Life...

Alright... I know I usually start off every blog apologizing for not having written for a good while. Well this time, it has been a really long time since my last entry so I really apologise to everybody for not having written, but life has been busy and crazy and unpredictable and fun and just a trip in general. So I will attempt to summarize some of what has happened since my last entry, because this could definitely be a book if I so chose, enjoy... Where to start? Ill start on a sad note and build from there. About a month ago, a friend of mine from my community was watching a soccer game because our game had been cancelled. He had been drinking and while at the game he got into a fight with another guy that I know and as they were fighting, a third guy who I also know, pulled out a gun and shot my friend Daniel once in the back and once in the back of the head. He died in the back of a pick-up truck on the way to the hospital. He was a good friend of mine, as well as his whole family. They are all good people and his brothers and sisters and parents are all also good friends, so this was very hard to swallow. He was shot on a Sunday, so the next day his body was delivered to the house by the mortuary in coffin. This event is called a "Vela" which would be kind of like a wake in the states. So the whole community and all friends and family goto the house of the family to support them the first time they see the body and throughout the night. This was a very intense experience, seeing him for the first time was very hard. Especially remembering his face so full of life just days before. And I can't imagine the pain that the family was feeling. As I said, both the mother and father were also friends and as I went to comfort the mother, I took her hand as she sat there with a look of sheer disbelief, her face stained with the tears from the night before. She had always had a smile on her face, always a look of quiet contentment, but that joy had left her. After I sat there for a few minutes, she looks up at me, stares me in the eye and starts crying "Roberto, now he wont be able to play soccer with you guys. He loved playing soccer, you were such a good friend..." Three days later we had a procession, mass and we buried him in the cemetary in Apastepeque. The hole was dug by members of the community and all the young men grabbed shovels and pick axes and in turn we buried him... The family has since recovered as much as can be expected with the loss of a loved one. The guy that killed him was arrested and he is and will be in prison for the rest of his life. Life goes on...
My women´s softball team is in the midst of a very tough tournament being put on by INDES, which is the most respected organized sports organization in the country. They have something like 3 stadiums country wide and they are a very big organization. So this tournament is the toughest challenge that my girls have faced. Most of my coaching involves mental toughness, perserverance, self-confidence building, motivation and defense. The teams that we are playing against are full of young girls who practice every day. Half of our team consists of 40+ women, and the other half are young women without playing experience or competitive experience for that matter. So it is interesting and is taking a lot of my energy, but I am enjoying it none the less. We are currently 0-3, we havn´t won yet but we´re due...
We are in midst of a huge sala futbol tournament (soccer on a basketball court), we worked with a public relations branch of the government called El Ministerio de Sequridad Ciudadana ( Ministry of Citizen´s Safety/Well Being) to have a one night lightning tournament. (Oh yeah, you guys dont know yet, we finally got the lights for the basketball court.) So the one night tournament went well, we had 22 teams show up and over 300 people came to watch the festivities. I was on the table of honor with the mayor, the director of the ministerio and the school director. I gave a speech that night, and I think it came out well, everybody told me I did a good job. And yes, the speech was in spanish. So now we are in the midst of the continuation of this tournament, it is being organized by our community´s Sports Committee of which I am the president. We have games three nights a week, three games a night. We have a 20 and under league as well as a women´s league that are in action. We just finished our first week of games and it all went well. We on the committee have to ref the games, and if any of you have seen a Soccer game in Latin America then you have an idea of what I have to deal with at these games being an "arbitro"(referee). So this tournament is going to last til December 30th and requires the members of the committee to be at the school until 9:00pm on game nights. It keeps us pretty occupied. But its going well so far, hopefully we can keep it going... We just got done fixing the roof of one of the classrooms at the school with money I solicited from the San Diego Peace Corps Association. I also worked to install the new roof, it was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. The old roofing was horribly decrepit, as we were removing the large slabs to replace them, the things were literally coming apart in our hands. So obviously we couldn´t walk on the panels themselves. So we basically had to guesstimate were the underlying beams were, one slight error and we would have fallen 14 feet below to the hard tile floor. Regretably we did have one person fall through the roof. Guess who? Yours truly. I was walking up the side of the wall that divides the classroom and I took one bad step and boom fell through the roof. Thank god for my cat-like reflexes (haha..) I was able to grab a beam before falling all the way and I was able to climb up and out before any further damage could be done. So we worked two long days, from 6 am to around 4pm to finish the roof before the students returned to school on Monday. It was hot, nasty and dangerous work, but we got it done and the school is better off for it and thats what its all about... Right now I am in the process of trying to solicit funds from our wonderful American Ambassador here in El Salvador to help us out with a project that is vital to cross cultural learning and the sharing of the American Culture with the Salvadorian people. We would like to re-furbish our soccer field and put lights in also. However, I have had problems with the engineer who is doing the budget and the work plans. He either lies a lot, doesn´t structure his time very well, isn´t taking this project seriously, or the victim of a series of unfortunate events in which he is punished for the errors and lies of his counterparts. Which ever one it is, I am rather pissed off. He told me he would have the project turned in two weeks ago. And upto literally right now, I am waiting around in the pueblo for this guy to send me the finaly report and work plan. He is a real pain in my @$$, forgive my language. But I also had a deadline to turn it into the the Embassy and it is late. So it looks like we might not get the funds, by no fault of the community nor myself. That makes me mad, because as a community we paid this guy $150 dollars to do this thing. And if it doesn´t work out only because of him, Rrrr... We´ll see how it goes... So my wood burning stove project with "Stove Team International" is going pretty well, we have 100 stoves in households throughout my caserio as we speak and I am already working on another list that is closing in on another 100 stoves really fast. These things burn 75% less wood and work great, I am really psyched about this project and so is the community... My two scholarship girls are looking to extend their scholarships and I am helping them with that... I am in early plans to try to raise the funds to build a Computer Lab/Library for the school, I am really going to need all of your help on that one. I will be sending out an e-mail in the near future talking about the school and the project and we will be relying on the generosity of all you aweseom folks back in the states to help us raise the money. So keep a weather eye out for that... Alright, this blog is getting really long so Ill try to wrap things up. My health has been Ok, Ive had a few colds here and there but it seems my stomach has gotten used to the amoebas and other parasites that now call my stomach home... Yes I am still with the same girl, her birthday is coming up and I am always broke so Im gonna have to be creative... As for the rest of the happenings, here is one of my famous summation lists: 1 year anniversary celebration at lakehouse, psyched about elections, I love Salvadorean women, my community is cool, Women´s sewing and tailoring workshop project near future, school getting out finally, school garden ok, mouse in my house is getting bigger, really cold right now, and I want a bud light...

