La Mala Urina

What have I been upto lately? Work, work and more work. The volunteer who preceded me at my site had started a project to build a basketball court for the local school. And when I arrived I jumped right in on the project with him. I have spent a large part of my first two weeks doing construction work. Mixing cement, hauling grava, arena, and bags of cement. It has actually been pretty cool, it has given me something to do and I meet a new group of people from the community every day. Plus I don't mind a little hard work every now and then. But let me set the scene of our construction site, an exposed elevated surface that gets blasted by the sun, it is an average of about 90 degrees a day with 90% humidity, we have the cement mixer working the whole day, while we refill it with barrels of sand, gravel and bags of cement. There is dust, cement, sand and Tierra Blanca flying everywhere. All of these factors combined with the endless stream of sweat that seeps from our pores throughout the day and you are left with 5 living statues by the end of the work day. But I'll tell you what, being a human statue is preferable to what happens if you don't drink enough water and you aren't sweating. Lack of hydration, humidity and heat all add up to one thing (other than dehydration and heat stroke) and that one thing is what is known down here as "La Mala Urina". For those of you who are bilingually impaired, it tranlslates as "The Bad Urine". I first learned of the bad urine through one of our construction supervisors, Michale. One hot afternoon he comes out from around a corner of the school with a grimace on his face; I asked him what was up. He answers in spanish, "I have the bad urine, it feels like I'm pissing razor blades." Now at this time I'm thinking, well probably what you're thinking, that sounds like some type of STD. He then walks over to a barrel we have that is full of water to wet the fresh cement that is being laid. He then proceeds to pull up his shirt and start splashing the water onto his belly button. I look at him and ask what he is doing, and he says this helps the bad urine. I then start dying laughing, while watching him splash this water on his belly button while his grimace slowly morphs into a look of relief. The moral of the story, drink water and stay hydrated! And if you ever happen to fall victim to "La Mala Urina" splash water on your belly button!

New update: I am finally officially in El Salvador, why do I say that you ask?

Just last night I found not one, but two scorpions in my room! One was hiding in one of my shoes and the other one was lounging right by the head of my bed. Excited to visit yet?

So as it stands now, we have finished laying all of the cement and one basket it up and in service. It's an awesome sight after all of the hard work that has been put into this project. I have more to tell, but it'll have to wait til another time, I have to get to a community soccer game and buy some bolts for the other backboard and basket. Buena Onda...

The Journey Begins...

Alright... Alright... Alright... It is now official, after swearing in this past Thursday; I am no longer a "trainee" I am now a "Volunteer". I am finally in my site and things are going well so far. But we'll get to that a little bit later, because once again a ton of new things have happened since my last entry and for the sake of time I will not be able to write them all, but I will try to communicate to you the most interesting. We'll start ofcourse with the Thanksgiving Party at the Training Center. For those of you who havnt heard I was involved in an act in the talent show in which I was asked to remove my shirt, dance and allow myself to be covered in baby oil. I'll spare you the details, but it was intersting. Alright... moving on, we finished our world map project in Cruz Verde and it turned out great. The kids were a tremendous help, and the community was really supporting us throughout the whole project. I need to give a shout out to Liliana and Nick, the other volunteers in my area, we rocked it... Wow time has moved by so fast; my life in the states already feels like a distant memory. Things that I thought of as unusual in this country at one point have become a part of my every day experience and it is really interesting to see. Among these things are bucket baths at at 6:30 in the morning with cold water, riding souped up school buses, shewing cows, sleeping in a musquito net, my problems speaking ENGLISH and many other things that I cant really think of because they are no longer out of the ordinary for me anymore... An here I am after having thought of so many things throughout the month to write and put in this blog for you guys to read about, I find my mind blank. Let me just scrawl down some random thoughts and hopefully those will lead to some stories... I am doing pretty well right now, I am doing a good job of staying in the moment and taking things as they come. I have big ideas and big plans churning throughout my mind right now I am psyched to get started. My first day in site I was able to go on some house visits throughout the canton. Now let me tell you about house visits. Basically, you walk up to a stranger's house and say "Buenas" they answer "Buenas Tardes" and you start to talk and eventually they invite you onto the patio and bring out seats for you and you sit down and just talk and get to know them. Throughout the conversation they will often bring out freshly squeezed juices of every fruit you can imagine and if it is during lunch hour, they will often feed you lunch. It is like nothing I have ever experienced inthe states, all the people are so 'amable' and kind hearted and genuine. It is an awesome experience, then they all invite you to come back and hang out at some other time in the week for some lunch or dinner or something. It is awesome... Forgive me for jumping all over the place, but my thoughts just arent well organized right now. This morning I played in a basketball tournament in San V and I met a couple of cool Salvadorans that grew up in the states. One grew up in LA and everyone calls him "Homeboy" the other grew up in Boston, we'll call him "Boston". This afternoon Im gonna play in my first came for my community soccer team. It should be interesting, pero vamose a ver. Alright then, I guess thats about all I want to write for now. Buena Onda...

