World's Largest Cucaracha

So it has been awhile since I lasted posted here…sorry for the delay. Life has been pretty busy down here over the past few weeks. Last week I went on my Immersion Days, and it felt great to have some freedom. I traveled for about 5 hours on 4 buses and a pickup truck to get to Ahuachapan, and I was about 1 hour from the border with Guatemala. I spent 2 days living with a family of 10 in a very poor, rural community near the ocean. The family I lived with had no electricity, so I had the opportunity to eat a candlelit dinner…and I was in bed by 7:15. I woke up the first morning to see the grandfather of the family scaling a giant coconut tree in the yard…he made it look so easy. I watched him cut about 20 coconuts from the tree, and then I drank coconut milk straight from the coco. I had a great time with the family, and I felt really comfortable with them even though I couldn’t communicate very well. El Salvador may be a small country, but there are several different dialects of Spanish that are spoken here. The west, or occidente, definitely has a different accent than here in San Vicente, and there is a variation in the slang that is spoken.

I basically spent the two nights hanging-out and chatting with the family. I also biked around the community with one of the family members visiting people, and I watched a chicken die a slow death. I also drank some lemonade that was made with some very polluted water (or so I was told), but fortunately I didn’t get sick. The next time you guys see me I am going to be so gordita. I definitely eat more here than back in the states, and it is getting to the point where I just can’t eat it all. The family I stayed with gave me beans, fish, chicken, coffee, sweet bread, and 6 tortillas for 1 dinner….and of course I couldn’t eat it all. I basically ate to the point where I felt full up to the top of my throat. The people of El Salvador may not have much, but they are so willing to share all that they have. The father of the family I stayed with was telling me about how poor they are and how they grow sugar cane just so they can give it to the bank in hopes of owning their land in the future. They may not have much in terms of material wealth, but they have their family and that is what is most important.

After I left my Immersion Day family, I met up with the PC volunteer who lives in the community…she is the one found the family for me to stay with. We took a bus to another volunteer’s site that was nearby, where another trainee was spending his immersion days. The four of us rode bikes to El Imposible, which is one of the few National Parks here in El Salvador. Once we arrived at the park we hiked to a swimming hole and spent the entire day relaxing in the river and swimming under a waterfall. I had a great time, and it felt so incredibly great to get some physical exercise and descansar a bit. That night the volunteers made pesto spaghetti for us and we ate more cocos…then we had waffles the next morning. My immersion days were great, and they were just what I needed to re-energize myself for the second half of training. I feel very fortunate to have had such a great experience.

Today I gave my first charla (talk) in the local school. I was in a second grade class for 45 minutes, and I talked about the importance of water and the consequences of water pollution…90% of the water in El Salvador is polluted. I wasn’t quite as nervous as I thought I would be, and I think it went fairly well considering it was my first charla. At least now I have an idea as to what to expect next time around.

So that’s my update for now. I’ve been here for a month now, but it certainly feels as though it has been a lot longer than that. I’m just about done with my 4th week of training, and next week I have Field-Based Training for 4 days. I’ll try to post again when I get back.

Oh, as a side note I would just like to tell you that the folks down here definitely enjoy their 80’s love songs…I fit right in! I was pleasantly surprised to hear Elton John, followed by some of the same songs that are on my Forever 80’s CDs, being played while I was at a fellow trainee’s house in my community.

Before I sign-off I should explain the title of this blog. As I was brushing my teeth at the pila the other night I noticed a gigantic beetle-like creature. I asked my Salvadoran mother what it was and she proceeded to tell me it was a cucaracha. I swear it was the size of a mouse, if not bigger. I have never seen a roach as big as that sucker in my life. No need to worry because my “mother” bashed the nasty creature to death with the broom.

2 weeks in El Sal

So I’ve been in El Salvador for just about 2 weeks now…it certainly feels a lot longer than that. I am now in week 2 of 10 weeks of training, and I can already tell that it is going to be a LONG ten weeks. Our days are filled with Spanish classes, technical training (I learned how to build a compost pile last week and this week I get to work with worms!), and a bunch of other stuff. We’ve also been learning about all the sicknesses we will probably get. Fortunately I have been fairly healthy, and I haven’t really had a problem sticking to my vegetarian diet. Today, however, I ate a chicken breast…there was no way around it! My Salvadoran mother is a great cook, and she always gives me way more than I can eat. The food may be tasty, but it is loaded with grease, salt, grease sugar, and more grease! I’m definitely going to pack on the pounds over the next 10 weeks.

There are 25 other trainees from all over the U.S. and everyone seems great. We have been told that we are a strong group of trainees, and fortunately we haven’t lost anyone yet! Our training group is divided up between several different communities in the San Vicente area. I live in a community with 3 other trainees right on the Pan-American highway. We all live within 5 minutes of each other, and we’re only about a 20 minute bus ride to the training center. I have a Salvadoran mother, father, brother, 4 nieces, and 1 nephew. My family has been very welcoming and I feel quite comfortable here. So far they have taught me how to make papusas and tortillas, and I am now able to wash my clothes by hand…it is definitely a time-consuming task, but I kind of enjoy it (at least for now). I feel a bit lucky compared to the other trainees because I am one of the few who has a flush toilet and a shower…however they aren’t anything like what we have in the U.S.

I haven’t really seen anything too crazy yet. I wake up to roaches on my wall almost every day, and last week I saw my brother skin a rabbit and leave it guts on the ground and the fur hanging on the clothesline. Oh, I also saw a coral snake the other morning when I was walking to meet my brother at his fields. Riding the buses here is always an adventure. They are old U.S. school buses that are always filled way beyond capacity. The bus I take to the training center is always packed in the morning, and the other day I was hanging halfway out the bus….they don’t always close the doors. It’s a bit scary, but I’m starting to get used to it.

I definitely like it here in El Salvador. It is a beautiful country and the people are incredibly friendly. I get more excited with each day, and am really looking forward to being here for the next 2 years.

I’m not sure when I will post again, but hopefully next time I will include photos. Hope you are all doing well!! Keep in touch!!!!