LOVE, PEACE, and PUPUSA GREASE

It's All Love...

Now I want to start off by apologizing for not having written anything for the last couple of months. As always it has been interesting and I find it hard to sit down in front of a computer for any extended amount of time while the world is happening outside, waiting for me. But here I am finally, and I´d like to start off by telling everybody about a realization that I´ve recently had. Now its one thing to know and understand something intellectually, yet its entirely different to come to a realization and to allow that realization to seep into your everyday consciousness and have an effect on every facet of your every day life. This is something that is not easy, and Im not sure how long it is going to last but Ill ride it out as long as I can. So the realization ‘It´s all love…’ and yes I know its cliché, but like I said its only cliché in the intellectually understood way. Everybody knows ‘all we need is love’, courtesy of John Lennon, and all those other sayings that go along with it. Yet this is not just a saying or an understanding of it. I have literally learned and allowed myself to love everybody, myself included, and this has allowed me to set the tone and the direction of every day. Stay with me now I know its getting mushy, but there is practical application. This has affected the way in which I interact with people and the way that people respond to me. If you´re sending out positive vibes, people will respond positively. People feel more comfortable around you and are more likely to be receptive to what you´re saying. This is important for a volunteer, we are always networking and trying to convince and motivate NGO´s, school directors, community boards, community members, Mayors and a bunch of other people to act and progress and think in terms of development. If they are instantly picking up on your good vibes, they will be more likely to respond to what you have to say, in a positive way. This is something that every one of you also does in your everyday lives, at least in terms of interactions. Here´s the practical application, every single interaction you have, every single conversation has a dynamic. Now this dynamic varies based on your relationship with the person that you are talking to. Yet we can safely say that at any given moment in any conversation there is someone who is guiding or leading the conversation while the other is following or responding, now if you are close friends there is more trade off. Yet with acquaintances there is always a leader and a follower, and if you inject every interaction with ‘love’ you are instantly taking the lead and setting the tone. And if you set the tone, you set the direction. There is the practical application of ‘Its all Love’, other than that you feel so much better every day. You become so much more patient with people, its so much easier to understand other peoples perspectives and you enjoy life so much more. That’s all I have to say about that…

