance

2006-10-14T09:29:00.000-06:00

I don't have anything planned to write about this time. I am just spending some time in Sonsonate downloading a few things onto my flash drive to take back to my own house and computer so I figured an update was due.

I just got back from a few days respite in the East with a few of my buddies from my training group. We hit up Playa El Cuco for 3 days and I got quite burned. The beach was beautiful though, and if you didn't notice all the thatch roofed buildings with huge patios, I'd say the beach reminded me a lot of the beaches in LA. The similarity was slim though, considering the warm water and the salvadorans everywhere. Either way it was a good time, and since I saw Whitney, now I can look forward to my mayor asking a million questions about her. Somehow he is in love with her (as most Salvadorans are) without ever having met her, he only saw her for a few minutes at swearing in and in my photos.

I am also looking forward to the coming week. I have a cool conference coming up on Tudesday regarding creating a forum to help stop people smuggling, indentured servitude and other forms of human rights violations in my communities. I think that should be good and I am happy it is partially being government sponsored. Also coming up is a soccer game on Saturday, which I am looking forward to because I jost got my PCV uniform and was given a pair of cleats, so I want to break those all in and make a fool of myself playing against salvadorans. And most importantly my birthday is coming up this week. Such a good week!

Also I am trying to get my photo site thing worked out. I started a webshots gallery, and when I look at it I have two albums and some other photos, check it out using the link on the right and if it isn't working please leave a comment for me. I want to be able to share my photos with everyone, but there don't seem to be lots of sites that meet my criteria for photo sharing.

Holiday Reflections

2006-10-05T15:24:00.000-06:00

The High Holidays have always been at once some of my favorite holidays of the year and some of my most dreaded. Dreaded for obvious reasons, those long services, getting really dressed up, no eating, you know, the works. Those are all minor discomforts though, and I've borne them happily for years because I know that the holidays mean so much more than just wearing a suit and sitting for hours. It took me years to actually listen to what was going on in services, and in actuality that isn't really enough since its in Hebrew and I don't speak the language. So I started to read that translations and actually pay attention to the sermon. I like the spirit of the holidays and although I don't buy 100% of all the g-d stuff, I agree in spirit. That has been my feeling for years and it still is my feeling.

Spending the Holidays in El Salvador has given me a refreshing look at my take on the Holidays. I still feel much the same way, that I agree with the spiriet of the Holidays and I find that they have a powerful message. What could be more important than celebrating the fact that you have survived another year, hoping for it to be a sweet year and taking all due precaution to make a fresh start and make up for whatever may have gone wrong the year before. That has all that much more meaning when you find yourself in a new country, with a semi-new language and very few people that you know or can rely on. While trying to make out as much of the sermon as I could because it was in Spanish, I got to thinking about jewish values in general and how i was making as good a start to a year as I think I have ever made.

First and foremost, as jews we grow up in a particularly odd state of being taught to read and write hebrew, but not to understand it. That translates directly to prayer, we can read and write it, but not understand what is coming from our mouths, or furthermore the pages. We are left to either carry out the motions or dig and ask for meanings. Our understanding of the actual prayers hinges on our language skills outside of hebrew, and I always thought that in part we continues using hebrew in order to make prayer semi-universal. We are not taught the torah as we should be, but rather prayers for our bar/bat mitzvahs, and so we are left with a void of knowledge in terms of what the stories actually mean. We are taught concepts of jewish life, but not where they come from or how we should expect to look for them in everyday life. One such concept is Tikun Olam, we all know it means "heal the world", but really we learn to associate it with donating some food or clothes to a communal box or putting some change in a box.

I sat in the temple in San Salvador thinking about that concept. Tikun Olam took on the basic meaning that I described before when I was a child. When I was in high school and going to jewish camp every summer it had a slightly larger importance when i actually endeavored to do some community service through school and camp, but rarely more than was required, and only more than was required when it was with friends and really fun. In college Tikun Olam and Community Service started to play a more active role in my life because Community Service was one of the values of my (jewish) fraternity. As such I had to actually plan and encourage others to go about doing doing Community Service for the first time in my life. Didn't seem like much then, and in truth it wasn't much, because we really didn't succeed in any large projects, but we tried. Up until that poing Tikun Olam and Community Service were one and the same. That is to say, they were sometime activities to be planned and executed, but not a value I was living every day of my life. Because after all, aren't values something you live with? Shouldn't you be practicing your values?

So it finally dawned on me that though I live in a country now where the Star of David and the Menorah are taken as Evangelical signs and the people here haven't the slightest clue what a Jew is, I am actually living closer to at least one of my Jewish values than I ever have in my life and learning first-hand what it actually means to heal the world. Afterall, the world is a big place, much larger than the US or Israel, which is where most mone and goods that jews generally give through the temple go. And more than that, I am discovering that I am learning more about my values than just Tikun Olam, humility, sharing and perseverance come to play daily.

Sometimes you find out about the things you learned and are told to practice when you are farthest from the places where that is most easily done. After all, what is more important to me, the fact that I didn't go to temple on Yom Kippur (but still fasted) or that I thought about things and discovered I am doing ok?

