![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Three Weeks Without a Word...
Jun. 29th, 2005 | 03:21 pm
So last night I was lying in my bed and the thunder and lightening were a little frightening and right as I was trying to figure out if you count the seconds from lighting to thunder or from thunder to lightening they both hit and it shook the house…my one prayer at this time was that the storm would be quick so that there wouldn’t be any floods and that I would make it to San Salvador safely. With all that said and done, here I am, finally in San Salvador after being in the campo for three weeks. ¡Puchica! How do I start to describe the past three weeks of my life in words?
Let me begin: I have been living with the Salazar family in ‘La Cooperativa de los Mongles’ in Por Venir, Ahuachapan, El Salvador, Central America. A long name for a community consisting of 24 families. My family is wonderful! My mom, Niña Graciella is probably the most kind hearted woman in the world. She has such a deep faith, we talk about the Catholic Church, Monseñor Romero, and God all the time. She has lived through a lot and loves to share her hopes, love, sorrows, and joys. Her husband, Don Jesus, just wants to show me the great things there are in El Salvador. He tried to teach me how to drive a stick shift on a rocky road, which was not very productive, but I kind of got the hang of it, and hey, I still have 6 weeks there. Now, Don Jesus and Niña Graciella have 5 children and 3 grandchildren. My normal day consists of entertaining Madeliene and Carla (who are 5) and Valeria (a niece of Niña Graciella – who is 7) as well as loving the baby girl, Jennifer Stephanie, who is a year and a half and probably the cutest child ever (besides my niece, Jessica). Also, there is Niña Graciella´s nephew, Eduardo, who is living with her while his dad is in the states, who is 12 and cracks me up! The other day he randomly climbed the Palm Tree in the front yard to cut down some coconuts for us to drink out of!! So, most of the other family will always be confusing and in time will work itself out in my correspondences – I want to tell you about this town!
So…this community is about a mile from the beach (I have started running there in the mornings because the waves are gorgeous, although I am a little frightened of the current because of the storms). Plus we are about 3 miles from the Guatemala border. I actually rode a motorcycle on the beach to the border with Juan Angel (Niña Graciella’s daughter’s, Neli, boyfriend), which was pretty awesome! We are close to the community Grantita Palmera which is all coconut trees, yummy. I have at least three mangoes a day!! The fruit here is awesome! Although, at times it feels like all I do is eat. The community is great. The rest of my group came to visit me two weeks ago and they were all jealous because of how wonderful and beautiful my place is.
You know I live in paradise, now, to the work. I have been working mostly with the woman’s group in ‘La Cooperativa de los Mongles.’ This is a group of women who have come together and make jewelry and rosaries out of seeds, beads, and shells. They are gorgeous, the only problem is that they have no where to sell them, so hopefully I will be able to help them out when I return to the states. Plus, there is girl, Ashley, who has been living in El Por Venir for 2 years with the Peace Corps, and working with the women, so when I need a translator she’s close by. I cannot wait to show some of you the amazing things these women make out of seeds!!! I have also been working with UNES (Unidad Ecologíca Salvadoreña), which is an agricultural and ecological group that is currently working with groups of women to teach them how to grow tomatoes and chilies using organic ways to kill pests so that they can have food to eat and not have to buy these vegetables. I have been interviewed at El Radio Stereo Sur, but have yet to have my immigration program.
So that is life here, in a nutshell. It has been wonderful, besides the hundred or so mosquito and other bug bites that now cover my body and except for the times when I really cannot understand what people are trying to say to me. My Spanish is better, but not anything that I would call close to fluent. But God is good and this experience is really teaching me, in certain ways, where God wants me in life. It is good time to reflect and truly find the things that matter in life. Plus, it’s always nice to relax in a maca (hammock)!
Let me begin: I have been living with the Salazar family in ‘La Cooperativa de los Mongles’ in Por Venir, Ahuachapan, El Salvador, Central America. A long name for a community consisting of 24 families. My family is wonderful! My mom, Niña Graciella is probably the most kind hearted woman in the world. She has such a deep faith, we talk about the Catholic Church, Monseñor Romero, and God all the time. She has lived through a lot and loves to share her hopes, love, sorrows, and joys. Her husband, Don Jesus, just wants to show me the great things there are in El Salvador. He tried to teach me how to drive a stick shift on a rocky road, which was not very productive, but I kind of got the hang of it, and hey, I still have 6 weeks there. Now, Don Jesus and Niña Graciella have 5 children and 3 grandchildren. My normal day consists of entertaining Madeliene and Carla (who are 5) and Valeria (a niece of Niña Graciella – who is 7) as well as loving the baby girl, Jennifer Stephanie, who is a year and a half and probably the cutest child ever (besides my niece, Jessica). Also, there is Niña Graciella´s nephew, Eduardo, who is living with her while his dad is in the states, who is 12 and cracks me up! The other day he randomly climbed the Palm Tree in the front yard to cut down some coconuts for us to drink out of!! So, most of the other family will always be confusing and in time will work itself out in my correspondences – I want to tell you about this town!
So…this community is about a mile from the beach (I have started running there in the mornings because the waves are gorgeous, although I am a little frightened of the current because of the storms). Plus we are about 3 miles from the Guatemala border. I actually rode a motorcycle on the beach to the border with Juan Angel (Niña Graciella’s daughter’s, Neli, boyfriend), which was pretty awesome! We are close to the community Grantita Palmera which is all coconut trees, yummy. I have at least three mangoes a day!! The fruit here is awesome! Although, at times it feels like all I do is eat. The community is great. The rest of my group came to visit me two weeks ago and they were all jealous because of how wonderful and beautiful my place is.
You know I live in paradise, now, to the work. I have been working mostly with the woman’s group in ‘La Cooperativa de los Mongles.’ This is a group of women who have come together and make jewelry and rosaries out of seeds, beads, and shells. They are gorgeous, the only problem is that they have no where to sell them, so hopefully I will be able to help them out when I return to the states. Plus, there is girl, Ashley, who has been living in El Por Venir for 2 years with the Peace Corps, and working with the women, so when I need a translator she’s close by. I cannot wait to show some of you the amazing things these women make out of seeds!!! I have also been working with UNES (Unidad Ecologíca Salvadoreña), which is an agricultural and ecological group that is currently working with groups of women to teach them how to grow tomatoes and chilies using organic ways to kill pests so that they can have food to eat and not have to buy these vegetables. I have been interviewed at El Radio Stereo Sur, but have yet to have my immigration program.
So that is life here, in a nutshell. It has been wonderful, besides the hundred or so mosquito and other bug bites that now cover my body and except for the times when I really cannot understand what people are trying to say to me. My Spanish is better, but not anything that I would call close to fluent. But God is good and this experience is really teaching me, in certain ways, where God wants me in life. It is good time to reflect and truly find the things that matter in life. Plus, it’s always nice to relax in a maca (hammock)!