Random Photos..

Getting attacked by the roosters while using Amy's latrine











This is my form of transportation (plus about 30 other people, mas o menos)















All the family, plus their 3 gringo children who blend in quite well, right?

Puchica

As the days (just over a week left here..) are coming to an end in my vacation home here in Apastepeque, I've been doing alot of thinking about my new community, and where I will spending the next 2 years of my life:
will they understand me?
will they accept me?
will i make friends?
will i like my family?
will i have a bed?
Will I have water?
Will I have to pee in a latrine?
Will there be a million roosters?
How far away will I actually be from other volunteers? (It could be minutes, it could be hours)
What work will I be doing?
Will I have a sister who can paint my nails?
How nuts will I actually go? (They say your first 3 months in site are your hardest as a volunteer)
Will I have someone to play endless amounts of UNO with?

I had a dream I gained 35 lbs. I'm beginning to think that may not be far from the truth, or at least something that is possible for the future. Everyone says how much weight they gain when they first get to site. Doing house visits are a very big thing for our first few months in the community. House visits are more then just a "Hola, Mi nombre es Jamie, mucho gusto" I can anticipate about 8 cups of coffee in a day and 5 or 6 dinners. Whatever it takes to build that "confianza" (trust)

I have been kind of sad these last few days. I will miss Apastepeque deeply. And so here it is, my reflections on that:
-I could not have asked for a better group (Anna, David, Esther, and Katherine- I love you all). Our motto is "We get there when we get there" I never thought I would meet people as tranquillo and slow moving as myself. You guys are incredible; Endless games of rummy and bullshit. Being consistently late to training every Tuesday, family fiestas, drinking with grandma, going to sarita (the ice cream shop) every day. I wish you all luck as you go to your new sites. Stay strong. Break out of your comfort zone. And don't forget about our Apastepeque reunions!
- My spanish teacher Vicky, what an incredible person. I didn't understand one damn word from that ladies mouth the first time we talked (or when she talked, and I "listened"). But we were able to develop a great relationship with each other despite the language barrier. I owe most of my success I had here thus far to her. I can now officially say I understand 65 percent of what she says.
- My family. I'm fortunate to not have any problems with my family, like some people here. They know how to treat me well, and they always seem to know what I'm concerned about (which is great for the language barrier) I never had to worry about finding the polite way to say "wash my clothes", "make me food", "change my bedsheets", and so on. They always just know what I need, which is great, because the last thing I want, is to come across as disrespectful to such wonderful people.
- The 7 month old baby, Jose, in my house. I'm pretty sure his first word was "hi" - It may have been learned from me, or Dora the Explorer. That I'm not sure, but I sure know I'm gonna miss that kid and the huge smiles he would give every time he saw me. I wish I had that effect on more guys.
- The 80 year old grandmother who lives next door to me. She could drink anyone I ever met and ever will meet under the table. This lady can drink any vodka straight up, no big deal, and will let you know how much of a wimp you are for splitting the juice/vodka 50/50. She solves that issue by pouring more vodka into my drink when I'm not looking.

How I know my spanish is getting alittle bit better:
- when i listen to people speak its more then just sounds, its actually words.
- people actually have the correct response to my answer. Not, "I don't speak english" (Even though I was speaking in spanish...)
- I don't go to bed at night with a headache
- I can sit in a room full of El Salvadorians and not feel really, really awkward (now I just feel awkward)
- People are actually laughing at a joke I told, not because of how ridiculous I sound (well I like to believe this one)
- I'm beginning to realize more that we really are the same, just people of different languages.

So we had a big community project this morning with the youth. We ended up hiking up this mountain in the mud and pouring rain. At the top we did some charlas to the group (regarding leadership, life plans, self esteem) and did many dynamicas (the word they use for icebreakers) It turned out to be a lovely day. The sun came out and we were able to enjoy some lovely views overlooking the volcano and the city of San Vicente.

Just some other thoughts:
- So does anyone know when Phish is gonna come tour in El Salvador?
- Getting attacked by a rooster sucks
- I feel as my spanish is getting better, my english is getting worse (So let me apologize in advance if my blogs are becoming less intriguing, and are beginning to show more grammatical errors)
-It's crazy that here, the poorer you are, the more generous you are
- Why are there ALWAYS fireworks going off? (Are there really people up at 5:00 am watching those things?)
- Is it possible to meet anyone nicer then some of the El Salvadorians I have met here?
- How on earth do you roll your R's?

Helping my mama and sister make tomales. I love the look on her face, "like don't mess this up Jamie, this is our food for the week"

You can't find moments in a box

Some new and exciting moments of the week:

• not getting dengue yet (eating a clove of garlic a day really helps fight off those darn zancudos)
• teaching an english class to 7th grade students (and it actually being a great success)
• our first beach trip as a group! (Grilled cheese sandwiches, sunshine, swimming, cervezas, pancakes, king size bed, shower, beauty, grass, sand, the nicest beach house everrrr, etc..) Being at the beach reminded me alot of home (can't really explain it- I guess you kind of get used to the simple way of living down here, and forget about luxuries) but I made a list (because I love lists!) of what I miss most about being home (after family and friends of course!) : thai iced tea, seeing a sky full of stars, washing machines, being big spoon with my dog maggie, AC when i sleep, waking up on my own (not by the sounds of dogs fighting in the street or the cockadoodledo of the roosters), climbing/hiking/biking, not being stared and pointed at while I do my morning jog, a GOOD slice of pizza, american music and going to concerts, "blending in" (however, i feel like a rock star some days down here)
  

This has pretty much been a week of a LOT of spanish learning, and "community contacts" aka playing bull shit and rummy with my group (Apastepeque isn't the most productive group of trainees) 3 more weeks of training and then off to my new community, where I will be far away from the other gringos! Crazy feeling, but I'm ready and excited!!

Just a few things I've learned so far from being down here:

• Mainly, not knowing a language, has really taught me a heck of alot. Relationships with people go way beyond communication. It really is interesting to see how much love you have for other people and the love they have for you, even with very very limited conversation. -A good attitude really does go a long way. I'm just glad there is honestly no such thing as "akward" here. There isn't even a word in spanish for "akward". So me sitting in a room with a group of El Salvadorians not saying much due to my lack of vocabulary, doesn't even phase them as being "akward". They love you for just being there with them.
  "There is one language in the world that everyone understands. It’s the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose…”
• Challenges are our biggest teachers.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
• The more you put into something, the more you get out of it.
• It doesn't matter where you are (or how poorly the living conditions are), its the people.

apastepeque group with our spanish teacher

random pictures

with our youth group (playing dynamicas/ice breakers and conversing about potential projects we are going to do within our community)

@ the rodeo!

My immersion day family, and Alayna, the volunteer