Adventures in My Backyard

2006-09-30T09:58:00.000-06:00

So this post isn't for everyone, but I am gonna put it out therelike it is or was. First I'll start off by mentioning all that has recently happened before launching into the anecdote the title refers to.

Well in the last week or so I have managed to finally meet all the other volunteers that currently live in my Municipio, all five of them. For quite some time I wasn't really sure exactly how many other volunteers lived near me or where exactly they lived, but now I know, and knowing is half the battle. All five of them are girls, none of them is n my program and they have all been here longer than I have. So I feel a bit like an outsider for now, but I am sure that will change with time and the realization that all five of them speak english and are accustomed to the same sorts of food as me. Already I joined them for a charla at a school about recycling and I will be joining them again on monday to give the same charla to several other schools. In this exciting charla I get to play either an empty can or a discarded shoe.

As far as monday goes, it is also Yom Kippur, so we will see how the fast goes while walking around in the heat carrying props for our charla. I have promised myself to try, but have resigned myself to the realization that forgoing water would be a horrible mistake, so I will be drinking throughout the day. It just isn't feasible for me to return to San Salvador to celebrate this holiday as much as I'd like to. I have been spending lots of time out of my site recently and I have to get some stuff done, mainly my quarterly report and some work on ADESCO training curriculums, not to forget the trash charla on Monday as well. But that comes with the realization that I am no longer just an idle spectator here in my site, I am beginning to take on responsibilities and get some work done.

Ok, time for my fun story...

It has been drying out lately, meaning it hasn't been raining a whole lot, but it rained with a vengeance yesterday. I have been bugging my landlord to come by and fix a few problems with my house, but he has been putting that off and being otherwise very Salvo about it. Thats ok, I am growing accustomed to the life here and realize he isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Well yesterday it rained rather hard in the evening and I my first troublesome experience in my new house. First you should all know that my shower and bathroom are in my backyard, both are covered of course, but I still need to walk across my uncovered backyard to get to them. Furthermore, I haven't managed to buy lights for either yet, so at night it can be rather dark in there with the door closed, which I tend to avoid if possible. Additionally my toilet itself has issues, it has no seat, only a lid that fell off and it needs to be bucket flushed. Well yesterday I had the runs, so I was presented with the not so fun situation of using my sorry excuse for a bathroom in the pitch black rain. Well since I don't want you to use your magination I will describe how this works, bring the headlamp the find the bathroom, hover over the toilet, aim, shoot and hope for the best. That works fine and all in the daytime, or when you aren't in urgent need of the facilities. Last night my aim was a little off and I wound up splashing a bit on the back of the toilet and on my board shorts, which I was wearing because my other clothes were soaked. And the bucket flushing caused a little more splash, so all around last night wasn't so great. I got up early today to mop and clean and this afternoon I plan to do some laundry. (By hand of course)

High Holiday

2006-09-23T13:57:00.000-06:00

I was a bit worried when my parents first brought up the question of what I would do for the High Holidays some time ago. I figured the only answer to that was vamos a ver. Well it turned out to work and it has reaffirmed to me that no matter where you find yourself there are always some other jews there that figured out how to carry on and will gladly take you under their wing.

I am sitting in the nicest house I have been in since I left Los Angeles and the only house that legitimately reminded me of the way houses are constructed and layed out in the US. 6 volunteers including myself have invaded this house, eaten our fill and generally made ourselves at home. All this thanks to the generosity of one family who are members of the embassy here. I would never have met them if it weren't for a curious phone call from another volunteer wondering if I was in fact jewish as she had suspected.

I am happy, well fed and glad to wish everyone a Shana Tova.

The Boda

2006-09-22T12:13:00.000-06:00

Ok, so September 17th was a monumental day for my family and me. The first of my cousins got married, which means the first of this generation in my family. It makes it all that much more monumental that I grew up with my cousin and more than anything he is like a brother to me. I can’t seem to separate in my mind that kid that I always played sports and video games with and to this day we still enjoy an unhealthy amount of potty humor and drinking stories. But more than that, it was a crazy trek from rural El Salvador to the civic center of Baltimore and back in only 3½ days.

I started off by waking up before the roosters even started crowing, which in and of itself if an extraordinary feat, and made my way through the country on the first bus of the day out of my site. It was a big game of leapfrog from one terminal to the next and somewhere in the middle I found myself wondering through the shady central market of San Salvador where I saw some things that will be burned in my mind for the rest of my life. Eventually I made it to the airport before the doors of my airline even opened, so began the giant game of sitting around airports. I think I actually spent more time waiting in and around airports than I did in planes and certainly more than I did in cars or beds. Buses would be a different story altogether. Strangely it takes as much time to trek from the Airport to my house as it took both planes including layover from El Salvador to Maryland. But it was all worth it.

I got the honor of being in my first wedding party and I got to see many members of my family who I haven’t seen in much longer than the nearly 4 months I have been gone. I never knew how tiring it was to get dressed up and take photos then stand around in the front of a wedding, nor did I ever think how rewarding it was. I wouldn’t have traded that ache in my feet for anything on Sunday night. Through the whole affair I saw family, ate good food and took some lukewarm showers. (No, I was not mentally or physically prepared to jump from the freezing cold showers here in El Salvador to the hot massaging showers in the Hyatt.)