You know youre in El Salvador when...

1.) the place where you bathe is not fully enclosed...
2.) your soccer game gets interuppted by not one, not two, but three different types of farm animals...
3.) the place where you bathe is in no way connected to the place where you sleep...
4.) hot showers are only a distant memory...
5.) you have forgotten what peanut butter and jelly tastes like...
6.) you have competitions to see who has the most musquito bites...
7.) going to work every day isnt a commute, its an adventure...
8.) you wake up in the morning and the first thing you see is a volcano...
9.) you are on a public bus and here 70s rock music, reggaeton, or salsa blasting out of 12" subwoofers...
10.) Every person you see in the street smiles and at you and says either, good morning, good afternoon or good night. Even the Bolos (drunks)...

*This is meant only in the most light hearted of ways, and is in no way meant to reflect negatively on the wonderful people or country of El Salvador.

Alright then, I hope you enjoyed my little farce their. I thought itd be nice to start this blog out a little bit differently. Anyway, as always there has been a ton of stuff going on lately. This includes my FBT aka Field Based Training and I must say it was awesome. I did my training on the western tip of the country in Metapan. It took us a good 3 and half hours to drive there, but we got what some might call "lost", but I prefer to call it "creative navigation". So it started off interesting, only minutes after arriving, we walked around the pueblo to meet our weekend host families. My host father was the El Director of the Casa de la Cultura and his name was Don Jaime. I didnt realize it at the time, but he turned out to be awesome, Ill get to that later. Anyway, my host home was what one might call upscale, I had satellite TV which was awesome because I actually got to see game 2 and game 3 of the world series. But I digress, so I was accompanied by 3 other volunteers Lil, Mike, and Pepe, as well as by our trainer "B". Alright, so hours after arriving we had to give a Charla to a group of about 34 4th graders about childrens rights. So that went over fairly well, which means we were able to keep at least half of their attention while we stumbled through the lesson, what do we know about childrens rights? And how much could we really pretend to know with only an hour to prepare? Anyway, after that we kind of wandered around the city for the day and that was that. Until 3:30 am ofcourse when we all met up to join the town in celebrating their patron saint. This celebration consists of a young man carrying across down the street with 3 guitar players singing worship songs, while a good chunk of the town trails behind singing along, accompanied ofcourse by 4 Peace Corps Trainees. Oh ya and there was an old man with homemade cuetes, which are basically rockets. It was hilarious, because everytime this guy would launch a rocket, the bamboo pole that it was connected to would fall down in some random place, on top of a house or a person or something like that. Anyway, one of our trainees "Pepe" decided that he wanted to launch one of these things so the old man obliged. So there I stood at 4:00 in the morning watching Pepe launch a rocket. So heres how it went, the old man hands the rocket to Pepe, the old man then lights the rocket and back away several feet. Pepe holds the lit rocket, and holds the lit rocket and holds the lit rocket, at this point I know something is up. I then turn to B and say, " why isnt he letting go?" And sure enough, sparks start shooting