Week 2

To you blogs readers, I just want to let you know that my internet situation is one I will not have daily but will be a weekly treat! Sigh. So what that means is that you will just have to stay in suspense longer for my updates! At least for now is the situation. I am going to make the best effort to blog once a week, if not more! So much happens here, it is hard to describe the scene here. It has almost been two weeks and yet if feels like an eternity already.

A lot has been going on here. Right now I am in the training period of my service, where they teach us Salvadoran Spanish (Caliche=slang here), safety protocol, cultural sensitivity, and much more. I had a two hour talk the other day about Dengue, Chagas, and Malaria. Chagas is a disease that is transmitted through a bug. This bug is referred here as a “chinche” and kind of looks like a small beetle. Basically this bug likes to bite your face and nothing really comes about it. Until ten years down the line and you die of cardiac arrest. Kidding. Kind of. Basically you got to get tested if you notice any weird bug bites. Then there is that malaria. I have to take pills every week that I am here as a preventive measure as well as use a mosquito net, and not to mention the obvious wear lots of DEET. Mosquitoes are everywhere! Dengue fever is also transmitted through mosquitoes and appears to have the symptoms of the flu. So yeah, that will be fun. And I have even mentioned the possible parasites and amoebas I might get from eating the fruit here or drinking the water. But I can say that I haven’t gotten sick yet! My stomach has been good to me. Cant say that everyone has had the same luck. A handful of people have already gotten sick and it comes out both ways. This one chica threw up all over, while on a bus! So Salvadorans are getting a good impression of us gringos! But enough about that! I am doing fine.

Last weekend, a group of us trainees went to go see a real live volunteer intheir natural habitat, meaning where they are spending their two years of service. His site was relatively close to where we were, or at least we thought. We spent an hour on what they called a road, which in reality was a series of rocks. Roads, other than highways or important streets are bad. So after a bunch of bouncing around, we arrived in the middle of nowhere. His site! It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time. It was nice to get a better picture of exactly how we would live, but at the same time I am glad they ease us into this idea of living in a remote area with training and living with a host family. He had a reltively nice house for the community. When I say relatively nice, I mean cement walls, cement floor, and tin roof. The alternative is a house made of mud and sticks, and I hear that’s where all the chinches like to hang out. He had a papaya tree project going on, where he hosted a bunch of papaya trees to give to everyone in the community and he had started a chicken project. His chicken project was very interesting. Everyone here has chickens because they are very useful, either to eat, to sell, and to take advantage of the eggs. However they are free roaming chickens, eating everything under the sun. They also get into a lot of trash. Oh have I mentioned the trash? El Salvador is plagued with trash, because they don’t have a good system for collecting it. So the majority either burn or throw it into the street. Photos to come. Back to the chickens, chickens here do not have chicken coups. His idea is to have caged chickens, because they tend not to eat as much and to be healthier. They also produce more eggs. The idea is to get other people in his community to implement his model for raising chickens to make more money. More eggs, more money. However, from a cultural aspect, caging chickens seems like the craziest idea to people here. So everything takes time. First comes the education and leading by example.

If anyone did not know, American culture is WAAAY different than those around the world. I have been thinking that we really have it good in the states, but maybe a slower, less advanced way of life is the key to a blissful life. You know what they say, ignorance is bliss. However, not having indoor plumbing, internet, reliable transportation, and Chinese food at 3am just to name a few, is something to contemplate when you have absolutely no access to it. So a life here is much calmer, and forgets having to worry about being on time anywhere. Salvadoran time is much different that that of gringo time. You want to meet someone at one p.m. and you need to show up at 2 p.m. to be on time. Getting the picture here? My mom would do well in this culture. (just kidding mom). But on a serious note, we have it good in the states. Everything is convenient, effective, and for the most part all within access. And to think I am only going to be here for two years, and the people here have been living like this with significant less amenities for a much longer time. Things we take for granted are essential amenities here (ie running water, electricity, trash service, education, clean water, and the list goes on and on and on.)

So I sitting in my adobe kitchen (which is a small building outside the house) right now watching my mom school me on how to school me on how to make tortillas. And they are not like tortillas that we have seen in Texas. They are made out of corn and they are thick . They also eat them at every meal, so they are like tortilla machines! And having tried to make them already, they make it look easy! Quite the contrary. Turns out I am pretty terrible at making tortillas, but I really don’t cook either so I guess I am going to have to learn how to do that! Also trying to politely say that I don’t like all my food to taste like salt, is easier said than done. She tells me that food doesn’t taste good if it doesn’t contain a dangerous amount of salt. You think I am joking. So its going to be a work in progress on the salt issue.

Going to see the sights of the capitol soon, so I will tell you about that the next time I get to blog. Hopefully you all have enjoyed this blog entry.

Paz y amor.

Just to let everyone know, my address is located on the upper right corner, so feel free to send me packages and letters if you want.