As I said to many people before I left I had mixed feelings about rushing back to the US so soon and for such a short period of time. But it turned out alright. It didn’t give me nearly enough time to acclimate to life in the US again, and therefore it didn’t give me the opportunity to really start missing my life there. All in all I came away with a bagful of stuff to use in my life here and when the whirlwind was over I feel more like it was a really exhausting dream than anything else. A dream that leaves you with great photos and some really comfy sheets.

2006-09-09T10:52:00.000-06:00

Ok so I do´n't have my camera with me and that is bugging me because I can't add any of the beautiful pictures I took while hiking around the hills in northern Morazan last weekend. I was there to celebrate Angie's birthday which happens to be on the same day as my father, his two sisters and one of my cousins. That is a lot of people for one day, but it makes it easy to remember. Anyway, so a bunch of us descended upon Angie's site and crashed in a hotel for two nights while we hung out and hiked aound. I have to admit she got a beautiful area. She lives way up in the hills near Honduras and from looking around you would forget you are in El Salvador. Everything is Pine and Oak and it reminded me quite a bit of the higher areas in California like Yosemite and Tahoe. Its also fairly cool, which was a big surprise seeing as how its El Sal and all. But alas I don't have my camera with me so none of you can see these lovely photos and bask in what I am describing.

On the home front I've paid for a house for this month, which solves the issue of finding a house. Unfortunately simply having a house opens many more issues, like buying a bed and other such necessities as well as the little things you never think about needing. For example, I now am set out on the task of acquiring various sizes of guacals, enough dishes for myself and maybe a guest or two, some cleaning items, various hardware items like lightbulbs and whatever else comes up. Its more work than I thought, but its something to do. It gave me an excellent excuse to run of to the closest city and I plan to spend the day here.

I am personally torn about how I feel to be going to the States for Elie's wedding. Of course I want to see my family. And of course I want to get some much needed items while I am in the States. The problem is that I don't know how I am going to handle being in the US again after so short a time and knowing that I will have to come back here. I mean I am just now getting used to life here and this may soil that. In addition I feel just a tad guilty for leaving my site and flying off so early in my service, I mean its not usually done, but its for a good reason and I gave lots of warning. I know I shouldn't feel too bad because my Alcalde will be out of town too, but I am leaving on independence day. That could mean horrible flying conditions or an open airport, I am hoping for the latter. Either way it is what it is. That leaves me trying to figure out what to pack and how to get to the airport by bus.

I am still just sorta tagging along on the various tasks that the social promoters currently have going, but now I am starting to have a little more input and I am actually being invited for various tasks not just asked where I think I want to go. I am looking forward to the time after I get back from the wedding because the promoters will be changing their focus from the Civil Protection Committees back to ADESCOs and they want me to help them build a curriculum to teach the boards leadership. And they have plans to continue educating these boards afterwards, so I will most likely help develope future topics and curriculums as well. Additionally I need to do my entry into site event, which is basically a charla to community leaders explaining who I am and what I can do, then inviting them to do the same. That should get my face out there a little more and introduce me to some new people in my town. I don't need to do it yet, but now that I am settling and my personal needs are getting covered, I figure the sooner the better.

For my brother who is very impatient, you should know that in order to update my blog I need to find a good bit of time and an internet cafe. The two at the same time are hard to come by and for the most part I plan to update whenever I am in one of the cities here, which I am hoping to do once a week, but it may be less. I also may be able to find an hour here or there at a closer internet cafe if I can't make it to a city every week. But the point is that internet is a rarity here and I've gotta find time to travel to somewhere that has it. Also to my brother, thanks for taking care of stuff for me while I am gone.

Trying to get my feet wet

2006-08-31T14:45:00.000-06:00

Literrally I am just trying to get my face out there and see as much of my municipality as I possibly can. That is harder than you think considering my municipality is one of the 10 largest in the country. (I figured that out after some research into relative sizes.) Furthermore I would like to get and about more, but I find myself lurking about my town trying to figure out just what to do about a house and trying to stalk the few people I know that either own houses or can help me look for one. There is much more to getting out as well, like transportation, or lack thereof. My Alcaldia doesn't have its own vehicle right now, so all the social promoters and I get around in whoever's pickup can be borrowed that day and make runs to various communities and run back and forth picking people up and dropping people off. Sometimes that leaves us waiting at a site for a while or getting somewhere else really late. It can also leave me stuck somewhere much later than I wanted to be or with a different social promoter at an event I wasn't really planning on attending.

The random location and attendance pattern isn't all bad though. Tuesday I stumbled upon a meeting of people who were trying to build a legalized community group with aspirations to be a environmental group. They apparently are a group of fishermen who have gotten permission from the government to collect turtle eggs and then hatch them and return the baby turtles to the wild. Now they are looking to legalize their group in order to solicit funds. With this they plan to receive donations of food, money and equipment to make a effect a more permanent ability to raise and release turtles. Of course there is always a hitch, or several. They don't have enough people is the first problem, and I think we can fix that if they would just agree to either join the already existing community group and use their legal standing, or look for more members, but they seemed skeptical. Additionally they aren't all environmentally minded. On closer inspection they actually keep and eat or sell a portion of the turtle eggs. Seems a little counter-intuitive for a group trying to raise and release turtles, but hey, other people are just collecting the eggs and selling them, so if these guys want to raise and release some, that is something that nobody else is doing. So I figure it is better to help these guys out and try to get them to raise more and sell fewer eggs than to just let them be. Still, I am excited to have stumbled upon one of the first projects I can help with and get excited about.