out of the bottom of the thing and he keeps holding on, then finally "BOOM"! The damn thing goes off in his hand! Sparks fly all over the place and there is smoke everywhere! All I can see of Pepe are from the knees down, at this point Im thinking, "wow Ive never seen anyone blow up before..." Then slowly the smoke clears and there is Pepe walking back in forth clearly disoriented, he then makes his way back towards us and after checking to make sure his body was intact and free of any serious burns we busted out laughing. And we laughed and laughed and you get the point. So that was fun... Later that day we had to give an HIV\AIDS charla to a group of 7th, 8th and 9th grade kids. Our host volunteer told us that it would be no more than 35 kids, ya try about 90. It went from talking to a classroom to putting on a full fledged assembly. Oh by the way did I mention that we got a surprise visit from the Peace Corps Director of El Salvador, and a special Embassy guest, the Peace Corps Director of all of Latina America. So that was interesting trying to conduct activities meant for 30 kids to a group of 90. The first one went a little rough, but we got across what we wanted to and the kids didnt riot so Id say it was successful. For our second charla, which our guests would also accompany us to, we made some changes to account for crowd size and it went aweseome. Alright, as for the rest of a trip in a nut shell, here it goes, community movie night at the school with a trashbag full of popcorn, Hiked to and camped at awesome waterfalls with awesome Don Jaime, painted every poll and tree in town white to provide foundation for flowers that are to be painted on later, milke cows again at 4:00am where B proceeded to get stuck in a two foot mound of cow crap, hilarious. And that was about it for FBT, mas o menos... After returning to San V, a couple of us decided to play with the Peace Corps Soccer team for a game up in some mountain town 3 hours away. The game went well, apparently its the first time the Peace Corps team has won in two years. I almost had a goal but instead of going through the goal like it should have done, the ball hits a rock right in front and bounces up and over, it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen. So we had a few interruptions during the game, the first appearance was made by a local goat who wanted to graze on the field, he was removed by the referee who was dying laughing the whole time. Next a local cow wandered onto the field, did I mention the field was half grass half cow pies? He was then quickly chased off by the players. Then finally for the grand finale, a man riding a horse decided to put on an exhibition right in the middle of our game, good times in El Salvador. After partying that night with the other volunteers, we were on a strict schedule the next morning as we had to make it back to San V, about a 5 hour trip all around, by 8:00am. So we had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and hike an hour up and down this remote mountain road to meet up with an old man with a pick up truck who we paid 10 dollars to drive us to the train station. We then take a bus for 2 and a half hours to San Salvador, where we need to take a taxi to get from the Eastern terminal to the Western Terminal. After arriving we take the first bus to San V, which just happens to be the slowest bus on the whole line. So after leaving from the small mountain town at 3:30 am we arrived in Sav V at 10:30 in the morning a 7 hour trip. So goes the life of a volunteer, good time in El Salvador...

How to Milk a Goat...

