So last week I went back to my original host training community/family for Training II. After having been in our sites for two months, the whole group of volunteers I was sworn in with goes back to San Vicente for another few weeks of technical training. So we all got there and were super excited to be all back together again and to see our host families. So training started with a couple days of spanish classes. The first weekend we all planned a trip to the beach because we all wanted to be together and share stories about our sites, relax, etc. We had our bags packed for a one night trip to the beach, however the trip was cancelled because of a tropical depression that was causing a lot of rain in the country, so because of security reasons we weren't allowed to go . So we were all ready for a trip and we wanted to go somewhere, so most of us just came into San Salvador for the night to hang out and stay at a hotel. Some stayed behind in the host communities around San Vicente. That was Saturday night.
Sunday morning we found out that during the night rains had caused mudslides, landslides, and flooding throughout the country, the worst of which was a huge landslide of the side of the Chinchontipec Volcano that came down on the town of VeraPaz, basically right where my host community is. VeraPaz is right down the road, like a 10-15 min walk from Molineros, my host community. We used to go running there in the mornings during training, and thats where people in my community go to Mass. Now its completely covered in giant boudlers rocks and mud. There were a lot of deaths and a lot of people lost their homes. The death count in the country is over 130 and there are over 13,000 people without homes. The friends of mine that stayed behind had really intense experiences, and saw a lot of awful things that day. Even though it would have been good to be there with them to help, I'm really lucky we happened to be in San Sal for the night. They were all able to get out and eventually make it to San Salvador with us.
Peace Corps put us all on Standfast mode which means we cant leave where we are if were in a safe place. We couldnt go back to San Vicente because the rain hadn't stopped so the possibility of further destruction was to high, and with so much craziness going on and all... some bridges were down, so we couldnt get in to San V anyways. I talked to my host family and they are doing fine... but they said Molineros is covered in mud, and theres no water or anything. There are relief groups coming to help out with everything, and we all really want to be allowed to go back to San Vicente and help, but since its not safe we can't go yet. We will be notified when we can be a part of any relief effort. Training has been postposed until next sunday, were still in San Salvador, but tomorrow those of us who live in places that are doing alright are going back to our sites. The Sustainable Agriculture/Environmental Education group is going to have our training now in Santa Ana instead of San Vicente. Im sad that Im not going to get to stay with my host family in Molineros because I was looking forward to spending time with them, and I feel like I need to be with them right now. As soon as Im allowed to go back, Im going back. My stuff is still all there , too but someone from Peace Corps is going in to get all our bags and stuff from San Vicente and bring them to us.... but we've all been wearing the same clothes for a couple days. We cant complain though when all these people have lost homes and family members and we get to stay in a hotel in the city. Peace Corps sent in a Psycologist to the San Salvador office to speak to our group and some other volunteers whose sites were affected about disasters and dealing with the experience emotionally. Again, Im really lucky I wasnt there when it happened.
So the past few days have been sort of a whirlwind of not knowing whats going to happen next.
Unless things change and I'm allowed to go back to Molineros Im going to Milingo (my site) tomorrow and then going to Santa Ana, Sunday for two weeks.
I'll try and keep you guys updated on the situation in San Vicente.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Birthdays, Swimming pools, and watermelon jack-o-lanterns
So not long after my last post, I recieved the new that my grandfather passed away in the states. So I was able to forward vacation days and fly to New Orleans to be with my family for 6 days. Although it was under sad circumstances, it was still really nice to see everyone and be in a comfort zone with them for a little while. Its shocking how different things are in the United States in comparison to El Salvador. I can´t begin to explain it.
After being home with my family, coming back was tough, I´ll admit. It was a good week though in my community because we had just started to use the new basketball court. I play basketball much better that I do softball, or soccer, the sports most often played here, so I was pretty excited about the popularity of the basketball court. Plus, its a smaller social space than the soccer field so its a really great place to go just to talk to people, meet people, and hang out.
I went to a rodeo that week, too. It was quite an interesting day. I didn´t know the word for rodeo in spanish and it wasnt in the dictionary so I didn´t even know what I was going to see... and I wasn´t able to meet up with the person I went to meet up with... and my phone was dead... so I saw a rodeo by myself, haha. Some of you whom I´ve talked to know some more interesting details of that story!
I met several times with a lot of women who are interested in learning a trade and forming a cooperative. We have talked about a lot of ideas and I think we will end up forming a few smaller groups so they can do what they are interested in.... for example, some want to embroider and make bags, tablecloths, etc. others want to start a bakery, and others want to make jewelry and artesania. This will be a continuous project for me so we´ll see what happens. I also went with a group of women from the communitu to San Salvador for a women´s march for the international day of the woman. We left really early in the morning, but our bus got a flat tire.... then we walked up a huge hill, and eventually we made it to San Salvador and marched in the march. It was really cool that so many women went and wanted to celebrate and stand up for their rights. The organization that paid for the bus also gave each women money for lunch, so thankfully a lot of women were able to go because of that.
So my birthday is in October, so several of my friends and I net up in San Salvador for one night and had cake and champagne and celebrated my birthday as well as some other october birthdays. It was super fun and great to see the other volunteers. For my actual birthday I was in my site, but one of my volunteer friends came to visit me for a few days. It was nice to be able to show where I live to someone! I was so surprised and excited because a few of my girlfriends that live in my community threw me a birthday party! It was a surprise and they blindfolded me and we had a cake and they made sandwiches for everyone, we danced, etc. Parties are expensive, so I was so grateful and it made me feel really loved! The next day I went to the birthday party for a little boy, and that night a friend of mine invited me over to have cake at her house for her birthday.... so I had a lot of birthday cake in the span of a few days....
The next week I had a general assembly in my community, with the help of someone from the Peace Corps office, to explain to the community who I am, what is Peace Corps, the environmental education program, what I can and can´t do for the community, etc. I was nervous to speak so much in front of a lot of people in spanish, but I think I did a good job and it was a success.
The next weekend I went to Molineros, my old host community during training, to celebrate the birthdays of the grandmother and the little girl in that family.... more birthdays! So we went on a trip to some swimming pools and it was lovely! The little girl , Sindy, got quite a lot of use out of the mermaid doll I gave her for her birthday at the swimming pools. They swim in shorts and tshirts, so I´ve got a rockin shirt-shorts tan. That night we had more birthday cake! It was SO nice to visit my other host community and spend time with them.
The NEXT week, this week, actually yesterday.... I went with Catherine, the other volunteer who is still finishing up her time at my site, and a group of kids, on an excursion to some swimming pools in Suchitoto. They are right next to the lake, so its a really pretty place. We spent the entire day there and we all had an awesome time. However, I got bit several times by some bug called a Conga, and the welts are huge and they itch like crazy..... I guess bug bites are old news....
SO yesterday was halloween, and even though they don´t celebrate halloween here, Catherine had a little halloween party at her house with the family she lives with. We did bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the witch, and we carved jack -o- lanterns out of watermelons. We also did face painting so the kids all looked like monsters, skeletons, animals, etc. It was hilarious.
So TODAY at five o clock in the morning my host sister woke me up and asked me if I wanted to see them kill a pig. So they got the pig and tied it up so it was hanging with its back legs in the air. Then they cut a hole in its neck where the artery is I guess and let it bleed out.... they kept the blood... they said were going to eat it.... hmmmm...... Im not sure about that. Ok so then I went to the pasture to bring the cows with my host sister, but when I got back the pig was relatively hairless. They were throwing boiling water on it and shaving off the hair. When it was completely shaved they cut off strips of skin and fat off the outside. The whole process took a really long time so I missed the rest of the chopping up of the meat while I was bathing. Too bad... I guess we´re having pork for lunch!
After being home with my family, coming back was tough, I´ll admit. It was a good week though in my community because we had just started to use the new basketball court. I play basketball much better that I do softball, or soccer, the sports most often played here, so I was pretty excited about the popularity of the basketball court. Plus, its a smaller social space than the soccer field so its a really great place to go just to talk to people, meet people, and hang out.