Up until now I have just been tagging along and watching somewhat dumbfounded at what my social promoters have been doing, this is my first real chance to contribute to the developement.

First impressions again

2006-08-23T15:46:00.000-06:00

Ok I know I already went to my site and had my first impressions, but since I wasn't really "living" there yet I reserve the right to have my first impressions again.

Ok, so the pueblo is actually much bigger than it looks because being nestled in the hills and among a forest, the houses and streets sort of meander into the hills and trees and can't really be seen unless you know where to look. Apparantly I had no idea during my site visit. Now I know because I went around meeting people while they were fleeing from their houses because their houses were being fumigated.

Also, my town is still just as quiet as I thought. Really very little happens after the alcaldia closes. I hope this changes with time and as I meet people. I know people are hanging out somewhere, probably in their houses or somewhere semi-private. I figure as I get to know people maybe I will be invited to tag along to something or other and maybe even get invited over for dinner now and then. One thing at a time though. I managed to go to the Sunday soccer games, and although I didn't really meet anyone new, at least they all know that I like soccer... er fútbol... and that I know the rules. I'm hoping fútbol is the first step to integration.

My house situation is coming along slowly. Right now I am staying in a quaint little room for free which is great while I wait. I don´t really want to stay there though, as I had my heart set on the larger house that the room is part of. I can´t really cook or clean or store food or anything while my living situation is so up in the air and I really wanna get this settle because eating out all the time isn't as much fun as indicated in El Salvador, especially on a limited budget. I am doing my best to talk to the owner, but he is busy, I am busy and for some reason the language barrier is much harder to overcome with him. I mean I speak spanish, or so I thought...

So that leads me to spanish. The Peace Corps in El Salvador has created a multi-tier system for rating the spanish skills of its volunteers. I came in as a Novice advance, which in my words is like the best of the losers. The aim of the language facilitators is to get the lower level speakers into the intermediate range where they can communicate more easily and have a better understanding. I jumped from Novice Advance to Intermediate Advance, which I am proud of, but I was really hoping to get up to Advance Low. That really would have been a good accomplishment. Still I have nothing to complain about I jumped three levels, which is more than most. It has only been a small amount of time and already my spanish is much better, I am excited to think how I will be speaking after a year or more.

Its Over

2006-08-17T18:42:00.000-06:00

Training that is. Tomorrow I go live on my own like a big boy. I even arranged my own big boy house and I got a big boy desk at my alcaldia. Aren't you all proud of me? I feel all grown up, and like I just graduated from 7th grade or something like that.

Today we go out and enjoy ourselves as much as our modest amount of cash will allow. That sadly isn't very much but damn are we gonna make the best of it and enjoy ourselves. Splurging on ourselves seems like the thing to do tonight. After all, it isn't every day that you officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer and take an oath to uphold and protect the constitution... so help you g-d. So in that spirit, I think that the constitution might be at the bottom of a can or five and I need to do my duty by looking for it. I know its down there somewhere.

I don't know how else to ask

2006-08-12T19:54:00.000-06:00

I asked once by mass email but nobody responded. I don´t have contact (email and such) for a few people. This means Cyrus, Peter, Avi and anyone else that feels that they haven't heard from me but thing they should have. I know at least one or two of you have read this blog. Please anyone that reads this and knows some contact info for some people that should be hearing from me please send me an email.

Everything else is going well. I am actually sad to be leaving Santo Domingo. It sucks to say goodbye to people.

San Chico

2006-08-08T11:31:00.000-06:00

So I am finally in my site and the town is as small as I had been told. However the Alcaldia has a decidedly large town feel considering how large the municipio is. I mean the town itself is about a quarter of the size of Santo Domingo, but municipio is one of the larger ones in the department and the Alcaldia employs more than 5 times as many people as the one in Santo Domingo. I´ve already been provided with a desk and it is only my second day of my site visit, I don´t even live here yet.

That leads me to my second point, housing might be interesting for a while. Since the town is so small there don´t seem to be many houses on the market. There is a nice gentleman that seems to be friends or possibly a coworker of my counterpart in some capacity that owns two large houses. Quite frankly I was looking to rent a small house all to myself, not a large room in a huge house with a shared bathroom. For now I have asked just about everyone who works at the Alcaldia and actually lives in town to think if they know of anything. I am supposed to see another house sometime today, I´m hoping it is my dream house. If not the front casita part of the huge house will become available mere days after I return here, and that is better than just a room in the house.

The trip out here was interesting. I crashed in San Sal the night before in hopes of simplifying the trip and shortening my travel time. It seems I succeeded in shortening travel time, but not simplifying the trip. I asked the cobrador on my bus to tell me when to get off for the western terminal, he asked me where I was going, I told him, then he told me to get off at a different spot which had the same bus. Sounds like he did me a favor, but I was supposed to meet someone at the terminal, so I had to get another bus back. This time the cobrador ignored my request entirely and I spotted the terminal on my own one stop too late, and wound up walking back to the terminal. Not fun with a big overnight bag on your back. But I met up with Stephen and we took all the necessary busses without further complication.

