a stranger in a new place

Being thrown into a completely new world leaves you only to reflect often.
With that being said, this weeks blog consists of a series of my reflections thus far:

Things i absolutely love about being here:

• riding in the back of the pick up truck (standing up)- riding through the beautiful country side up in the mountains. However, I still believe I may get injured one day on one of these. It's just surprising how they really can get up to 40 people in the back of a pick up truck.. that can't be good.
• the people.. they are just so friendly.
• the food.. ehh, not so much the tortillas though (they are thick, and not so tasty)
• the volcanos. I think El Sal has about 40 of them. I currently live within a few miles of the 2nd largest one here.
• the palm trees & just how green & lush everything is
• the animals (donkeys, pigs, horses, cows, roosters) roaming the streets & everywhere else.
• the kids; they love to teach you spanish, and they love to learn new words in english, so conversations are never too akward.
• the thunder/rain storms every night. The rain especially, such a soothing way to fall asleep after a long day
• the popularity of soccer
• the women carrying those things on their heads with heaping amounts of food in them. It looks so difficult. Hats off to those tough ladies..

There are many things that I have learned to accept:

• I will not be fluent in spanish over night. It's going to take time and patience, and lots of it.
• It's hot here. It was hot here yesterday and it will be again tomorrow. It's going to be even hotter once summer begins in November.
• I will have to hand wash my clothes for 2 years.
• I will not be taking a warm shower any time soon. My bucket baths will be freezing cold, and I just have to deal with it, no matter how chilled I feel in the morning.
• For 2 years, I may have to lie about my religious beliefs.
• For 2 years, I will have to lie about how much money I really have & I will be the gringa that is the target for theft.
• I will have to explain every time why I am not married right now. 26/female/not married. Unheard of!
• Roosters talk alot at 5 in the morning, thats just what they do.
• Mosquitos love your blood, even with citronella candles burning and deet on your skin.
• I will be living my life in a fish bowl for the next 2 years. People here love gringos & will let their community know what we are up to at all times. (I go for a run in the morning, within 2 hours the whole community knows)

Some things that are still hard for me:

• having my families' maid ask me for money since her baby is very sick and she has no money for milk. Worse; having to lie and tell her I have none
• thinking alot about whats going to happen when I am in my site (the end of September), on my own. (Will I even be able to speak spanish by then? Will there be electricity? Will I be at least within an hour of another volunteer? Where will I even be? What project will I be doing? Will my community and counterpart accept me?)

Finally, There are also some things I may never understand:

• El Salvadorians are some of the most warm hearted and nicest people I have ever met. Why don't they understand how wrong it is to hit and kick dogs.
• El Salvador is such a beautiful, beautiful country.... What possesses people to throw trash everywhere??
• These people are sooo family oriented. It's incredible. Then, why does at least one person from each family go to the states and leave their family behind. So they have more money, so they can buy nice things for their young kids who won't even remember them when they come back to El Sal 5 years later...