Fotos!

Sorry about the weird format here. I really haven´t figured this thing out yet...But here are some photos to catch you all up at least, with the old host family. Hopefully next time I´ll have new pics of the new site!

This photo cracked up the whole family....Sara is helping pluck feathers from the recently killed chicken...
This photo is absolutely disgusting, and I love it. Host mom Rina says the feet at the most delicious part.
The kids are coloring pictures to send to someone they´re dying to meet...

This is a horse spider. Large and scary as hell. I got pretty close to take this pic with a 28mm...you should be proud...
Chilling for a moment on the way back from the river. Host-cousin Chico.
Boys in the back of the pickup truck on a ride home.
Host sister Alba asleep on the floor, with another bed behind her.
Yup, that chicken´s dead. And boy was it delicious.



This little frog caused 2 women to do a lot of screaming. Apparently it was inside someone´s shirt...









Jeremy and I being the PC rockstars that we are...at the river with the fam. Not bad for an auto timer photo!

Host mom and dad chilling at the river. It´s the only pic I have of them together.

here´s my old house...cement front yard, pretty sweet!
this is the pila i can never seem to explain to people. dishes and laundry are done on the left, the water is stored in that middle part, and showers happen on the right.
pobre cabrito...he´s dead now... this is in the back yard of my old place
this is my old room and old mosquito net. i shared the room with a couple rats. matt will appreciate the fact that i put the patagonia sticker to good use. also note, peanut butter on bed. that little thing cost like 3 bucks!
hiking into river jiboa...so pretty!

My PC friend Jeremy, trying to be godlike at the river

This wicked large beetle thing we found at the river. It was my desktop background for a while, but then I changed it when my host mom commented that it resembled a cockroach.

updates from a new home

April 7.
An account of today’s adventures must begin with the fact that we were supposed to leave, walking, to go to the river at 8am. This of course meant that we didn’t leave until 9, and that we actually ended up driving in a pickup (aka riding in the back. Amusing that although I was never allowed to travel in the back of a pickup as a child (unless I was laying down in the back of the kelly’s truck and we were driving slow), it is now a common form of transportation).

As it is Semana Santa (the last week of the 40 days of lent or something), everyone is on vacation, so we went to the River Jiboa with my family, Jeremy, and some of my host mom’s friends. It was pretty exciting…Driving there was gorgeous. There was a breeze (as we were driving at least), and beautiful rolling hills. This country is honestly striking sometimes, and its beauty always seems to catch me off guard, just when I think I’ve become accustomed to the heat and the dust.

The rest of the tale relates more to insects and creatures than anything else. I’ll post photos….but we found some pretty fascinating bugs today down by the river. We had to hike down a rocky, steep path to get there, but it was well worth the trek. We found a poza (pool) and chilled out all day. My host mom brought sandwiches of lettuce, chicken, and this pink mayonnaise/miracle whip stuff, cookies, salva cola (sort of like RC cola, it’s the drink of choice here). She also brought instant coffee and a pot, so she actually built a fire and made coffee. However, she forgot to bring sugar, so I’m pretty sure Jeremy and I were the only ones who actually drank any.


At the beach, which was pretty dirty, but actually not as nasty as I’d expected, we hung out in little cabins covered with grass roofs. I think they had rentable hammocks there, because everyone had hammocks hanging in their little areas. (The hammock is the staple of every dwelling here. I can no longer imagine living without one). Jeremy and I spent hours swimming out in the ocean where few Salvadorans dared to go. Very few people here know how to swim, and the undertow is nothing to joke about, so people don’t generally venture beyond where the waves brake on the shore. Somehow I finally figured out how to float (thanks to the help of the saltwater), and floating around amongst the rise and fall of the water was one of the most relaxing things I’ve done since I’ve been here. Of course, we were both sunburned by the time the day was over, but it was worth it.> (end inserted update)

April 25.
It’s been a really long time since I tried to finish writing this…and an even longer time since I’ve been to an Internet café to post anything. Sorry about that. The last couple weeks of training were pretty hectic, and intense with emotions, as all these new friends we’ve made as trainees were suddenly scattered across the country. April 19th, we “swore in” as real volunteers. We took an oath…the same one the army kids take, in the American Embassy in El Salvador in the presence of the new American Ambassador (who can’t speak Spanish but is good friends with GW). It was a pretty weird experience, actually, but triumphant as well, because our training group still remains intact- no ones gone home. We have sort of a uniquely mellow and supportive group, which is nice. Also, among the 140 something countries that have a Peace Corps presence, El Sal has the highest rate of volunteers who extend their service for a third year, or more. That says a lot about how great Salvadorans are!