Right now I am sitting in the only internet cafe in my town and it has dial-up internet. I haven´t used dial up in some time, but I think I may need to get used to it. That or get used to traveling a little bit to use some faster internet. I am here because my counterpart isn´t in the office today and I am supposed to go see a house and a go to a meeting in the afternoon, but have nothing to do right now until lunch.

Taller and more

2006-08-04T17:35:00.000-06:00

So today was my group's Taller, something like a day-camp with a teaching them. I think it went decently well overall. It did work to reinforce my thoughts that I don't like doing presentations to youth alone, but in a group of volunteers I rather enjoy myself. Even if I do wind up taking a lesser role than some more outgoing people with better spanish skills. Still, I managed to bring lots of leadership excersises to the table that I learned back in the day at TEAM Cal. I like the planning more than the execution and I think I would probably like the whole thing a bit more in English, but thats life. You can't always get what you want, especially in a spanish speaking country. We did luck out and get to use our training center, so we had money left over to use to get the children and ourselves Pollo Campero, which is something like the Salvadoran version of KFC, except that they are all wild about it. All in all I am happy about the day and I'm sorta looking forward to tonight since it is the last night of fiestas in my town. I can't seem to get enought elote (corn) in any of its forms at the fiesta. My leading favorite is elote with salt and lime, but they have the rediculous and aptly named elote loco which I enjoy from time to time. (I didn't do a good job of describing it before, but it is corn with mayo, mustard, cheese, bbq sauce and taco bell style salsa. It doesn't sound appetizing I know, but it is strangely addictive and tasty.)

So Much Happening...

2006-08-01T19:12:00.000-06:00

Its hard to describe it all. This past week has been a bit of a blur. Huge amounts of activity and small amounts of sleep have made it seem like one big continuous event in my mind.

Where I last left off fiestas were starting in my town and I was getting very little sleep. Well I had no idea at the time, but things were just getting started. Its louder than I ever thought it could be and my house is more crowded than a barn at Harris Ranch. The noise is almost unbearable every night, and more people arrive to sell products and set up booths or food stands every day. To top it off, the band that lives in my house sets off fireworks at 4 in the morning and walks around town playing music to wake people up. Crazy I know, but true. And just to make sure I was a little more uncomfortable, water has been out here for more than 6 days. My family has been going down to a river to get water to bathe and flush toilets with.

During all this commotion we managed to have a few cool trips with the trainees. On Saturday we went to two sites that contain some ruins from Mayans. The first site had what seems to be the remains of a small town preserved because of several volcano eruptions. Nearby there is a site that seems to be more of a religious site that is composed of several pyramids and a large square. Its a bit of an experience because we got to walk basically all over the ruins and played frisbee in the old square. I enjoyed it, especially in comparison to the few Mayan sites I had visited in Belize years ago. The construction style is nearly identical, but the materials are totally different, leaving the Salvadoran sites much more exposed to decay by the elements. Still I find ruins fascinating and somehow mysterious to walk around and think about.

After all that excitement we all got up very early Sunday morning and set out to climb the volcano just outside San Vicente. I forget the actual name at the moment, but it was a hell of a climb. Actually I'd put it up there as the hardest hike I've ever done. That is a big claim since I've had some crazy hikes and and hiking mishaps, but I feel it is justified. We left our sites at just about 6am and got to our starting point and began to climb just before 7. On the way there were several nice vistas and we saw the house of one of the former presidents of El Salvador who apparently owns the majority of the volcano. Midway up I started having extreme hip pains, but I decided to tough it out because this wasn't going to be an everyday opportunity. I don't regret my choice, but from that point on it got more and more steep and my hip reminded me often that it wasn't happy. For a good way I was almost climbing on all fours and we were covered by forest canopy, so I couldn't see any progress. But at about 11:30 I got to the top and it was absolutely beatiful up there above the clouds. The view and time at the top was totally worth it. The descent went well except for a little bit of rain. But at that point it was too nice and I couldn't really complain.

Today we got our site assignents and I´m still realing over the news. I can´t wrap my head around the fact that I finally have a place to call my own. I am not posting the story because it seems a little odd, but it went out in an email and if you want to hear it email me and I will fill you in.

Getting a Little Nuts

2006-07-26T18:09:00.000-06:00

Things are beginning to get a little nuts around here. As time winds down in training I find that life is speeding up a little bit and my emotions are a little all over the place.

The first and most obvious reason why I am a little out of my mind right now is that we've had both of our interviews to assign our sites and we are less than a week away from finding out where we will be spending the rest of our two years. My APCD (basically my boss) seemed very excited after my second interview and gave me the impression that based on my statements, he already had a site that seemed to be my cup of tea. That seems encouraging to me that there is a site that seems to fit based on my personality and what I like working on. But damn it I want to know now where I will live. The waiting really is the hardest part.

