Time

Tuesday, July 19: Not my birthday, but still a good day. Paul found a birthday card from my mom that had escaped the rest of the bunch and I continued to get some well wishes. I sat in the hammock for a while and read A Prayer for Owen Meany for a while. It was a nice sunny day. Cecilia offered us chocolate cake for breakfast and although it contains proper breakfast foods (eggs, milk, and wheat! como Bill Cosby standup…) we declined and just had cake at lunch and at dinner instead. I had been worried about Brian because I wasn’t sure when he would return from his weekend playing ultimate at the Sandblast tournament in Chicago. Fortunately, he called this afternoon and my fears were put to rest. He had missed his train back to St. Louis because there had been an unattended bag-style bomb scare on the Chicago metro system, so he had to stay an extra night. The phone card he used to call me was a birthday present from my mom. Gosh, she is a clever woman, I hope that I am just like my mom when I grow up but maybe taller—ha. At the high school we played Old Maid and Crazy Eights. First it was just Manuel, and later Kathy joined us. We had fun, but we left a little early because Paul wasn’t feeling well. He freely admitted that it was probably dehydration that kept him feeling so crappy all day. Perhaps now he will understand why I so frequently suggest that he drink more water...perhaps not. In the evening I watched lightning from the balcony of the sewing room, above the chapel. It was really beautiful.

Wednesday, July 20: Took a shower and did some laundry (all by myself!) Milagro invited me to join the team on an afternoon trip to a meeting with some members of the community in the canton Talpetates. That made my morning go quickly! At lunch Alejandro and Balmore encouraged Paul to try some hot sauce on his chicken. Paul—being the macho man that he is—agreed and piled it on. Consequently, he coughed and choked a little before adding an even hotter version to his next piece. I for one, was almost as impressed by his amazing feat as this sentence is sarcastic (Teasing Paul has become one of my favorite leisure activities, as I am sure teasing Ashley is one of his). I offered my cake to everyone at lunch. It was nice to share with the gang. I spent most of the afternoon with the team. On the way, Alejandro and I had fun keeping each other awake and comparing skin tone. He asked me who I thought was browner, him or me. It was a tough call, but I went with Alejandro. The meeting in Talpetates was the beginning of a relationship between the community and the Pastoral Team. The five representatives of Talpetates—three women and two men—introduced themselves and told some stories about the community and stories about their families struggling through the war and through the results of the war, even 15 years since the war “ended.” Then the members of the Pastoral Team introduced themselves and told a little about what the team does. I even got to introduce myself. The meeting was a great way for me to be immersed in the language; the only English being spoken was my name. Sometimes I really wish I had a name that was easier to say in other languages. We had a chat with Alejandro about the necessity of Paul having a Salvadoran girlfriend. He advised finding someone from the high school. Alejandro also convinced Paul and I that it was a good idea to get up at 5:30 the next morning in order to hike up a mountain nearby. After dinner Paul, Alejandro and I hiked up to Western Union to use the internet as surprise! the internet at the house is once again non-functioning. I treated Alejandro to an ice cream cone at la Nevaria with the gift certificate Lynn gave me. He then informed me that we weren’t actually going on this big hike in the morning because he didn’t have the proper shoes. Apparently Paul missed that important bit of information because…

