So my 22nd birthday came and went, and ended up being pretty nice despite being significantly more sober than my last one due to the no drinking during training policy here. The other volunteers surprised me with a cake and a card they had all signed, which really made me feel appreciated and surrounded by good network of friends. When I got home my family also had a cake form my, and proceeded to sing “feliz cumpleanos” and other spanish songs. It was a really nice gesture and I feel closer to them now.
I have just returned from a PC event called “immersion days” where I went to visit a volunteer in his site that he had been in for one year. His site was a tiny village of less than 300 way out in the mountains of the west. It was an hour and a half hike from the nearest town, and the roads were so bad it is almost impossible to drive to. The village had no running water or electricity, but had a school and a church. I stayed with the volunteer and his host family for three days way out in sticks. They grow lots of corn, beans and rice, which is about all they eat. Our host volunteer was a bit sick of the lack of food variety. The highlight was visiting two absolutely gorgeous waterfalls. One had a narrow swimming hole at the bottom, which was deep enough to jump off of the surrounding rocks into. The other was over 200 feet tall and absolutely astounding. The surrounding protected area highlighted the natural beauty of tropical areas and reminded me of why I am here and definitely boosted my morale.
Hope all is well in the States.
Much love.
PS. I mis-typed my phone number before, its actually- 011 503 7516 3289
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Aug 13
Well, I’ve been slacking on the blog writing, there no denying it. This is partly due to the fact that the Peace Corps keeps us really busy, and the little free time I have is spent sleeping or reading. I’ve been reading a lot since it my only escape from speaking Spanish, which I can only do for so many hours a day. I’ve finished Obama’s Audacity of Hope which was really a good read and made me more proud and enthusiastic than ever about being an American. Although we get cynical and focus on problems a lot, I really believe it is one of the best places to live and we should keep trying to fix the problems and not give up. I also read Living Poor which was written about a PC volunteer’s experience in the late 60’s in Ecuador. That book sure made it feel easy here, the people in the book we so poor that a pair of shoes, a complete diet and a night sleeping in a bed were luxuries. Hard to complain after reading that, but I do anyway.
I went to a local waterpark last week with some a couple of families from my town. We piled about 10 people into the bed of a pickup and drove for about an hour and a half, with about one hour being in a large circle that I never figured out the purpose of. It starting raining really hard too, and it turns out that raindrops kind of hurt at 60MPH, but it was really fun anyway. The water park was fairly large, with two major pools, a slide, waterfalls, a zipline and other features. The pools were un-chlorinated and filled with small fish that like to nibble at legs. The water was probably really dirty since so many people were in it, but I’ve haven’t gotten sick yet.
I also bought a large machete at the market the other day, complete with frilly sheath. The people in my town thought it was pretty funny, but I know I will need it at some point. I haven’t found anybody to sharpen it yet, since apparently the first time you should use a sharpening machine and not just a file. Should be good to hack at some foliage and give me some credito de la calle (street credit).
Today we went to the American Embassy, which was a strange place after walking around the dilapidated caipital. We had to go through security complete with xray machine, which then lead to a huge courtyard. We filed into the very formal and posh ambassadors’’ house, which decorated how I imagine the white house is. We talked for a while with the head honcho (there is no ambassador right now, they are in the process of appointing one) and had lunch. It was fully catered by butlers on gold-plated dishes. It was probably the fanciest place I have ever been, and was a culture shock after roughing out in the country for a month.
I finally got a cell phone, my number is (001)503 7516-3289, the best time to call is 5-9 my time, which is an hour ahead of California time. I would love to hear from anyone who wants to talk!
Well, I’ve been slacking on the blog writing, there no denying it. This is partly due to the fact that the Peace Corps keeps us really busy, and the little free time I have is spent sleeping or reading. I’ve been reading a lot since it my only escape from speaking Spanish, which I can only do for so many hours a day. I’ve finished Obama’s Audacity of Hope which was really a good read and made me more proud and enthusiastic than ever about being an American. Although we get cynical and focus on problems a lot, I really believe it is one of the best places to live and we should keep trying to fix the problems and not give up. I also read Living Poor which was written about a PC volunteer’s experience in the late 60’s in Ecuador. That book sure made it feel easy here, the people in the book we so poor that a pair of shoes, a complete diet and a night sleeping in a bed were luxuries. Hard to complain after reading that, but I do anyway.
I went to a local waterpark last week with some a couple of families from my town. We piled about 10 people into the bed of a pickup and drove for about an hour and a half, with about one hour being in a large circle that I never figured out the purpose of. It starting raining really hard too, and it turns out that raindrops kind of hurt at 60MPH, but it was really fun anyway. The water park was fairly large, with two major pools, a slide, waterfalls, a zipline and other features. The pools were un-chlorinated and filled with small fish that like to nibble at legs. The water was probably really dirty since so many people were in it, but I’ve haven’t gotten sick yet.
I also bought a large machete at the market the other day, complete with frilly sheath. The people in my town thought it was pretty funny, but I know I will need it at some point. I haven’t found anybody to sharpen it yet, since apparently the first time you should use a sharpening machine and not just a file. Should be good to hack at some foliage and give me some credito de la calle (street credit).