Now back to the business of letting you guys/girls know what´s going on down here. So my garden project is doing great right now, we just started the rainy season and the plants are growing like weeds. The only problem is that the weeds are also growing like weeds. Stuff grows so fast here its ridiculous. So as of right now we have radishes, cucumbers, squash, beans, corn, green beans and I think that’s about it. So everything is growing great and the cows are staying out of the garden. We are also about ready to start an organic composting pit pretty soon, so that should be interesting… My softball team, the women are fresh off a big win on Saturday. They played great, they played fundamentally sound, smart, and with heart, I was proud of them. They also had a great time in the process, which is what its all about. One of the best parts is that the team we played was really good, and really cocky, and they had worked us in our previous four games so, revenge. Now the thing I like about coaching this team, is the passion some of these women have for playing and learning new things about the game. I´ve got a 50 years young short stop and a 52 year young 2nd basewoman. Both of whom have children and no husband, one of whom´s husband recently informed her that he had met somebody else and would stop sending money down from the states for her and her kids, oh and that he was never coming back. So to see her out there enjoying herself and getting better is great. We are also getting ready to enter a tournament this month, this will really test our improvement. Ill let you know how it goes… Here´s an interesting story, so Im laying in bed one night after a long day. Slowly Im starting to fall asleep despite the roosters sounding off, the semis driving by, the cows mooing endlessly, the bull frogs, the dogs barking at the cows, the pigs squealing because of the dogs, the crickets in my house, and the orchestra of insects just outside. My head is gently pressed on the pillow and my eyes gently close and I start to drift off. When suddenly I hear a sound in my pillow, now you know how sometimes when your head is pushed against the pillow it sounds like somebody is walking in the snow. So Im laying there listening, because we all know this sound, no big deal right. Then the footsteps start getting louder and louder, what the heck´s going on? I listen closer, and just then I feel something crawling on my head and I raise just in time to see a mouse climbing over the top of my head and up my mosquito net. I flip out and start cussing at the thing (so much for love right) and I start swinging at it. Now I wanted to kill it, there is nothing more disrespectful then climbing on somebodys head. So it is scared out of its mind, it scurries up the net to the beams holding up my roof and runs out of my house, and I havnt seen it since… Alright now there is a lot more I´d like to tell you guys but I don’t like making these things too long. So here is my patented summation list, if you have a question about anything in the list ask me and Ill elaborate for you. Here goes: bolo fountain, I love Latina women, starting plans to build computer lab, solicited to fix school roof, trying to establish county wide recycling program, intermediate level English class, I score goals every game, basketball tournament, I love everybody but especially Latina women, trip home too fun, it is hot all the time, dead dog, intestinal infection, I hate mosquitoes, and I think I may have a ‘girlfriend’(and ofcourse she’s hot). LOVE! PEACE! PUPUSA GREASE!

Whats up Homeboy?

