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
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Getting the hang of it
Hola a todos. I finally have some time to write. Its been a whirlwind of activity for me here. I have been living with my host family for about eight days now. It was an extremely abrupt change, going from hanging out with 30 Americans and living in hotel to living with a family by myself in the countryside. I quickly realized that my family speaks no English and my Spanish was not very functional. Although I seem to know the names of obscure nouns like tie, umbrella and credit card, I am not good at speaking or understanding speech. I am in a small town (about 100 people and maybe 25 houses, a school, a small store, and a small restaurant) about 20 minutes away from the training center. My Spanish teacher introduced me to my host mom and left, leaving me and my luggage with this Salvadoran family. After “Hola, como esta?” I pretty much exhausted my skills, and the ensuing conversation quickly dissolved into silence and awkwardness. My family consists of a mom, dad, and two kids, a boy who is 5 and a girl who is 9. I am getting along well with the mom and kids, but the dad just barks Spanish at me and gets impatient quickly. The mom is really nice and cooks me three meals a day, which I take at a formal dining table by myself, which was strange at first but I quickly got used to it. The countryside here is beautiful, very green, jungle-like and mountainous, with an occasional volcano throw in for good measure.
I have Spanish lessons every morning with a PC teacher who comes to my house. We meet with the other three volunteers in my town and have class from 8-12, break for lunch, and then either do a community activity or study more Spanish. Our first community activity was to round op some kids in town and get them to show us around town and have them draw a map or the community. That was fun, although the other volunteers are better at Spanish and did most of the talking. We did “A day in the life” on Monday, in which I just hung out with my host mom and observed here daily routine.
My family is surprisingly middle class. The dad is a teacher in a driving school (pretty dangerous around here, there are no traffic laws). The house is fairly large and comfortable, except for there is just a tin roof and some of the rooms are open air. My room is pretty basic, just a single bed in a 8X10 concrete room. There is a toilet which usually flushes and a shower (no hot water of course) and a sink in the bathroom. The family has two dogs, three small parrots, and a few chickens. They also have what must be the worlds loudest rooster which lives right outside my room and wakes me up between 4-5 each morning. I’m wondering if I could kill it and hide the body. There are also two hammocks an the front porch, which are great for siestas (even though they aren’t part of the culture here, I take them anyway.
The hardest thing about living here is definitely not knowing enough Spanish. It is very rare for me to understand a complete sentence, but by picking up key words, context, and gestures I can usually get the jist of what people say to me. I pretty much study Spanish all day every day, so hopefully I will get better fast. The words I try to learn often just go in one ear and out the other, and my mouth has problems receiving instructions from my brain in Spanish.
Similar to my time in Africa, I experience dramatic highs and lows. Sometime I have the so much fun here and can’t wait to get some important work done, and other times I get really frustrated with the language and fell like I can’t stand it anymore.
Some of the most fun I have is playing sports with the other volunteers and local kids. The kids are easier to talk to and I don’t have to worry about mistakes or offending anyone. They love soccer here, but we taught them ultimate Frisbee. They picked it up in about five minutes and really like to play.
It is consistently hot and humid, and lately storms have been rolling in every afternoon that dump rain for an hour or two. It is some of the most intense rain and thunder I have experienced, its no wonder erosion, landslides and floods are major problems here.
I am living here for two more months, getting to know the culture and language and receiving training in environmental education. After that, the PC places me in my “site” which I will live in for two years and teach in a school and do various projects. The really nice thing about the PC (called the Cuerpo de Paz here) is they tell you to first get to know your community and basically ask them what changes they would like to see in their community. You then work with people to help them make the change, and ensure that they know how to maintain it after you leave. The main idea in the environmental education program is that you train the teachers how to integrate environmental issues into the curriculum and then teach it themselves. Its supposed to be teaching people to fish rather than giving handouts.
I seem to have more developing world experience and more of a background in environmental studies than most of the other volunteers, but I have the least Spanish experience. Its ironic that the one subject I hated in school and could barely pass has become my primary goal.
Also, I changed my name to Ignacio. Forest was to hard to pronounce.
I have Spanish lessons every morning with a PC teacher who comes to my house. We meet with the other three volunteers in my town and have class from 8-12, break for lunch, and then either do a community activity or study more Spanish. Our first community activity was to round op some kids in town and get them to show us around town and have them draw a map or the community. That was fun, although the other volunteers are better at Spanish and did most of the talking. We did “A day in the life” on Monday, in which I just hung out with my host mom and observed here daily routine.
My family is surprisingly middle class. The dad is a teacher in a driving school (pretty dangerous around here, there are no traffic laws). The house is fairly large and comfortable, except for there is just a tin roof and some of the rooms are open air. My room is pretty basic, just a single bed in a 8X10 concrete room. There is a toilet which usually flushes and a shower (no hot water of course) and a sink in the bathroom. The family has two dogs, three small parrots, and a few chickens. They also have what must be the worlds loudest rooster which lives right outside my room and wakes me up between 4-5 each morning. I’m wondering if I could kill it and hide the body. There are also two hammocks an the front porch, which are great for siestas (even though they aren’t part of the culture here, I take them anyway.
The hardest thing about living here is definitely not knowing enough Spanish. It is very rare for me to understand a complete sentence, but by picking up key words, context, and gestures I can usually get the jist of what people say to me. I pretty much study Spanish all day every day, so hopefully I will get better fast. The words I try to learn often just go in one ear and out the other, and my mouth has problems receiving instructions from my brain in Spanish.
Similar to my time in Africa, I experience dramatic highs and lows. Sometime I have the so much fun here and can’t wait to get some important work done, and other times I get really frustrated with the language and fell like I can’t stand it anymore.
Some of the most fun I have is playing sports with the other volunteers and local kids. The kids are easier to talk to and I don’t have to worry about mistakes or offending anyone. They love soccer here, but we taught them ultimate Frisbee. They picked it up in about five minutes and really like to play.
It is consistently hot and humid, and lately storms have been rolling in every afternoon that dump rain for an hour or two. It is some of the most intense rain and thunder I have experienced, its no wonder erosion, landslides and floods are major problems here.
I am living here for two more months, getting to know the culture and language and receiving training in environmental education. After that, the PC places me in my “site” which I will live in for two years and teach in a school and do various projects. The really nice thing about the PC (called the Cuerpo de Paz here) is they tell you to first get to know your community and basically ask them what changes they would like to see in their community. You then work with people to help them make the change, and ensure that they know how to maintain it after you leave. The main idea in the environmental education program is that you train the teachers how to integrate environmental issues into the curriculum and then teach it themselves. Its supposed to be teaching people to fish rather than giving handouts.
I seem to have more developing world experience and more of a background in environmental studies than most of the other volunteers, but I have the least Spanish experience. Its ironic that the one subject I hated in school and could barely pass has become my primary goal.
Also, I changed my name to Ignacio. Forest was to hard to pronounce.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Out of the Frying Pan
I'm doing well, I'm healthy, and moved in with the host family. Not a lot of computer time, but I will write much more later. Much Love!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
day 2
Today was a full training day. First I had my spanish placement interview, which was definitely a struggle. I was asked open-ended questions for about 20 minutes to place me into an appropriate level of spanish instruction. I will probably start at the bottom, but everyone says it comes fast and I will be fine. Tomorrow we move out of the cush hotel that we are in ( air conditioning and wifi!) and into a host family house. Im excited, I will get a real taste of life here and some real spanish practice. We had papusas (pa POO sas) for dinner, which are a very common. They are beans and cheese in the center of a thick spongy corn tortilla ball smashed flat. They are eaten with salsa, sauerkraut, and pickled cauliflower and carrots, with spiced hot chocolate to drink. They were unbelievably good, the food here seems right up my alley. We also had training today in common health problems that occur as well as how to avoud being the victom of various types of crime. Although El Salvador has the third highest rate of crime among PC countries, it has one of the lowest volunteer drop out rates, which really speaks for the country and the program. Since all I can compare it to is Ghana, thus city seems pretty, clean and well kept to me, while everyone else seems it as a ghetto. Its all relative I guess. My spirits remain high, I feel so blessed to be here.
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