I’m writing this blog from inside my house because I cannot, nor do I desire, go outside because of a phenomenon called El Norte (The North).  January is my least favorite month in any country in the world.  It’s ugly everywhere.  But, to top it all off in the very dry and brown rainless El Salvador, January brings a fun friend called El Norte or just very strong winds.  That’s right, there is a windy season in El Salvador.  The wind blows day and night at 40mph minimum.  Roofs sound like they’re being ripped off and beds, while you’re sleeping in them, fill with dust and sugar cane feathers.  Two years ago (which I can say now!) there was a windstorm that destroyed my community.  It hasn’t been as awful since, but I HATE THE NORTE!!!!!!

A lot has transpired since my last blog and since being back in El Sal.  I have to admit, transitioning into being a third year volunteer is just as rough as being a volunteer for the first time.  I’m having a heck of a time centering myself and mentally prepping myself for the year to come.  I’m strong and adaptable, but since college I have never kept ONE commitment for so long.  In fact, I did the math, and I will have been in Peace Corps for more months than I was actually in college.  Crazy. 

Christmas time in El Sal is so much fun.  First of all, I love that it is warm.  Well, compared to Ohio I guess.  The Norte, that bitch, has brought freezing cold temperatures with it.  It got down to about 45ºF one night, which was shocking.  It even rained for almost two whole days Christmas weekend, which NEVER EVER happens in the dry season.  Global warming is mystifying. 

I love the Christmas spirit and traditions in El Salvador.  Everyone is so happy and decorates their houses, much like in America minus the snow.  A big tradition in my town is for everyone to buy brand new clothes and go cruising on the 24^th, when Christmas is actually celebrated.  I think it’s hilarious and I definitely did it this year.  You seriously just walk up and down the main street having everyone look at you while you judge them.  I didn’t have new shoes which I’m sure everyone was critical of. 

Another tradition is the Posada (Inn).  This is where the Catholic community, because let’s face it, all the evangelicals are super boring and loud, re-enacts Mary and Joseph looking for room in an inn everyday in December until Christmas Eve.  At night, they all march from the previous house to the next house singing and they have kids dressed as Mary and Joseph.  When they arrive on the house, the hosts close the doors on them and everyone sings a call and response song asking for room in the inn, then they’re denied, and finally they’re let in.  The priest then talks for a really long time while everyone ignores him and texts messages or gossips with neighbors, then the hosts give everyone sweet bread and coffee and hot chocolate.  I think this tradition is so much fun and it’s a great way to get free food and see everyone’s house if they’ve never invited you over before.

On Christmas Eve, everyone goes to the church after the last Posada and watches all the kids in the church perform a Christmas pageant.  The highlight this year was the Hollywood microphone, which you can see in my photos.  Then there is a mass at midnight, then a giant dance.  This year I missed mass because one of my favorite families in San Isidro, Omar and his mom Reyna, held me prisoner in their house while forcing me to eat giant hot dog buns filled with chicken, coleslaw, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mayonnaise.  By the time I got away from them mass was over and I had no energy for the dance.  So, I went home and played uno with buddies and some couch surfers that were visiting.

I get couch surfers often.  Couch surfing is an internet site that connects travelers who can offer up their homes as a free place to stay to other travelers and create a network of people in the world.  It’s pretty cool and I’ve never had a bad experience on it.  I’ve had maybe 12 different surfers.  Well, two of my favorites just left, Judith from Hungary and Gregor from Germany.  They were coming for a day and stayed a week, which is common.  They were great fun and got along perfectly with my community.  They taught me how to play uno at a whole new competitive level, which I have transferred to various people in my community.  We’re uno crazy.

A bunch of my students that I try to mentor are applying for scholarships to go and study in Venezuela.  The organization that is sponsoring them invited them all, and me, to Lago de Coatepeque after Christmas.  This is a giant volcano crater lake and it is gorgeous.  I went to a private area on the lake where we swam and just chilled.  We played a bunch of uno because the couch surfers went and we taught all the scholarship kids how to do it.  The punishment for losing was being thrown in the lake by everyone else, as you’ll see in my videos.  But wow, Lago de Coatepeque is such a meditative place to go and relax.  I love it and think I will be spending a lot of time there this year.

Also, with these couch surfers, my friends Josué and Ketchup, along with me, all decided to hitchhike to the complete other side of the country.  We went to a beautiful lake out there called Laguna de Olomega.  We ended up camping out in the middle of the lake on a deserted island.  It was great until I woke up at 3:30am covered in cockroaches.  I actually had the thought, “Wow, they’re just roaches, go back to bed.”  We had to clean out the entire tent then try to get some more sleep.  We ended up hitchhiking all the way back to San Isidro in a semi-truck that took us the entire way, and I slept on the bed there to catch up on what the roaches stole from me.  I think the cockroaches invading my body while sleeping might be the most repulsive thing that has happened to me in El Salvador.  Yuck.