Alright, so it's been awhile since my last entry and I apologize for that. The title of the blog, well I have taught a bunch of buddies in my site how to say, "Whats up homeboy?" It's awesome, I'll just be walking through the caserio and suddenly someone will yell out from a milpa (cornfield) "Whats up homeboy?" So it's a piece of home I brought down here with me and everybody gets a kick out of it... I have been somewhat busy, and to be honest it isn't so easy anymore to sit in front of a computer and type... So what have I been upto lately? Those of you who read the previous entry about the cows eating the garden, we have now re-done the entire project. We cleared out some new land, put in some posts and fenced it off with chicken wire to keep out the cows, rabbits and "garrobos'(iguanas), and whatever other types of animals are too big to fit through. We have planted greens beans, radishes, and cucumbers. And the timing is perfect, because rainy season is slowly starting to creep in, and so we have been getting rain once or twice a week. The sprouts are already starting to peak out of the soil, its awesome. What else?... Oh soccer, so as you who have kept up with the blog know, I had previously had problems scoring goals in soccer. Well that has changed, I went on a streak of about a month or so of scoring in every game, I even had a multiple goal game. So now everyone says that "esta famoso de golear" (famous for scoring goals). So yes my luck has turned, and we'll see how long that lasts... About a month or so ago I did some translating for a military medical campaign. It was a great experience, I met some four star general from the United States who came down to "check out the project". He was very pampered, he didn't want to be driven from the airport so he was flown in by helicopter. I wont say anything else about the good general because who knows who may read this blog. The unit that came down was great, they were cool people based out of New York City. In fact, on their last night in the country they invited all of the PCV's to stay a night with them at the lavish Sheraton of San Salvador. We stayed five to a room, and cleared out the hotel of every single compimentary gift that you could possibly imagine. Each of us also took 30-60 minute showers, taking full advantage of the hot water and the fact that it was an actual shower. So good times with the U.S. Army and friends... As always, I have more than a handful of projects going on right now but I dont have the ganas to write all about them. I'll write some more on this entry a little later, but PEACE!

GOAL!!!

Alright.. Alright.. Alright.. After 2 months of playing on the community futbol team, I have finally scored my first goal. I have learned a few things over my past couple of months of learning soccer, I can still run fast, I have pretty good instincts, and that I cannot score. This last thing is ofcourse the reason for my excitement, although my first goal didn't quite go exactly as I had imagined. Here's how it happened, there was a loose ball rolling around in my opponent's side of the field, I ran it down just as it got to the goalie who attempted to clear the ball with a sweeping kick, and I leapt in front of the ball just as he kicked it. The ball then proceeded to drill me square in the family jewels and roll slowly into the goal while I rolled around on the ground. It was very painful, but also very worth it.

Ok, so I havn't written in awhile because I have been swamped with projects. My PE classes are in full swing, keeping me occupied 3 days a week, the garden project has hit a few road bumps specifically the ground to way too hard and way too dry. Now we're not talking about your typical american garden in my backyard thing. This is a pretty good sized garden, and we have to "clean and clear out" a lot of brush covered land, and we have to do all of this with pick axes because the ground is like rock. My recycling project is in the planning phase, I have 9 schools involved around and throughout Apastepeque and we are waiting on the NGO to come through for training and the delivery of the recycling receptacles. I am also teaching an English Class two days a week, that is turning out to be fun. I have about 26 students, one of which is the director of the school I work with, he is one of my star pupils. Yesterday, we just had this special lesson on Valentine's Day, and it was a big hit. I was getting a ton of questions about words and phrases, all romantic stuff of course. They all got a kick out of it and so did I. I am also coaching a youth soccer team, we practice twice a week in the morning, they're some good kids. I am also coaching a women's softball team, and we just lost our first game last weekend, 32-22. And yes I typed that right, the score was 32-22 full of big hitting and horrible defense. So back to the practice field we go. I am also in the process of soliciting the American Embassy for lights for our basketball court, originally the mayor had said that he would install them for us, then he conveniently forgot when we called him on it. So in order to write a formal solicitude, complete with work plans and budget, I need to interpret 5 pages worth of work plans from the engineer to give to the embassy. Also might I mention that none of the plans include prices for any of the labor or materials, so I will need to journey around to hardware stores in the area in order to get price estimates on materials and labor, good times. I am also a member of the Projects Committee at the school I am working with and also the Athletics Committee, which are both keeping me busy. In conjunction with a teacher, I am currently planning a soccer tournament at the school as well as a basketball tournament, and we are preparing for selections for the school futbol team to compete in the municipality wide tournament in 4 months or so. So like I said, busy...