Thursday, July 21: Paul woke up at 5:45 to get ready for the hike…ha ha! The day started out sunny. I noticed halfway through the morning that there was a chicken tethered to one of the trees in the backyard. Blanca gave it some water and threw some corn at it every once in a while. It was nice having another captive animal in the yard to watch, but it made me miss that sweet, sneaky turtle (which I have found out, has escaped from Marta’s). The day didn’t stay sunny, it rained a little in the late morning and for most of the afternoon. At school there was a championship game of a women’s soccer tournament being played in the rain (on the cement “field”). It looked scary and dangerous to me, but I had fun watching with the others for a while before starting our lessons. There were a lot of students huddled under awnings and trees, cheering for their favorite team. Every few minutes a small explosion blasted through the school yard as students lit firework type devices extremely close to their peers (again, a little too dangerous for my taste). After a little while we started our class. Manuel had to leave but Nahum and Kathy stayed and Juan Carlos came a little late. We listened to the song “Only You” from one of the DDR games. It is pretty easy to understand the words and they aren’t incredibly idiomatic, so we decided it was a decent song for filling in the blanks. They had fun listening to the song, singing along, translating, etc. I took a lot of pictures of the class. They thought that was funny. We also mentioned Alejandro’s suggestion that Paul find a Salvadoran girlfriend at the high school. They agreed that it was the best way to make the most of his experience here. After dinner we stopped by the internet café again. On our way out I noticed that the chicken was perched in a low branch of the tree. I asked Milagro about the chicken and she said it was a gift from a woman and that since there was no place to keep it alive at Casa Pastoral… that it would go live at Blanca and Balmore’s. I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany this evening before bed.

Friday, July 22: Happy Birthday Lynn! She is in Iowa because I suppose that is the best place to celebrate a birthday if you aren’t in El Salvador. The chicken got a longer rope today, so it is exploring about a foot farther than it could yesterday. I attempted to do some academic work this morning by translating some of my interview questions into Spanish so Paul and I can attempt to do the interviews without finding a new translator. I think we will be fine. Then I typed up the responses from my interviews with Milagro and Jesus. I was curious to see how much I had written for my blog so far. So I pasted all my entries into one Word document and discovered it to be 18.5 pages. I wish I could write papers at Knox so easily! It rained really hard for most of the day. When we went to the high school we discovered that all of our pupils had gone home because of the rain. We did meet one man who spoke excellent English. He said that he had wanted to join the class when we started but had been too busy, but that he would try and come when he could. With no high school to keep us occupied until dinner we had to find ways to keep ourselves busy. I started reading The Hours, but unfortunately it only took about 24 of them to finish it (get it?). We went to the internet café after dinner but Paul didn’t have much luck getting his email to open so we had to go to La Nevaria to cheer him up. That was ok by me.

Saturday, July 23: I finished The Hours before lunch. The sun came out today and stayed until about 4 pm. It was glorious! I had been missing good old summer heat, although I know the heat and sun here are nothing compared to what I would have in Iowa this summer. I received a letter from my Aunt Dawn today. It is always nice to hear the news from back home. I started reading Hideous Kinky. It’s a novel that was made into a movie starring Kate Winslet. I’ve never seen the movie. But I would consider it now. It was nice to get a little suntan sitting on the porch and in the hammock, while reading and writing letters. Still no internet at the house. We found a copy of the movie The Pianist in Bob’s office, among his multitude of CD cases. We decided that was a good way to spend the evening. A big storm rolled in a little before dinner but we camped out in the office with the movie, and the power didn’t even die (although there was a flicker or two perhaps).

Sunday, July 24: The day started cloudy but turned out to be another warm, sunny day. I finished reading Hideous Kinky, only to find that it was neither hideous, nor—unfortunately—kinky. Oh well, it was a nice read. We walked up to the internet café only to find that it is closed today. I guess the woman there needs a day off every once in a while too. We were harassed by some guy who has a habit of harassing Paul and other gringos. He speaks perfect English—especially the obscenities—and makes ample use of this skill when we pass. Paul has a hard time ignoring him when we pass through his haze of harassment. I guess he hasn’t been trained as a woman to ignore and keep walking. I am rather good at that skill. I even use it on Paul sometimes! I spent a little while today reading through my hand-written journal entries from the duration of my stay. It was very interesting. I found myself recalling minor details that I had left out, and often remembering how I felt as I did each activity I had recorded. Some of those activities seem to have happened such a long time ago. Really? it’s only been 6 weeks in total? And some of those activities seem to have happened just yesterday. Really! It’s only been 6 weeks. It is amazing to think of the time that we have left. Paul is certainly starting to miss it already, I can tell. He is really looking forward to coming back to do this all again. I am just thinking that a normal week goes by so quickly. In one week we will only have 2 weeks left. And 5 days from one week from now we are off to pick up the delegation that we will be with until we leave 10 days later. Time is a funny thing. It was a long afternoon. I started reading A Farewell to Arms. That kept me busy for most of the evening.

Monday, July 25: Paul decided to sleep in this morning because it is a holiday—the day of the student—and his school was not having classes today. So I ate breakfast alone. It was another warm sunny day so I decided to get some laundry done. I did a lot! Underwear, socks, 4 shirts, and even a pair of jeans. I’ve never hand-washed a pair of jeans, it was hard work. The sun was so fierce that only one shirt that had been partially in the shade dried today. Even the jeans dried! I love the sun. After lunch we visited the post office to mail the letters I had written over the weekend to keep myself busy. Then we spent an hour at the internet café, catching up on our email, etc. It was such a hot day that a trip to La Nevaria was imperative. At school we played some games while waiting for more students to arrive. It was another boys club day… they giggled like high school boys do about learning new “vocabulary.” I shook my head and silently wished there were more women in the class. I certainly missed Kathy (either Kathy!). The big thrill of the day was being passed some notes by one of our students. In broken English he wrote that if he had a girlfriend from the United States it would be me. I was a little shocked by the forwardness but then I remembered that this is El Salvador. Then I remembered my male friends from high school. And it all made sense again. Bob returned after dinner and presented Paul and I with gifts from our mommies. Mommies are great! We then spent the stormy evening watching The Incredibles. Thanks Mommy! I listened to a CD from my mom before falling asleep.

Tuesday, July 26: The fourth sunny day in a row! I read a newly acquired TIME magazine this morning, and then finished A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway certainly is a tease. Perhaps I am just too easily seduced by the “romantic” exploits of his couples and then I forget that someone has to die and his relationships always end. Oh well. Now I just have to figure out how to make my 3 new books last for 3 whole weeks! I started reading the longest one, Thomas Pynchon’s V. The hot afternoon sun made me a little sleepy so I decided to take a little nap. However, once I got into my bed I was wide awake. So I just listened to music, ate some goldfish crackers and thought about “stuff.” We visited the internet café after dinner. Brian was online but away. Fortunately my loving mother was also online and volunteered to call him and let him know I was online. I suppose that is kind of silly, but I got to chat with both Brian and my mom for a little while, so it was definitely worth the ridiculousness. On our way home Paul and I walked to this little cliff edge thingy and looked at the stars. It was one of the first really clear starry nights in a long time. We could even see the milky way pretty clearly. When we got home we decided that watching Napoleon Dynamite was the best use of our evening. And it was.

More Good Times

Friday, July 15 continued. Took a letter to the post office. Helped Bob tidy up his computer desktop by organizing his photos (kinda) and burning them onto CDs. Lynn left a few things behind and got a letter in the mail so Paul and I stopped by Marta’s house because Marta was planning to go visit Lynn at the airport. However, Marta was not home. On the way back we stopped at La Nevaria…. At school Manuel, Nahum, Paul and I played crazy eights and then listened to some of Paul’s CDs and we translated some of the songs. Then of course we had our customary Q and A session. After school we tried Marta’s house again. We chatted with her sweet parents who told us that she had already left for San Salvador. Marta’s mother sent us away with a corn tamale each. We had tamales for breakfast so when we ran into Nahum and Manuel on our way home we offered them our tamales. After dinner I downloaded AIM (instant messenger) at the house and got to talk to Ann, Rob, Grant, Caitlin and Mom. What a great evening!

Saturday, July 16: After breakfast the internet binge began. I spent a lot of the morning emailing, messaging, etc. I spent another major portion of the day reading Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace. Several times I had to stop and take a break because the stories he tells are the truth and they are incredibly heartbreaking. Throughout my reading I felt so sad and angry at what people suffer in our own country. It is simply disgusting. I wish I had tried to record how the sadness made my body feel, because I remember feeling like my heart was actually aching, and I think I was even holding my breath for some of the time. On that note, I highly recommend the book…. Today was pretty laid back, even for El Salvador!