The second and more confusing issue on my mind is the early termination of our second and third trainees from our training group. Granted they are married so that makes two departing at once a little less shocking, but I really feel like I was getting to know them and that they would make it for the long haul. I understand their decision and I can't say that I blame them, but it feels like things are slowly falling apart. Besides, Will was one of the guys and we are very few in numbers these days. Two of the three that have left were guys and there weren't that many of us to begin with. This just sort of sets the wheels in motion wondering who else is destined to jump ship, and who else I will regret losing as an in-country pal.

The final nail in my crazy coffin right now is something called Fiestas Patronales. Loosely translated it means festivals for saints, or the patron saints of each town. Yes, each town here has its own saint and I'll be damned if they don't celbrate the hell out of him. The fiesta here isn't even supposed to begin for a week, but already every person that could possibly be selling anything has set up shop in the park, which happens to be right in front of my house. Noises and hollering continue all night and just about drive me nuts til I pass out with exhaustion. I am wondering what it will be like in a week when more stalls arrive to sell stuff, rides start getting set up and fireworks start going off with even more regularity than they already do. I don't imagine there will be much sleeping involved. On the up side I am all set to try some elote loco, which is crazy corn, or corn with every topping known to man on it. Hopefully there will be some photos.

Isla Tasajera

2006-07-25T19:56:00.000-06:00

For a little rest and relaxation we went to a little island off the Costa del Sol called Isla Tasajera. We rented out the entirety of a hotel for $26 per person for 2 nights, that included all food and lodging. It was a little on the expensive side considering our budgets, but I think it was worth every cent.

We started by taking a private bus straight from the training center, which is the best way to do it in my opinion. The bus ride was what you'd expect of a bunch of 20 something people in a private bus on their way to party it up on an island, in other words, party bus. That was largely the case until two police men busted into the back door and I proceeded to hide everything from view. However we were lucky and they just wanted to hitch a free ride for a few miles and didn't have any plans to hinder our fun. Once we got to the beach two little water taxis took us the rest of the way and we proceeded to eat dinner then continue with our festivities. That meant lots of cards and lots of beer, a good combo if you ask me.

Somehow when we were deciding rooms I picked a room with two of the other guys, but when I turned around only my stuff was in the room and I was a bit confused about why they went to other rooms. I made sure to tell everyone that I had a room to myself and anyone could switch if their room was crowded, but I remained solo. That made me feel a bit lonely in the grand scheme of things. Did I smell or something? I mean what did I do to either earn a room solo or get abandoned for the comfort of more crowded spaces?

The morning was our first real view of the island since we got in after dark. It was quiet and pretty and I got a few nice shots of the sun on the water in the morning. Clearly we spent most of the day at the beach playing in the water and getting burnt. The water was warmer than I am used to for the Pacific and the beach was a sort of silty sand. The waves were fun and large enough to play around in. So we swam, played frisbee, kicked around a ball and good fun was had by all.

The evening was largely a repeat of the first, but this time a little more boistrous and with a little more in the way of adult beverages. This time we played lots of cards and talked for hours. I can't speak enough of the combination of beer, cards and hammocks, it does wonders for the spirit.

The following morning some of us took a scenic boat ride and saw some of the nice houses and boats along the Costa del Sol, as well as a little bird infested island. We left mid day.

The Pajaro, the Guacal and the Carlos

2006-07-25T19:45:00.000-06:00

So now that I have managed to sneak away and have some time to update I realized my previous account was somewhat clinical and bland. I will recount some of the interesting things that slipped my mind when I wrote about Field Based Training.

First and foremost I was originally offered a matress on the floor of the Casa Antonia, she managed to one up herself by presenting me with a bed upon my return. I was thankful for the upgrade and assured her that I would be a good house guest. To my surprise not all was alright with the bed. First it did´n't have a matress, instead just a few sheets folded over the base of the bed, thats ok though, I can manage on a floor or a hammock in a pinch and this was better than either of those. Upon laying on the bed it became immediately evident that at the foot of the bed a large guacal (think big plastic tub) was hogging all the foot space. I did my best to move it without making too much of a fuss, but it was full and stacked high with luggage and what seemed to be half of all the clothes in the room. I didn't bother too much with it after that, I had made a little more space, enough to spread my legs and put one foot on either side of the guacal.

My big surprise came during the night after I had already dealt with the problems of the blankets and the guacal. To my shock and horror there was a thumping under the bed, originating from a cardboard box without any labels. I didn't know exactly what to do with it but just sorta ignore it and hope it wasn't life threatening. By the time the sound presented itself everyone was asleep except me. The next morning Antonia entered my room and removed the mystery box. Apparently a small parrot sleeps in the box under the bed every night, and since I hadn't been to the back of the house during daylight the day before, I didn't see the parrot on its daytime perch. Suffice to say that whenever the parrot had a bad night, so did Carl.

Field based training

2006-07-15T17:53:00.000-06:00

So we just came back from field based training. I encourage you all to consult Matt Ladd's blog which is linked on the right and see if he has put anything up about it because he had a very interesting experience of it. I am not going to steal his thunder, and most likely he'll have some funny account of it.

As for me and the trainees that went with me, we had a reasonably uneventful time by comparison, but memorable and pleasant by all regards. We went to Jayaque which is high up in the hills and as such has a wonderfully mild climate. Not too many bugs, a nice breeze and never too hot compared to the rest of the country. Beatiful views and nice people as well, perhaps the only fault is that the town itself is one big hill and you always seem to be walking uphill no matter where you are going.

