Elation and Election

So, I haven´t written in a while- part of this is because I was on ¨stand fast¨stuck in my cyberless canton during the elections, but I´ll get into that later...

What I´d like to share is some news that I have thoroughly enjoyed. This past Friday, I went running in the morning in the nearby field (it´s taboo, but I don´t care, I´m taboo already). I passed a house along the way, and a young lady, smiling, asked ¨¿Va a dar vueltas a la cancha?¨(Are you going to run laps around the field). To which I responded, ¨¿Claro, es obvio, no?¨ (Yes... is it that obvious?) She smiled and I left to begin my run... and about 20 minutes later, I see her, a younger girl, and a baby entering the field. As I passed and waved she began running with me. She was wearing sandals and a skirt, but damn, she kept up a good pace. I found this particularly adorably touching.
I made 2 new friends that morning, Mari, 19 and Jesi, 12. When we were finished, they invited me over to eat mangos that afternoon.... and since then have wanted to spend every second with me. I just feel like the prettiest belle at the ball...
But seriously, this sort of unconditional welcoming they show me here is overwhelmingly heartwariming. And now I have a running buddy! And a girlfriend closer to my age,... many of my friends here are kids or mothers... little in between.
And for some more delight....
These past few weeks- our prospective groups (as decided by which canton we´re placed in) have been working on mini-projects with different youth groups. Our project (as more or less chosen by the kids we´re working with) has been to decorate the outside of the school. In order to do this, we had to raise funds. By holding a raffle for a cheap camera one of the students donated, we raised 80 bucks (that´s bank here). I was really excited for this, especially since tickets cost 10 cents a piece. We had ample funds to buy hanging plants, trees, and paint for the picnic tables. And last Saturday, was project day.
You know, I only ever did those big projects with Auntie Jan a few times (building houses in Mexico). I wish I had done more... because the feeling you get is wonderful, and it was the same this weekend. You should have seen how excited the kids were to work... one even showed up wearing an apron, brush in hand. All of these 10-12 year olds were eager to dig holes, as soon as one took a break, another jumped in. Kids even showed up who weren´t part of the project wanting to work. We finished within 90 minutes... I was sorry it was over so fast. We didn´t transform the school completely... but we did give it a nice face lift- and, more importantly- we made the kids happy. This tiny little project´s success gives me hope for what I might do on my own.
And yet-
I still have a llong way to go. This project was a collaboration, with lots of help and set rules, and before I even think of any projects I want to start, I have to think about the level of turst I must build first. In 2 weeks I´m swearing in as an official volunteer- after that, I´m on my own.
And now for a segueless change of subject...
THE ELECTIONS! Now, I´m not supposed to place any personal bias here, but those of you who know me well enough (which I think most of you do) should have no problem figuring how I feel.
Sunday El Salv held its presidential elections. ARENA, the more conservative party who (with aid from the good old US of A) won the 12 year long civil war in 1992. They´ve had offie power since 1989. On Sunday, the opposing party, FMLN- won by a thin margin. And will take power for the 1st time since the party´s creation. In June- for the first time in 20 years- the party power will shift.
My family is a big ARENA fan. In case my Señora worried that I didn´t know how she felt.. put ARENA bumper stickers and calendars in my room.
Time and time again we´ve been told not to express our political preferences (although they know I love Obama, and they love him too)- but man- I really had to hold my tongue a few times. They were going off on how much worse the country will be now... and the best defense I could muster up was ¨I guess we´ll just have to wait and see.¨
So... it´s been pretty exciting. In the past 4 months I´ve been in countries experiencing hugely historic elections. Lucky me...
And, I really do feel lucky. I don´t want to be naive here- because I´m sure I will go through some tough times ahead. But what I´ve experienced thus far has really been fabulous. And although this is probably premature, from where I stand, the future looks bright.

I have more pictures, and can post some later... but I just ran out of battery.


This is Oscar, I got lazy and decided not to change it... but I think you can manage. He´s adorable, he lives with Sean and follows him everywhere, we call him Sombra (shadow). He´s 6 years old, but was eager to help.