Alright now to sum up the rest of the happenings over the past couple of months or so, here is one of my patented "Sum-up lists": Dog hit by car, peace corps soccer team lost, we partied in Santa Ana with the mayor and many beautiful Latinas, still killing scorpions in my house, I NEED YERBA MATE, ignorant roosters, bravo chuchos, hand-made table, trip to La Posa Azul, recieving piropos at my school, and ofcourse the sun sets from my porch are the best in all of El Salvador. PEACE!

Buena Onda...

I Hate Cows...

Alright, I have been busy... And the good news is that I have a mountain of work right around the corner. Right now I have a couple of "mini-projects" underway, which include coaching a women's softball team, coaching a youth soccer team (I have never played organized soccer, ever.), and a school garden project which brings me to the title of this entry, "I HATE COWS". Now most of you reading this, don't have the privelege of interacting with cows on a daily basis. I see no less then 20 steers a day, walking be me, "moo"ing at me, and crapping all over the place. Now the constant presence, mooing and crapping, aren't so bad once you get used to them. But when you put time and energy into something and they senselessly destroy it, we have problems. Let me set the tone... The school garden rests in the corner of a large grass field owned by Don Lasaro, the garden is closed off by barbed wire strung together with stakes and dead trees (to keep the cows out). There are about ten rows of plants, each row approx. 20 feet long. We have cucumber, lettuce, tomato, chile, radish and a few other things that I dont know how to say in English. The garden, after being a bit neglected during the construction of the school basketball court, was on the rebound. I was going out there every day, watering it twice a day and talking to the plants and so on and so forth. Until that sad day, a little over a week ago the recovery efforts were cut short... After walking down to the garden for a morning "regar", I opened the gate to find a giant pile of cow dung greeting me. My heart sunk and I feared what was waiting for me ahead. The closer to the garden I got, the more cow pies I found, and they continued to grow in size. Slowly, I approached the once lush rows of vegetables and all I found was carnage. There were no survivors, the cows ate, trampled or uprooted every single living plant in that garden. In a panic, I ran around the rows to the far corner where my tomato plants once stood proudly and there I found them. Uprooted and lying on the ground, mear shadows of their former selves. I solemnly took a deep breath and scouted the rest of the garden to assess the chaos that was once the school garden. As I looked up, I saw where the fence had failed and the cows had entered... In a long feud filled with rock throwing, charging and crapping, the cows had finally struck an effective blow right to my heart. And for that moment, I felt defeated. But not for long, and standing there over my fallen comrades that lay below me in utter ruin I swore that the garden would rise again, and once again I pledge to all of you, that it will!!!.... Alright that got a little out of hand, but I'm replanting the garden, and that's why I hate cows....

New projects.. School starts Monday and I will be designing and implementing the new Physical Education program at the school. I will basically be teaching the entire canton how to play basketball, volleyball and possibly dodgeball. It should be good times. I have also agreed to begin teaching a community English class for those not attending school, it should be interesting considering the school has no lights and the classes are in the late afternoon. I guess we'll have to go medievel, with torches or something. We'll figure it out. I am also jumping on to help out with a community water project for "agua potable" (drinkable water). The project has actually been goin on for close to 15 years, and they do a great job of record keeping, but it is all hand written. I mean every single document they have is handwritten, so I am going to help them transfer everything to electronic record keeping. Long and tedious, but I have two years so I'm not worried. As usual I have a million other things to talk about, but I don't like to make these things too long and I'd end up writing forever. So I will use one of my patented summary lists to sum things up for you, here it goes: scorpions in my room, super ants bite, still unable to score goal, bad news bears softball team, birthday celebration, waterfall, 3 fights at soccer game, inauguration of basketball court, HOT all the time, and I mean ALL the time, talking in my sleep still except in spanish, AND hot girls...

Buena onda...

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...