We got acquainted with the town, met our families and picked up trash with a group from the school the first day. It was cool to see the kids get involved, but upon buying some goods, I was disappointed to see some of the kids throw their trash on the ground after we had spent over an hour picking up countless bags worth of trash off the ground and one of the students had given an impromptu chat about why littering is bad. So much for work and information inspiring a change in behavior. I think some of them got it, but honestly I think that eventhough they all seem to know the repurcussions, they still don't really care. Unfortunate indeed, we have our work cut out for us.

The second day was uneventful, we painted a basketball court with some motivated kids. Hard, good work, but not much to say about it. I got paint all over my hands and shoes.

The third day was charla day. Two seperate two hour charlas can really wear a person out. Thank god that we were giving them in teams, I would have wanted to shoot myself if I had to do that alone. The first charla went really well. The little kids ate up our dinamicas and they loved Whitney because she knew so many fun games. Will and I would have been a little lost without her, so thank you Whitney, you saved us from failure. Speaking of failure, the second charla didn't go as spectacularly well. Will got sick and left, which meant we had to do his part without prep. Additionally we had prepared a charla for older kids and then we were presented with a slew of kids from 1st to 9th grade. Let me tell you that giving a mixed age charla is not fun, half the group is always either confused or bored. Luckily the other half is usually somewhat engaged. Our facilitator ensured us that we did a good job given the circumstances, but I think it was a bit of a failure on a whole. Can't win 'em all though. At least I know what its like now.

Today we hiked up close to the peak of the mountain that Jayaque is on. Beautiful views, I love hikes for that reason. I could have done without all the spider webs though. I did enjoy myself though. Its interesting to hike through coffee fincas and see some of the families living in shacks that are clearly there to work the land at rock bottom prices. I felt sorta bad for them being so removed from the town and living in such shacks. I have a better idea of what it must have been like when coffee was the dominant export here. I don't know that life is any better for the people in the fincas, but at least its not everyone's life here anymore.

I forgot about this one...

2006-07-15T17:43:00.000-06:00

So for a little while I forgot to mention the duck man. I call him the duck man because he had some strange obsession with ducks... but I'll explain that a little later. When we were in San Sebastian buying hammocks we were approached by an obviously poor old man who came to beg us for a little change. We assured him that we had only what we needed for the bus home, but he wasn't dissuaded, he wanted to talk to us instead once he found out the gringos could speak spanish.

Angela somehow let slip that she was from Australia, which prompted this man to begin a series of unintelligle questions about the rights and abilities in the land down under. Of them all I only understood one, and I was the only person that understood it. It seems he desperately wanted to know if you could marry a duck in Australia. This seemed strange to me, so I didn't let on that I knew what he was asking about and just feigned ignorance with the rest. But this was his most important question so he began to motion like a duck and repeat the question over and over. Finally when thoroughly exhausted of that he decided to sing me a song since I seemed to understand him the best.

It was while he was singing to me that he touched my knee and I got a whiff of his breath. Suddenly all I could think of was furiously washing my knee and face. I didn't mean it in any bad way, it was just all my mind was transfixed on at the time because I didn't want to be talking to him, much less serenaded by him.

It wasn't until after the whole sordid and filthy affair that I discovered a little something about marrying ducks... apparently the word for marriage and hunting are very similar in spanish. Casar is to marry and cazar is to hunt, subtle but important difference. I choose to believe it was his lack of a front tooth that forced his Z's into sounding like S's. So but for the grace of one tooth we might have had a nice talk about hunting ducks instead of marrying ducks and being serenaded.

Ok, time for random stuff

2006-07-03T19:21:00.000-06:00

Since I am waiting for photos to upload and I have nothing better to do in the mean time I will recount many true and possibly amusing events that have taken place during my time here so far.

First and foremost I believe there is a Salvadoran man conducting some sort of Jean racketeering scam out of one of the back bedrooms of our house. I am not sure how this works, but I can assure you he is there and believes he is making money. The scam seems to consist of walking to the back of the house, rummaging through a few bins of jeans wrapped in plastic, making all sorts of noise, but making no discernable progress in all of his sorting. No customers ever come or go and he never leaves with any jeans, nor does he ever come with any. Once or twice he has asked me if I needed jeans, but I declined the invite to join his little scheme. I've also spied him discussing the finer points of selling pants with Don Fabio, but I think he isn't taking Fabio's advice, because the jeans just get sorted and never sold.

I've had the pleasure of being part of many an awkward social gathering and seen many an awkward event. So many in fact that I've considered starting a journal solely composed of these moments because they occur so frequently that they soon escape my memory. Once such example is being invited to lunch at the house of one of our community member's secret boyfriend with her mother. ( I should add that we have met him, but the mother hasn't) If that isn't awkward enough I had the good fortune of spying a cat popping a squat and proceeding to heave and huff at the labor of relieving himself of yesterday's food. This is the sort of thing that once you catch it, you can't take your eye off it.