Sunday, July 17: I woke up several times from about 5am to 7am and it was steadily raining. What a calming sound! That made it difficult to get out of bed. I took Paul an umbrella when I went to wake him up for breakfast (his room is in the backyard, connected to Bob’s room and office). I took a shower after breakfast. It was not as luxuriously hot as my last shower, but it was still nice. The rain continued until about 10am. I had a cup of coffee in the morning and another in the afternoon, the relaxed day made me a little sleepy. I spent the day engaged in the same activities as yesterday, general internet shenanigans as well as reading Amazing Grace. Towards the end of dinner I got a splitting headache. I tried to drink it away—with water and some ibuprofen, but it just wouldn’t leave. I couldn’t even read. I tried to sit on the porch in the dark, with my eyes closed, and it still wouldn’t go away… so I decided I should lay down in my bed. I was in my bed just after 7pm, and mostly miserable. It was one of the first really bad headaches I’ve had that even made me feel nauseous. I took a little Pepto Bismol and tried desperately to fall asleep.

Monday, July 18: I must have fallen asleep eventually, as made evident by the fact that I woke up extremely early and felt completely better. I was extremely grateful for that. Apparently, all the roosters in the country get up around 5 and compare their loud, obnoxious calls. I tried to make the most of the last two hours of sleep, but I don’t think I did much sleeping then at all. I got up around 7, took a nice shower with the works (i.e. conditioner, nice smelling shower gel, leg shaving), a real treat! Oh yeah, today is my 22nd birthday. Breakfast was nice, eggs, beans and plantains. I did my morning emailing until about 10, then finished Amazing Grace. Bob returned to Berlin to pack before he heads to Des Moines for the rest of the week. I started reading John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is one of my favorites. I haven’t read it since sophomore year of high school, for an English assignment in Mr. Person’s class as Central Academy. Those were the good old days. Anyway, I really love reading favorite books again. I definitely appreciate the humor even more. After lunch Ortilia came up to the office to deliver two envelopes that had just arrived from the post office for me. What perfect timing! Jess sent a lovely letter. She is in the Galapagos Islands this week with her mom and step-dad. Brian sent a great card and a nice letter. So my day was made right there. But the fun never ceases at Casa Pastoral… We went to school and due to the lack of available CD players today, we ran through some of the conversation sheets with Nahum, Manuel and Juan Carlos. I got a hug from Nahum for my birthday… I am still trying to decide if it was a genuine friendly gesture or just a cheap feel… or maybe it was both. I am still wishing more girls came to the group. I talked to a lot of people on instant messenger and then my parents called. That was great. Of course they mentioned their dinner consisted of sweet corn and fresh green beans… that was not nice. We have a lot of beans of all varieties here, but no sweet corn on the cob. Our dinner consisted of grilled cheese (Salvadoran style), a sautéed squash type vegetable, and some beans and rice. It was good. After dinner I was suspiciously summoned back to the dining room where Milagro, Cecilia and a chocolate cake were waiting for me. A candle holder was playing “Happy Birthday” and Milagro and Cecilia were singing “Feliz Cumpleanos.” It was pretty exciting. I had overheard Paul making arrangements to keep me out of the kitchen this afternoon and happened to see some things in the trash… I am a pretty observant person. But I certainly appreciated his hard work and especially the cake it produced—delicious! Then Milagro presented me with a gift from the whole Pastoral Team. It was a beautiful purse that Blanca had made. I think it is crocheted. I love it! Then Paul presented me with a gift bag full of goodies. My mom sent another memory card for my camera. So hopefully I can get some pictures uploaded one of these days. Lynn left me a phone card, a lovely note, and a gift certificate to La Nevaria. This is especially exciting because my favorite item costs 55 cents, which means I can get 7 or 8 of them! The rest of my trip is set! After cake, Paul and Milagro and I had a really great conversation about war, politics, peace, etc. In Espanol of course. I would like to thank all who were involved, including Kathy who lugged some of these birthday surprises down in her already incredibly heavy suitcase, and of course all who sent me little messages. It was really a great day.

