update 3?

Greetings to those stateside and beyond (read: Leigh)!

All’s pretty well here. I spent a few days up north in Chalatenango (check out a map of el sal), pretty much in the ideal place I’d want to live (although I’m sure I’ll have it much more rough) in the beautiful mountains last week. I missed a day of this (called Field-Based Training) due to being pretty sick from some amoebas….and I’m still on medication to eradicate them, but I think I’m doing pretty fine now. That is, if you don’t see my legs….seriously I’ve never had so many bug bites in my life, and since I’m so pale, and tend to react strongly to them, I look like I have chicken pox or something (I’m pretty sure I’ll eventually get Dengue, but hopefully not for a while at least). And I wear a lot of DEET-laden products. I also have a nice purple welt from a Frisbee smacking my shin the other day. Sigh…so prone to small silly accidents. Like the bee that got stuck in my shoe and stung my ankle yesterday. What a punk. But I’m proud to say I’m getting tougher. You get used to being dirty, and really learn to appreciate those bucket baths (the coldness is more refreshing now than shocking)..Look at me go, all adjusting like a pro.

Today in particular (march22) was fantastic. We went to a nearby little town…which was pretty depressing, actually. I’d probably cry if I had to live there. It’s crazy to me how much diversity there is in this little country, but this place was totally flat and dry, with NO shade anywhere. Just a bunch of little tiny houses made out of bamboo and sheets of metal tacked around them. Not even that many latrines there. So yeah, pretty rural, pretty poor. 12 of us went and worked with a local NGO to help build “improved stoves.” The number one problem here is respiratory illnesses (in terms of frequency), and this is partly due to the fact that a lot of people have one-room homes with crappy fire-burning stoves inside…basically filling the house with smoke- so they’re breathing that all the time. It’s hard to explain for some reason that that black stuff on the walls is the same black stuff in your lungs…

So anyway, we made these wooden molds, then constructed stoves out of a mix of dirt, clay, cement, dry grass, and water. SO fun….plus I finally got to (wait, mom, don’t read this) use a machete for the first time! Haha. Yeah…I am definitely buying a machete as soon as I get to my site. Everyone has them here. Plus they have sweet leather holders with like, leather tassels and stuff…seriously. It’s cool. Anyway, I just had to cut up this dry grass so it would mix in easier, and I basically got to use a machete and a piece of firewood to dice it up. Fun times (and yes, I still have all my fingers).

So we made four stoves in all, with chimneys and stuff, so they should use less wood and be healthier in general. That kind of work is really nice once in a while….all day in the sun, so you feel exhausted, but at least you have something to show for it, you know? Good times in “The Savior…”

Other than that….a bunch of (well most…like 95%) of the PCT’s are headed to the beach this weekend to relax (read: drink/tan), but I decided to stay home since I feel like I haven’t seen my family much lately. Luck has it: they want to take me to some hot springs! So that’s pretty sweet. Then, Sunday is my host-aunt’s 27th birthday, so we have that to celebrate, too (I think we are getting pizza and ice cream, which is a pretty awesome treat here)

In other news: (sorry this is scatter-brained, I’m really tired), we only have like 3.5 weeks of training left! This is pretty awesome and exciting…and we find out our sites in like two weeks. We’re all sort of chomping at the bit about that….but in due time, us young grasshoppers will move out of the training center and all alone out into the wilderness of The Savior. That will probably be sort of freaky…and then I’ll have to get to know a new host family for 2 or 3 months before being able to move into my own place (it’s pretty much a requirement, and a really good way to get to know your new community) and look for that sense of home that I’ve been sadly lacking since I left Iowa City.

A final side note: my handkerchief collection is expanding nicely. Those things are seriously invaluable (good for: drying your hands when you can’t find a towel, cleaning fruit, wiping off sweat/dirt from your face, color coordinating with outfits…). I now own black, green, blue, brown, and one that is green on one side and pink on the other (which people always compliment me on, so thanks for satisfying my whim and buying it for me, mom!).

Bueno. That’s all for now. I’ll update you the next time something fun happens. (oh, it rained for real for about 20 minutes last night, really hard….we had to run and get all the drying laundry, but after that it was soo pretty and cool sounding on the roof.) Take care, everyone. Much love.