It has now been between four and five weeks since Ive been in country. Im sorry for not keeping up on this blog, but they have kept us really busy lately. Anyway, there is so much to tell that I am literally at a loss for words. Wow, attempting to summarize all that has happened since my last entry is like attempting to describe the history of the universe in one sentence. Well here goes, they have really had us working on our networking skills, we have been meeting with school directors, teachers, other volunteers, NGOs, Mayors, health promoters and the list goes on and on. Well we just got through with immersion days last weekend and it was awesome. I got sent upto Northern Chalatenango, which is one of the most beautiful and chivo places in all of El Salvador. While we were up there, we were placed with a host family for two days, and this was suppose to give us an idea of real salvadoran living conditions. I definitely got a taste... After hangin out with another volunteer in the area for a while, I was whisked away to meet my host family. After driving half an hour or so outside of town we stopped along the side of the highway. The family that was dropping me off than proceeded to step out of the car, naturally I followed them. I looked out to the side of the road for a house or shack or any sign of civilization, but found nothing but jungle. Finally the father of the family pointed out towards the jungle, and said ´eso es su casa´ I looked out into the densely forrested canyon that stood before us and noticed a white speck on a mountain a couple miles away. Sure enough that was where my host family lived. We then began our 30 mintue trek down into the jungle and the heart of the canyon. After about a mile and a half we began our ascent up the narrow muddy path towards the house. After 30 minutes of nonstop trekking, we finally broke through the vegetation and came to the clearing where the house rested comfortably among the vegetation. I turned and looked out into the canyon once again, and I was completely taken back by the beauty that laid before my eyes. There was a thin cloud cover, snaking through the canyon and it added to the mystic ambiance of the moment. It was awesome and well worth the hike...All at once I found myself in the midst of organized chaos, the family I was staying with had seven kids, 9 cows, 1 grandma, 2 goats, countless chickens, 1 aunt, an iguana and a little green, talking parrot named Pacito... After meeting the family and sharing a few laughs with them, everyone all at once moved out of the patio and into the side yard. They were talking about how easy it was to milk a goat and how much better goat milk is than cow milk. The whole time Im thinking to myself, wow Ive never seen anyone milk a goat before, this ought to be interesting. Man did I misgauge the amount that I would be involved in the process. After pulling the goats in from the mountain side, the father of the family led the goat towards me, grabbed its horns, looked at me and said hold this. I looked at him and said hold what, and he answered me the goat, grab the goat. I proceeded to answer how the hell am I spose to hold the goat? He then handed me the horns of the goat, and said hold on tight. And I proceeded to hold this goat while it is kickin all over the place and goin wild while theyre trying to milk the damn thing. It was quite an experience... Well Im running low on time so let me some up the rest of the weekend talking parrot, milking cows, shooting birds, clearing off a hillside to plant corn, waterfalls, a lot of rain, bed bugs, farm animals gone wild, kids gone wild, Honduras, landslide and beer... Well Im off to continue living the dream, stay classy!

Motorized Covere Wagons...

I am living with my host family in San Vicente at the base of a giant volcano. They have kept us busy with training session and meetings so I havn't had much time to keep in touch. I've already met with two school directors to discuss the state of the Salvadoran educational system and some of the acts and plans recently laid out by the government in terms of what they want to achieve. It has been awesome so far, my host family which consists of my host mom "Dora, my host father "Carlos" and my host brothers "Mario" 17, and "Eric" 3. Here is a quick run down on how life is for me out here. I wake up in the morning to a chorus of roosters that starts at approx. 3 am, however I don't actually get out of bed until 6:30am. I then put on my sandals and head over to the "Pila" to take a shower. The pila consists of a well and a bucket, I then proceed to get water from the well and pour it on to my head, this is my shower. I then make my way back to my room on the other side of the yard, careful to avoid the cows and groups of chickens all over the yard. I am off to training sessions at 8:00 in the morning at the training center about 10 minutes away. In order to get there you can take either a bus, which are revamped school buses from the States with paintings on the side of dragons and Jesus, stuff like that. Or ofcours there is the "Pick-up" which is exactly what it sounds like, a pick-up truck. Except this pickup comes fully-loaded with a cage mounted to the bed along with a tarp over the top to protect it's passerngers from rain. They are literally motorised covered wagons, they are fun. Especially when they hit the turns at 80 mph with a load of 15 people standing in the beds. All in all, it´s pretty awesome out here. We are on a different clock, La hora Salvadoreña. Well I need to go, will write again when I get the chance.

One Week Left...

I am leaving for El Salvador in one week, where I will be serving for two years and three months. Wow, I can't believe it has come so fast. I am filled with a sense of excitement, anticipation and also nervousness. My mind is also swirling around so fast, there are so many last minute things I need to take care of. Last minute dental work that needs to be in by tomorrow in order to receive dental clearance is at the top of the list. Along with, what can I pack inside of two suitcases that will be able to carry me through two years. What should I bring? What shouldn't I bring? Every thought just sort of flows in and out of my awareness like horses on a carousel. There are way too many things to be able to have it all completely in perspective. You've got your last minute "see you laters" you want to make sure that you see everybody before you leave. And of course on top of all of this my mom is getting married the day before I leave for staging! This is going to be a very interesting week. For those of you who are looking for info on packing lists, I will post mine at some point just to give you an idea. The packing lists provided by volunteers have helped me the most.