Today we went to the American Embassy, which was a strange place after walking around the dilapidated caipital. We had to go through security complete with xray machine, which then lead to a huge courtyard. We filed into the very formal and posh ambassadors’’ house, which decorated how I imagine the white house is. We talked for a while with the head honcho (there is no ambassador right now, they are in the process of appointing one) and had lunch. It was fully catered by butlers on gold-plated dishes. It was probably the fanciest place I have ever been, and was a culture shock after roughing out in the country for a month.
I finally got a cell phone, my number is (001)503 7516-3289, the best time to call is 5-9 my time, which is an hour ahead of California time. I would love to hear from anyone who wants to talk!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The days are beginning to pass more quickly here as we fall into routine. Most of are time is occupied either by Spanish class, cultural immersion activities or going into the PC office for a day of lectures. Today we met with our “youth group”. We had early gone to a school and sat in on an English class, and at the end passed out invitations to come to my house at a specified time to participate in PC community activities. The class we visited was 9th grade and the kids were about 15. We passed out 14 invitations and 4 girls ended up showing up, 45 minutes late. We explained to them (in pre-written, badly executed Spanish) who we were and what we had in mind, and then asked them to take us on a tour of their community. We walked down to the local stream, were all of the local greywater drains to. The water was a frothy diluted milk color, and there was trash everywhere. This is all too common, 90% of surface water here is deemed unfit even for animal consumption. When we came back, we asked them for ideas about a project to better their community that we could help them do. They had some good ideas, such as more trash cans in the community and community workshops on environmental principles. We are very constrained on both time and money, however, so we have to set our sights fairly low. We are planning to meet with the girls every week to start getting a definite plan into motion. The project is a little strange since the PC has predetermined all the steps, and it is not really geared toward getting results, it is mostly to serve as a training exercise for us, so we can do actual work when we get into our sites.
We got a really good lecture from Rolando, our Environmental Director the other day. He is a Salvadoran who got a PhD from some school in Mississippi in Agriculture and has been with the PC here for 16 years, since the program reopened after the civil war. He basically highlighted that the environmental movement in the US hasn’t always been what it is today, that it really got started in the sixties, and he basically challenged us to make the same thing happen in El Salvador. That’s a pretty intense mission objective, but also inspiring. However, one can’t help but notice that the Environmental Movement in the US rode on the back of unheard of economic prosperity, and we don’t have that luxury here. However, Costa Rica stands as an excellent example of what can be done, and its close proximity encourages hope El Salvador.
We got a really good lecture from Rolando, our Environmental Director the other day. He is a Salvadoran who got a PhD from some school in Mississippi in Agriculture and has been with the PC here for 16 years, since the program reopened after the civil war. He basically highlighted that the environmental movement in the US hasn’t always been what it is today, that it really got started in the sixties, and he basically challenged us to make the same thing happen in El Salvador. That’s a pretty intense mission objective, but also inspiring. However, one can’t help but notice that the Environmental Movement in the US rode on the back of unheard of economic prosperity, and we don’t have that luxury here. However, Costa Rica stands as an excellent example of what can be done, and its close proximity encourages hope El Salvador.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tormentas
Rain comes hear just about every afternoon, usually around 4 or 5, sometimes accompanied by intense lightning, which I really enjoy. The word for storms here is tormentas, which is fairly appropriate. I just watched some of the news with my family that was showing a bunch of flooded houses and street in the capital, I think some people were killed too. I am living on a high hill, so I think we’re safe.
I went to catholic church with my family today, which was one of the most pleasant church experience I have had. The service was outdoors, with a long paved area in the middle of a forest, so it wasn’t hot and everyone was in the shade. It only lasted for about an hour and a half, which I was happy about, I heard they can last for four hours here. I mostly was zoning out the whole time since I couldn’t follow what was being said, but it was nice to listen when everyone was singing. The was a whole market and a bunch of food vendors outside the venue, so I got a papusa (beans and rice in a tortilla pancake) lunch with my family.
I am slowly noticing improvements in my Spanish, but the going is slow. Sometimes I am really motivated to learn as much as I can, other times I wish I could just give up. I am really excited to move to my site and start doing projects, but that’s not for another 6 weeks.
Much love to everybody,
-Ignacio
I went to catholic church with my family today, which was one of the most pleasant church experience I have had. The service was outdoors, with a long paved area in the middle of a forest, so it wasn’t hot and everyone was in the shade. It only lasted for about an hour and a half, which I was happy about, I heard they can last for four hours here. I mostly was zoning out the whole time since I couldn’t follow what was being said, but it was nice to listen when everyone was singing. The was a whole market and a bunch of food vendors outside the venue, so I got a papusa (beans and rice in a tortilla pancake) lunch with my family.
I am slowly noticing improvements in my Spanish, but the going is slow. Sometimes I am really motivated to learn as much as I can, other times I wish I could just give up. I am really excited to move to my site and start doing projects, but that’s not for another 6 weeks.
Much love to everybody,
-Ignacio
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