In case of flood, do not use stairs.

10/22/11

The storm has passed and the sun has returned. From around the tenth to the twentieth we weathered a couple of major storms, with rain lasting the whole ten days and not a ray of sunshine. The news said it was the worst storm in about 50 years, killing more than thirty people here in El Salvador and leaving many more homeless. The main dangers were houses built near rivers and landslide areas. Luckily where I live has not been too deforested, so there is not much landslide danger. The Peace Corps put us on house arrest to minimize travel and dangerous situations, so that meant ten days of not going outside or really doing anything. I am taking the GRE (standardized test for admission to grad schools) next month so the rain did give me a good chance to study. Everyone was definitely going stir crazy by the end though. I have never been more delighted to wake up to sunshine finally streaming back into my life.

In other news, I received a kindle from Mom for my birthday, which I had been wanting but could not rationalized buying for myself. This little gadget can surf the internet using cell phone signal for FREE even here, and Amazon foots the bill. Being able to check email, facebook, news, and blogs from my village has been a revelation; it makes such a big difference in staying connected and not feeling like I live on a different planet than everyone else. Thanks Mom!

School was closed for the duration of the storm, and will be open only for another 2-3 weeks before the 2.5 month break. This also coincides with the coffee picking season, which means no work for me to do until February. If you remember last year, I have retired from coffee picking, luckily I don’t have to work all day in the fields to make $5. In February I plan to do a world map mural on the side of the school, give the teachers more classes on how to use our new laptop and projector set up, and make sure we get this reading pavilion thing built at the school (basically a roof and tile floor making an area for quiet reading time and outdoor classes)

Other than that, I am looking forward to a string of visitors here soon, I can’t wait to spend time showing family and friends around crazy world I find myself in. Everyone is still invited, if you don’t have plans to visit yet (I’m not sure who still reads this) you could come in early March, or anytime in May or June. Think about it. If you are coming, nice work taking the initiative, I promise it will be the experience of a lifetime!