My friend Janet came back from her 30 days in the States and is now living in San Isidro.  Her coming back is so nice because it’s an indication that all the lazing around during the holidays is now over.  It’s time to work.  We have several specific projects we aim to do this year and we’re going at them full force.  It’s going to be nice to get a schedule back up and running.

Also, if it weren’t for Janet I may have been back in the States already.  I seriously almost turned around and came back home because of so much emotional build-up in San Isidro.  I was just sick of the wind, cold water, moochy people, ungrateful people, and all kinds of crap and I woke up on January 5 having it all hit me at once.  I was frantic!!  We went to the capital to visit an old Peace Corps friend who was in town, and to escape.  Escaping is something I haven’t done in a long time, but dang, it was nice and necessary.  Anyways, I collect myself, found the bearings, and now I’m moving forward.

On Thursday I did something for the first time which I should have done a long time ago.  I went coffee picking!  Wow, let me tell you, it’s fun doing it, but it is not worth it.  So, you get up early in the morning, hike out to a coffee plantation, then a manager gives you a row of trees and you pass by each one picking off all the berries.  It sounds simple enough until you get to the rows that are on sides of mountains.  I fell down one completely from the top to the bottom, and thank god, but none of my coffee fell out of the basket.  All the leaves and dust in the coffee fields get inside your clothing and it itches.  There are snakes, wasps, scorpions, and all kinds of fatal insects abound among the trees.  You have to take all your food and water with you.  Also, all the coffee you pick has to be carried with you all day.  Oh, and they only pay $0.90 for every 25 pounds you pick.  That particular day Janet and I were picking with my ex-neighbors.  I adore them so much.  This year’s harvest is crap.  Between the four of us we only managed to pick 105 pounds in an entire day.  So, that is $3.60 in their pockets.  $3.60 in one day’s work.  That is terrible, even in El Salvador.  I don’t even know why people bother trying to support their families this way.  And I kept thinking the entire time I was picking, “No wonder people join gangs and rob busses.”  Who would want to spend an entire day to earn enough to buy a coke and some chips, but not pay the bills, when you could rob a bus or people and get 10 times that amount, in a matter of minutes?  It’s a tough reality.

On the positive side, it was a lot of fun.  I was out in the coffee fields with many of my community members.  We were all joking and talking and just having a good time while working.  It was a nice community effort.  Everyone loved when I fell down the mountain because I landed on a spine branch of a plant called Hot Bread in Spanish.  The leaves got all over my hand and burned my skin and made me swell up.  It hurts.  But, everyone being so prepared, a few women came over and dumped alcohol on me, and the pain went away, although, lacerations stayed on my hands where the leaves burned me.  I saw a giant snake that was killed with a machete.  It was right next to my neighbors’ mother when a man spotted it and killed it.  It was huge and vicious looking.  But all in all, it was a fun day.  Oh, and after picking everyone has to sit and separate all the green beans from the reds, yellows, and oranges.  It is not easy work people.  Next time you suck down your Starbucks, just remember where that came from and how hard the people worked to get it there.  That’s what I do now, for sure.

On Sunday, the 3^rd, my host sister Luz de Maria, or Lucy, had her quinciñera.  That is the 15^th birthday party that Latin girls celebrate to show the community that they are now women.  The party has a lot of tradition involved and is pretty intense, but in a good way.  For Lucy’s 15^th, the family had a private mass at the church then a huge party at their house.  They somehow fit more than 150 guests in their house and served them all a declivous steak dinner.  The coolest part of the event for me was the fact that Lucy and her family asked me to be the Chambelan.  That means I was chosen to dance the waltz with Lucy upon entering the party.  I had to learn the waltz, and with Lucy, we made up a bunch of our own moves that wowed the crowd.  It was a ton of fun and I’m glad I was able to be part of Lucy’s very special day.  I have videos and photos of it all to check out.

So I think for now that’s the most up-to-date version of what’s been going on for me in El Sal.  Other than way too many emotional freakouts, everything is fine.  I’m here and I know why I’m here and I know how long I’m here.  I really do love El Salvador and the people I know here.  I’m making it through the days, trying to enjoy every single moment, and trying to make sense of the negatives.  I didn’t realize the challenge it would be to stay for a third year, but I am glad I’m here.

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved