Arrival in Country
Clotheslines
Stove and Pila (back right, used for laundry, dishes, bathing children)
Iguana (we have heard they are both endangered and a popular food item)
Our Room (built by European Union after earthquake)
Our Mosquito Net
Licha (Kelly´s new favorite fruit, chewy fruit inside)
Porch
Aloe
View of Volcan Chichontepec From Our House
It´s been another busy week. San Vicente is now old hat. Twice this past week, we ventured into the capital: San Salvador (population close to 2 million).
The first time we were shepherded by our teacher. The transportation is intense. It took us a pickup and three buses to get to the Peace Corps headquarters. On the way, we stopped at the largest shopping mall in Central America (we bought a soccer ball!). The majority of PC staff were on hand to chat with over lunch. We had briefly met many of these people, but on our first whirlwind day in country. Lunch was comida tipica (typical Salvadoran fare): tamales, pupusas, enchiladas (much different than the Mexican variety), fried yuca, and atol de elote to drink (warm, thick, corn-based).
Yesterday we headed to San Salvador without our teacher´s guidance. We didn´t get lost, but puchica (wow!), it was an adventure. We were given a tour of an anthropological museum. There were some fascinating exhibits on the indigenous people, the Spanish conquest, agriculture. We took a break from pupusas and ate pizza for lunch. After lunch, we sold out big-time. There is a posh hotel that allows all Peace Corps Volunteers to use its pool and health club. The pool had a waterfall. The showers were hot. Gym. Sauna. The typical Peace Corps experience.
Our work in the community has been going well. We had a meeting with the ADESCO (asociacion de desarollo comunitario, basically the tribal elders). The school kids we are working with voted for a garden. This will be our mini-project for the next six weeks.
Other highlights of the week: We received some dance lessons (salsa, merengue, cumbia) from Peace Corps. We bought a cell phone. We played soccer on a field amongst horses and cows. We had to be careful where we stepped.
This upcoming weekend, we have Immersion Days: a site visit with a current Volunteer. We don´t know many details yet. It should be interesting to get an idea of what to expect once we´re out in our permanent site.
The pictures. We haven´t taken many yet for a couple reasons. One is security (especially in the capital). The other is confianza (confidence, trust). We don´t want to snap a bunch of pictures of our host family until they know us more. More to come in the future.
Love,
Bruce and Kelly
5 comments:
Wow guys, love the pictures. A hot shower was well deserved I am sure. That is great that they let you use their facilities. Zach spent the weekend at Grandpa's and had a great time. Emma is desperately trying to roll from her back to her front but has not been able to yet. My car broke down for the third time in 3 weeks. ah!
All is well. love you guys
Yeah! Hope you guys are doing well and training isn't wearing you down too much. How did your site visit go? We just had the new trainees visit us last weekend. Have any preference on which area of the country you want to go to? Still no bacteria, parasites, amoebas, or worms? See if you can break my record of 8 months in country without one.
Alex
The photos are awesome. It sounds like you guys have your work cut out for you, but most adventures require that. Your posts are most interesting. Bruce, your scout training should come in handy...LOL
Take care, let us know if there is anything you need that we can send from here....
Larry, Denise, and Craig
Thanks for the post card! Unfortunately, I can't show my class your site because it's blocked from school! This is also somewhat of a good thing since that means I can't distract myself with it when I should be grading or planning. I'm definitely jealous of all the Spanish you are learning. Subjunctive? I haven't had to use that for awhile and even past tense is starting to blur. The culture you are learning sounds awesome as well. Let me know if you need something. Posters, cookies, crayons, you name it. And my students can always collect items for the kids in your pueblo if you let me know what you need!
Ok, well now that I forgot to sign my comment and it appeared like that....Quasib23 = Jamie The Baptist
Post a Comment