Back to swearing in, it was kind of weird, but I think most of us try to ignore the fact that we sort of signed away our lives and medical privacy (hipaa doesn’t really apply here anymore) to the US government, and focus on what we’re really here for- relationship building with some wonderful Salvadorans. After the official business was over, we partied it up till the wee hours of the night in a club in downtown El Sal amongst 100 other gringos.

That said, here I am, a real volunteer, finally in the little town where I’ll be for the next two years. It’s hot as hell (like 94 degrees in my room at night), but the quality of the people definitely makes up for that. I’ve only been here since Friday, so I don’t know a whole lot of people in this HUGE place yet, but so far so good. I’ve been doing house visits with one of my counterparts- a health promoter here. He was giving vaccinations to kids under 5, and I was checking water supplies for mosquito nesting grounds…and in general just talking to people and seeing what’s up. Everyone has been incredibly friendly, which helps with the sort of displaced feeling I’m left with every night.

My new “host mom” (I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to convince them that I’m capable of living on my own) is crazy-active. She’s a teacher in the nearby school, has a little tienda in her home (store that sells small items and candy and junkfood), as well as sells pupusas each night. So, I actually live in a really nice house, and it doesn’t feel so rural. I have an indoor toilet (that you have to poor water in). I still shower with a little bucket, but the cool water is necessary for the constant heat. We have electricity (fans are a definite plus). I have one host brother- 11 yrs old. Host mom’s husband has been in the states for 9 years (hence why she has such a nice home). I brought the dog. She’s in a biting phase right now…especially when all the high school boys come over at night to eat pupusas, she goes nuts and tries to chew on everyone. We’re still working on that.

Other than that, I can’t think of much to say. I’m going to post some older photos from the old place. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to update this, but I’d imagine every two weeks or so. I have to take a bus for an hour to Corinto to use the internet (and visit Sam and Chris, who live there), so we’ll see. You should definitely write me though, and I’ll write back. Because I’ve got a lot of time on my hands now. Feel free to send magazines or books, too. When I visited the post office in the nearby pueblo with my friend Reagan (she’s a youth development volunteer working in the urban area), we walked into a room to meet a guy sitting at a desk. This room + this guy= the local postal system. So…he took our names and numbers and said he’d call if we had mail, and probably just deliver it to us, since “that other peace corps volunteer in the other town gets so many letters, people are always writing you guys.” Don’t let him down:



Melanie Patterson
Cantón Las Animas
Sociedad, Morazán
El Salvador, Centro América

Other than that…related to the past blog: The goat, who was injured, is now dead….it wasn’t pretty.

And, this is funny. Whenever I meet new people (especially cute old people), they are like, wow, you’re so young, what are you, 16? No…I’m 21… Oh, they say, so are you married? Do you have kids? No…(and before I can even say I’m engaged, --) Oh, so you’re here for two years? You’re totally going to marry a Salvadoran! You’re going to have beautiful children! Then when I try to explain that I’m already engaged to someone from “over there” (as they refer to the states), they’re like oh….so you don’t like Salvadoran guys then? … So that’s always a fun conversation. Lucky me, Matt’s coming to visit in about 7 weeks. That’s sort of added motivation for me to get a grip on my surroundings (for those of you who know how easily I get lost…even in Iowa City after I’d lived there for over 4 years…) and get to know a new community.

I’m going to wrap this up so I can go catch the bus and head up to Corinto (where, I’m told, it’s much cooler). Listen to some reggaeton and think of me (Rahul and Nicole are the only people who might do that), and write me letters! Seriously. Much love to all!

big news!

<3>
Dear Blog Audience:

I’m so excited right now, I’m not even sure I can compile my emotions into a decent blog, but I’m going to try. Today was the long-awaited site-announcement. What does that mean? Today, we (18 Rural Health & Sanitation + 6 Youth Development) trainees found out where we are going to spend the next two years of our lives. Pretty much a huge deal.

The site selection process is pretty huge, and involves multiple visits, safety checks, and meetings with townspeople before we are ever placed there. From about 50 possible sites, 24 were chosen, of which 18 were actually used (for health volunteers). So they are pretty much the best of the best. Some sites have had volunteers in the past, and many are new. Some are on the beach (one is on an island), some are in the mountains (one volunteer which have to rent a horse to reach his town, and will have to build his own house)….but they’re all awesome in their own ways, and hand selected for each of us.

SO.