I went to a rodeo that week, too. It was quite an interesting day. I didn´t know the word for rodeo in spanish and it wasnt in the dictionary so I didn´t even know what I was going to see... and I wasn´t able to meet up with the person I went to meet up with... and my phone was dead... so I saw a rodeo by myself, haha. Some of you whom I´ve talked to know some more interesting details of that story!
I met several times with a lot of women who are interested in learning a trade and forming a cooperative. We have talked about a lot of ideas and I think we will end up forming a few smaller groups so they can do what they are interested in.... for example, some want to embroider and make bags, tablecloths, etc. others want to start a bakery, and others want to make jewelry and artesania. This will be a continuous project for me so we´ll see what happens. I also went with a group of women from the communitu to San Salvador for a women´s march for the international day of the woman. We left really early in the morning, but our bus got a flat tire.... then we walked up a huge hill, and eventually we made it to San Salvador and marched in the march. It was really cool that so many women went and wanted to celebrate and stand up for their rights. The organization that paid for the bus also gave each women money for lunch, so thankfully a lot of women were able to go because of that.
So my birthday is in October, so several of my friends and I net up in San Salvador for one night and had cake and champagne and celebrated my birthday as well as some other october birthdays. It was super fun and great to see the other volunteers. For my actual birthday I was in my site, but one of my volunteer friends came to visit me for a few days. It was nice to be able to show where I live to someone! I was so surprised and excited because a few of my girlfriends that live in my community threw me a birthday party! It was a surprise and they blindfolded me and we had a cake and they made sandwiches for everyone, we danced, etc. Parties are expensive, so I was so grateful and it made me feel really loved! The next day I went to the birthday party for a little boy, and that night a friend of mine invited me over to have cake at her house for her birthday.... so I had a lot of birthday cake in the span of a few days....
The next week I had a general assembly in my community, with the help of someone from the Peace Corps office, to explain to the community who I am, what is Peace Corps, the environmental education program, what I can and can´t do for the community, etc. I was nervous to speak so much in front of a lot of people in spanish, but I think I did a good job and it was a success.
The next weekend I went to Molineros, my old host community during training, to celebrate the birthdays of the grandmother and the little girl in that family.... more birthdays! So we went on a trip to some swimming pools and it was lovely! The little girl , Sindy, got quite a lot of use out of the mermaid doll I gave her for her birthday at the swimming pools. They swim in shorts and tshirts, so I´ve got a rockin shirt-shorts tan. That night we had more birthday cake! It was SO nice to visit my other host community and spend time with them.
The NEXT week, this week, actually yesterday.... I went with Catherine, the other volunteer who is still finishing up her time at my site, and a group of kids, on an excursion to some swimming pools in Suchitoto. They are right next to the lake, so its a really pretty place. We spent the entire day there and we all had an awesome time. However, I got bit several times by some bug called a Conga, and the welts are huge and they itch like crazy..... I guess bug bites are old news....
SO yesterday was halloween, and even though they don´t celebrate halloween here, Catherine had a little halloween party at her house with the family she lives with. We did bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the witch, and we carved jack -o- lanterns out of watermelons. We also did face painting so the kids all looked like monsters, skeletons, animals, etc. It was hilarious.
So TODAY at five o clock in the morning my host sister woke me up and asked me if I wanted to see them kill a pig. So they got the pig and tied it up so it was hanging with its back legs in the air. Then they cut a hole in its neck where the artery is I guess and let it bleed out.... they kept the blood... they said were going to eat it.... hmmmm...... Im not sure about that. Ok so then I went to the pasture to bring the cows with my host sister, but when I got back the pig was relatively hairless. They were throwing boiling water on it and shaving off the hair. When it was completely shaved they cut off strips of skin and fat off the outside. The whole process took a really long time so I missed the rest of the chopping up of the meat while I was bathing. Too bad... I guess we´re having pork for lunch!
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