Thanksgiving and Beyond

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

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.