First, we all received slips of paper with a clue. Mine read: “One of the municipalities is famous thanks to the black clay artesanias.” With these clues, we were supposed to group ourselves by departments (check out a map, El Sal has 14 departments, sort of like counties I guess)…I had no clue where these black clay artsy folk were…so I asked a staff member, and found out I’m in Morazan! I went there for my Immersion days. It’s really poor, but is known for its fantastically welcoming and generous people. Along with me in Morazan is “the married couple” (Samantha and Chris, totally awesome), and a handful of other great volunteers.

But my site specifically is as follows: (according to the brief description I received today)
(Every volunteer has two counterparts, whom s/he works with). One of mine is a doctor, who is the head of the health clinic, and the other is the health promoter who works directly below her.
Oh, the actual name of my canton (which is smaller than a town, bigger than a neighborhood) is Las Animas, near the pueblo of Sociedad.
What I’ll be doing (potentially): working with youth in HIV/AIDS prevention, maternal & child health (teen pregnancies are 30% of all pregnancies there….), working with health/water/trash committees, and in schools.
All in all, the health clinic there sounds crazy organized, and it looks like I’ll be in their monthly meetings to figure out how to help them in all the surrounding communities. This is amazing…because usually things aren’t so scheduled and you sort of have to figure out what you want to do (but I really like schedules!)..
For my first few months at least, I’ll be living with a woman who is a teacher in a school, whose husband lives in the states. The description I have reads: “A few upgrades need to be made to your house, but I think you’ll be quite comfortable there.” Thanks, boss…upgrades….I really have no idea what this means. I suppose I’ll find out Monday when I go visit my site. It actually sounds pretty big, because most sites are like 20-60 houses, so we’ll see.

All in all, I am super excited, even if I will be pretty far from Guatemala (respectively, it’s not like El Sal is that big), where Matt’ll be moving this summer (I’m also pretty fabulously excited for him about that)

In other news: The goat had a hurt foot for a while, because a rope got wrapped around it for an extended period of time before someone untied him….and after about a week of being unable to walk on it, I came home today and my host mom said “Tengo malas noticias. Se le cayó la pata del cabro.” (Bad news: The goats foot fell off.) I was like…uh….what? So, I haven’t seen him yet, but apparently our goat is now footless. Or hooveless. Whatever.

Pecas is now officially my dog. My family kept teasing me, saying I was going to take her with me when I leave, but the other day, I bought her real dog food, and I’ve become rather protective of her, so it’s become accepted that she’s mine. My host mom says if I don’t take her with me when I leave, I can bring her back here in 2 years so they have something to remember me by. Apparently she is going to be spoiled though, because I hear my mom has just sent a care package specifically for my flea-ridden cutie. (thank god that refers to the dog and not myself….ew)

Thus, Monday, I’ll be visiting my new home for 4 days. Then just a little more training, and we are done with the crazy schedules and group projects and off to life as real volunteers. And, what’s even better is, we haven’t lost anyone from our training group (this is unusual). So, we’re pretty much awesome, and you should all know it! J

More updates/photos soon.

Fotos 3

The infamous Pecas. I bet I will end up adopting that flea-bitten cutie before I head out to my site.

The freaking ducks here are the ugliest things Ive ever seen. And they have toenails!
Cutest host siblings ever? Angelito, Albita, Sarita...showing off their tin foil teeth.

fotos 2

The above photos are my family working in the molienda- making sweets and molasses out of boiled sugar. It´s really beautiful at night. And to the left are my host sisters, sarita and alba.

Fotos at last

People were asking for photos...I finally found time and figured out (maybe) how to do this. However, I didn´t tone them or anything, so they might be sort of dark. I´ll improve later. This is one of my family´s horses, being caressed after getting an injection of vitamin B (I kind of want to learn how to give animal injections now, though I´m pretty sure PC prohibits us from giving any kind of injection...)

Here on the right, we have a bunch of neighborhood kids. Albita, a host sister, is on the left, and Angel, my host bro, is in the center. The rest are cousins.

This is an idea of what I come home to everyday.

Cutest host sister ever? Sarita.

Mama duck wasn´t too happy with me. And all but two of those ducklings are now dead.

party time!

A story I almost forgot to tell.

Last week in the nearby town of Vera Paz (about five minutes away in bus), there was a fiesta, and a carnival of sorts, in celebration of San José (I asked who this was….the reply I got was… “Saint Joseph…you know…la papa de Jesús?”). My host mom told me about it a couple of times, and asked if I wanted to go, and I always said yes, but she sort of kept himming and hawing around. Finally, along came a Sunday evening around 9 o’clock, when I went with my down to the neighbors (who are all family in some way), and the women chatted for about a half hour before deciding that yes, we should indeed all trek to the party.

