Laughing nervously when a joke wasn´t as widely received as I had hoped.
Sulma, Me and Jesica (my 2 sisters) acting out a scene at the Asamblea. The gente seemed to like it.
And now... for today´s entry:
It’s funny, isn’t it? The things you get nervous about, when afterward you realize your anxieties were all for nothing? As I rode approaching San Vicente, I felt a flurry of nerves… seeing my training family again… being surrounded by my fellow gringos… wondering if I’d feel at home or disconnected. Well like many things I stress about… it seemed silly afterward; I enjoyed PST 2 (pre-service training) more than I thought I would.
Where to begin? I guess one of the first things I’ve noticed is that thus far I’ve been having a more chipper time than many. We did a rough assessment of where we each are in the different emotional stages of PCVdom, and while many are drudging through a disappointed yet optimistic stage, I’m still enjoying the high of the honeymoon stage. This makes me feel good… lucky that most experiences have been pleasant surprises or better than I feared. But I’m also wary, because I know this can’t last forever, and things are bound to get difficult. I’m anticipating these next coming months to be a bit more trying.
As far as the technicals- most of PST 2 consisted of other volunteers sharing their experiences with different types of projects. Some of the highlights: we visited a bunny farm (rabbit meat is high in protein, easy to grow, and cost-effective) where I got to see a ravenous male repeatedly sow his wild oats (sheds new light on the phrase “at it like rabbits”), and I witnessed a killing and skinning (flashbacks of Thanksgiving in West Virginia…. anyone?). Another was a presentation by an NGO down here that makes amazing stoves (most people still cook, at least tortillas, over an open fire), the stoves are small and portable and use about half the wood than other stoves, and because they have a perfect combustion, are virtually smokeless (many women have respiratory and eye problems with all the smoke).
We were taught how to grant write to petition money, how to form and maintain youth groups, how to teach English in different ways etc. Some projects seemed pretty futile for Los Cimientos (that’s the name of my site for my regular readers), but others made me foam at the mouth.
We had one free weekend of which we took full advantage. In San Sal, we basked and bathed in la piscina of the Sheraton, ate DELICIOUS sushi, and went clubbing. Then it was off to El Tunco, a touristy surf town in the department of La Libertad. Wow… I hadn’t seen that many white people in quite a while… it didn’t feel like El Sal. The water was fabulous… no adjustment time necessary, it was immediately warm. And I got some great down time with other PVCs, I’d forgotten how relaxing drinking wine and conversing is.
Anywho, I was feeling skippy finishing up our time in San Vicente. Save for the second gastro-intestinal infection I got. I swear… my training family is trying to kill me. This time wasn’t nearly as bad as the first… no vomiting, but still, not a pleasant affair. You know, they tell us that there’s no such thing as immunity that you build intestinally, but I don’t buy it. Either Salvadorans have iron stomachs, or they have an amazing tolerance for diarrhea.
We finished up PST 2 with an AIDS workshop in another gorgeous beach location, Costa del Sol in La Paz. This time we got to invite counterparts from our sites to come and learn together. So Dina, one of my counterparts and the health promoter (kind of a nurse who makes house visits) came, as well as a girl named Marta who sometimes helps Dina. The lessons were pretty good (I’ll admit I didn’t know you can transmit HIV through breastfeeding), they gave us different ideas of how to teach the community about such an issue. But even better was the free-time. It was great hanging out with gringos AND Salvadorans together. We played soccer on the beach, went swimming, toured the peninsula on a boat, had a bonfire, and made s’mores (an exchange of American culture). It was great seeing how much the counterparts enjoyed themselves. I left happily surprised at how much fun I had.
And now… I’m back. I have so many ideas for projects I want to do. I’m anxious and excited, but I know I’ll never do all I want to, and I’m sure some projects will probably be utter disasters. Ba pues… poco a poco. My game plan is to start with the school. I’m going to start having weekly courses for Como planear mi vida, lessons all about communicating better and sexual health and self esteem and thinking about the future and all that jazz. Should be good… but only as a starting point, not a huge project. We’ll see what will bloom from there.
Vamos a ver.
Some more pics...
Yes... the hotel had Macaws. And they weren´t afraid of humans in the slightest.
Grigos and Salvos unite. This was on a speed boat of a friend of Bri´s (my boss) who toured us around. The counterparts were really excited, and scared of to ride.
Dina on the Left, Marta on the right. I really had a blast with them, and the hotel was gorgeous.
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