Yet another day I had the fortune of getting a bacterial infection. This isn't awkward per se, but the effects are. For example, running to the bathroom and nearly not making it, running the risk of soiling yourself with every step, not fun. Additionally, in order to confirm the infection you have to put a "sample" in a very small cup. Needless to say this is difficult when you've all but lost control of all functions related to your bowels. One must also deliver the sample in a timely manner, which can be a fun hike while sick.

Immersion Days etc.

2006-07-02T14:23:00.000-06:00

I just got back from what is called Immersion Days and while I was somewhat apprehensive about the experience at first, the reality is entirely different.

Let me start by describing the activity briefly. Each trainee is assigned to a volunteer that is currently serving and that volunteer finds a place for the trainee to stay in a canton close to where the live. The volunteer then shares some information about how to get to the assigned community and from there it is the responsibility of the trainee to get there by bus or other indicated means of transportation. After that, the trainee stays in the appointed community for two days by himself and the third day meets with the volunteer and stays with him for a day.

That all sounds rather scary on paper. But the reality of it is that it wasn't all that bad. We have all already struck out once to places unfamiliar to us and to live with people unfamiliar with us when we moved to our host communities. This time the experience was tempered by the fact that if something happened, we weren't staying there long term.

The place where I stayed was a rather quiet little canton in La Union, the self proclaimed hottest department in El Salvador. I'd say that it is absolutely true. It borders on oppressively hot there in the middle of the day. I stayed in the house of a man named Ismael, was led around town by my primary contact named Efraim and ate at yet another house of a woman named Ophelia. This all added up to quite a bit of walking around during the heat of the day. It also meant that since I was viewed as more of a communal visitor and not anyone in particular's sole responsibility. That meant when the three people mentioned had something to do, I was either left alone to read Roughing It by Mark Twain or was left to the mercy of anyone who happened to stop by. More often than not a young boy stopped by to watch what Bryan Dwyer calls "gringo TV". This consisted mainly of sidling up next to me and staring at me with a slight tilt of the head and a slack-jaw. This also consisted of the young boy resisting any and all attempts I made to talk to him in favor of just staring at me slack-jawed. I'm sure that is the preferred "gringoTV" position in many a canton.

I also had the pleasure of being shown the "zona verde" no less than three times by different people. They are very proud of this little public swatch of land that has a few trees, some sickly grass and a few "nacimientos" where water collects from the stream and can be used to wash clothes, clean dishes or bathe in. I took in the spectacle humbly every time and commented on how nice the shade is if you want to go down to the river and bathe. Good thing I saw it all though, because the following morning I needed to use my new knowledge and go and bathe in the stream. I'm sure this was a sight because all the women doing washing of any sort stopped and just watched me take a bucket bath. I assume I did everything correctly, but I can't be sure really. Enough of that though, afterwards I had the privilege of staying at Nate Dollar's house, which is a mansion by volunteer standards. I got to stay with him for about 18 hours. After that we departed in the morning for San Salvador.

In the capital the Embassy was putting on a sort of pre July 4th celebration. Peace Corps is invited to attend at a reduced fee, so volunteers and trainees alike show up in droves. It was good to spend some quality time with Americans, speak english and most importantly get a few beers for $1 a piece. The whole affair didn't last that long though since our rides back to our host communities showed up after a short time. Most trainees didn't like leaving, and so decided to stay, but I didn't want to tempt fate or my shaky stomach and decided to go back to Santo Domingo for a good nights sleep and some purified water.

Some Photos

2006-06-23T13:06:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to throw up a few pics from the first however long its been. The first is the house I am currently living in, the second is the view from another trainee's house and the third is some local break dancers at a small festival in Santo Domingo.

I have crazy stories, but this one is better...

2006-06-22T18:24:00.000-06:00

Ok, so yesterday I had my first "oh crap, this is for real" moment. We were talking to one of the workers in the alcaldia (which is like the city hall) when he invited us to tag along to an interview of sorts in the Canton. What it turned out to be was that there is a family there that asked the alcaldia for support and help finding aid. Apparently their father has been gone for over 4 years and their mother died some time last year of cancer. There are 8 of them living there ranging from about 5 years of age to 16. The Secretary of Family affairs sent an agent and some supplies to the family and we got to tag along. Its a sad story and I'm glad that I got to be there to see that the government and the alcaldia in my town were helping out. I don't think any of the other groups really got an experience like this yet.

This Is It

2006-06-17T14:54:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this is now my blog for my experience in Peace Corps, El Salvador. I will update as often as I can or want to.

So far I am in the final part of the first week of training. What that means is I am living in the small community of Santo Domingo, about 20 minutes outside of San Vicente. Three other trainees live here in Santo Domingo, but we all live in different houses with different host families. Two days a week we travel to San Vicente for training at the Peace Corps training center, the other days we either have spanish lessons in our community or travel to various sites to learn about our future lives here.

I am happy so far. I couldn't have asked for a better family to live with or better trainees to have in my community. (Though there couldn't have been a bad group, I like everyone so far.) Obviously its an adjustment though. For example, I already got a mild bacterial infection, the water went out in my community for almost two days, its hot, it rains all the time and the language barrier can be a bit stifling. However the whole situation sounds worse than it really is. The four of us in Santo Domingo are getting along quite well and we have each other to laugh with when things get a little topsy turvy.