Now…Salvadorans who don’t live in a big city (ie: San Salvador) don’t really leave the house after about 6 o’clock, when it gets dark. I pretty much have to stay home after then, unless I’m going next door to talk to Jeremy (neighboring volunteer) or something. It’s not considered safe, and people just don’t do it.

So you might be able to imagine my surprise as I find myself walking down a street with about 12 other people (mostly women). We stop at a corner to see if we can get a car to pick us up, but after several unsuccessful attempts, someone announces that we will get to Vera Paz by walking…so we walk for a while. No one had a flashlight…so we are sort of just walking along on the road under the brightest stars I’ve ever seen, and bustling over to the side every once in a while as a car passes. Finally, we get a large truck to stop, and we all pile in the back.

As if that wasn’t adventure enough…We get to Vera Paz, and all the people that I assumed should be sleeping were partying it up, full-out carnival style. The party consisted of: a bunch of venders selling sweets and toys, and 2 carnival rides: a small squeaky train ride for toddlers….which was plugged in to an electrical outlet in the center of the tiny train track. A boy of about 10 was running it, making sure the cord didn’t get tangled as the train circled around. He also had to occasionally give the train a pull, as it would get stuck on the corners.

The other ride was “El Gusano”- The Worm. It was a roller coaster…I suppose. The ladies I was with (my host mom, her sister in law, some kids, some other ladies) stood around for about ten minutes discussing whether or not we should all ride this contraption. I said I didn’t want to….which of course meant that I ended up doing it anyway. Now, I’m sot of leery of carnival rides stateside….so you can imagine how I felt about this big rickety set-up…but I got on anyway.

Before the ride, I realized that Latin parties are like middle school dances. The girls stand around in clusters giggling and reapplying their lip gloss while the boys line the fences trying to look cool and checking out any female form in their vicinity. So, already feeling that I stood out as not only one of the tallest people there, but certainly as the only gringo there, I wasn’t so keen about getting on the ride, which was in the center of all this hubbub. But I did. It went around the track two times, none of us fell off, and it was the conversation piece of the next hour.

After sitting around some more (and me wondering exactly what this big “celebration” was all about), we went down the road to a little outdoor eatery where my host mom’s sister works. Being that I probably still had amoebas, I wasn’t too excited about eating anything. They kept offering me licuados (blended fruit and milk drinks), but I wasn’t in the mood, so I was like, no, no, I’m fine, thanks…but six woman are tough to combat. They looked at me, looked at each other, and then ordered me a beer. Being that it’s really not accepted for women to drink in public here, I’m not sure what that was all about…but another woman had one with me, so I figured I was safe.

After beer and tamales (so good), we wandered down the street to see a LOT of fireworks shot off (and I’m thinking, these people definitely do not have pyrotechnical licenses!) After about a half hour of fireworks, the grand finale came: A huge monument of sorts of San José was more or less set on fire. Sets of lights and firecrackers shot off his arms, and out of his halo while the people ooed and awed. Ash filled the air, and sparks and ashes fell amongst the crowd. I have no idea why trees were not set ablaze during some part of this. (there was also a goofy sideshow of a comedian who had a lot of pretty funny sexual/gender-related jokes. At one point he asked all the men in the audience who liked women to raise their hands….and only one man did…so he says, “really? What would we do if there were no women here?” and the guy behind me was like “we’d all go to Guatemala!!”)

After some more time, around 1am, we finally head back to the house…in the back of a packed truck (larger than a pickup, used for transporting sugar cane or people), that smelled of boys who’d been drinking beer and smoking cigarettes (sooo taboo!), again under the brightest, most beautiful sky I’ve ever seen.

And so I had my first little party adventure. Well done.
Sorry this is rambly- It’s 11:15 pm. I watched Devil’s Rejects (or Hell’s Rejects?) tonight with Jeremy, the neighbor and my host mom…it’s sort of a horror/thriller. The pirated movie business is thriving here. You can usually get like 3 movies (of decent quality) on a dvd for $1.25…so when we get bored, that’s where we turn! Then, after everyone went home, my host mom told me she needed to go work in the molienda with the cane sugar, wrapping sweets, and that the kids decided to camp out over there, and she’d probably work all night…and was it ok if I stayed home alone? It took me a good five minutes to convince her that I’m not scared of being here alone. She almost didn’t go. But really…I’m inside a locked gate and a locked door. I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.

Enough rambling for now. I keep promising these are going to get more interesting or organized, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. Perhaps in the future.