Por fin! (finally!)

Below you will find nearly two weeks of entries, sorry for the delay and haleluia, the internet is back! (for now)....

Monday, July 4: Continued: In the evening Lynn and I decided to take a shot of whiskey, for my cold of course. Kathy and Bob joined us. We toasted to the newlyweds, Jennifer and Rich—of the Presbytery. Bob has Crown Royal whiskey… wow, good stuff. Afterward, Kathy treated us to beer at La Tienda, again! It was another nice night of conversation with the girls. Of course, the next installment of Godfather II before bed.

Tuesday, July 5: Sunny day! I was suffering from a cold today but no more fever or headache so it was an improvement. Thanks to everyone for responding to my lonely and pathetic pleas for communication! I got so many emails today, and even a postcard! Blanca, Idalia and Ortilia began making bags with the Guatemalan fabric today; the bags are BEAUTIFUL! Today was my first interview for my history of the Pastoral Team project. Lynn helped translate an hour and half interview with Jesus. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. At the end of the interview Jesus asked us what we felt when we came to El Salvador. He said that it was better for friends to know how each other feel. It was a great interview and chat. In the evening we went to a restaurant across from the town square for drinks. We discovered that there are Mormons in Berlin! This marked the last night of our movie marathon, we watched Godfather III, which didn’t end until 11:30—extremely late here.

Wednesday, July 6: I was up a lot during the night as my cold moved into the coughing stage. Lunch was interesting: whole shrimp and crabs in soup… Kathy had a lovely seafood lunch; I ate peanut butter and jam—so I am thankful for Bob’s peanut butter weakness. Today marked one of my El Salvador firsts: hammock time. Ok so I have sat in a hammock in El Salvador, but that was four years ago. This day was the inaugural hammock event of this summer, and it shall not be the last. Lynn traveled to San Salvador with her friend Claudia to see a movie and run some errands before Claudia leaves for the U.S. on Friday. Paul and Kathy spent a lot of the day at various schools, so I had a lot of QT with me. Kathy treated Paul and I to La Nevaria (yes, Kathy treats us a lot, I highly recommend inviting her along wherever you go!!) and La Tienda. No beer for me this time, but instead two red Gatorade juice-boxes. When we returned Bob and Lori (from the Topeka delegation) had arrived at Casa Pastoral. Lori was a lot of fun to hang out with. After dinner Bob, Lori and Kathy took the pick-up to Mercedes-Humana to meet Lynn who was supposed to be arriving there by bus. Paul made Flan, I did dishes (but don’t tell my parents ;) shhhhh). Lynn returned safely (the buses ran late because of a bus strike/riot in San Salvador) and there was delicious Flan for all. It was a nice evening.

Thursday, July 7: A great day. It was a warm and sunny day. Lori and Kathy came with me to mail a letter this morning. Later in the afternoon, the mailman came by the house to deliver a letter to me from my Grandma Marci. That was a nice treat. After lunch Kathy tearfully departed in the back of the pickup with Lori, Bob and Lynn. Then it was just Paul and I. I started writing a letter when I was summoned to the telephone! I expected it to be my mom, but alas, it was Brian! It really was amazing how nice it is to hear a familiar voice after so long (this is not a hint, honestly). After the phone call I was elated. But I was also becoming a little nostalgic and homesicky. So, I caved in and borrowed Paul’s techno-pop CDs and their upbeat tunes kept me occupied for most of the evening.

Friday, July 8: The computer fix-it guy came this morning around 10. So I resorted to reading. Around 11 Lynn and Michael, her friend from Arizona arrived at Casa Pastoral in their rented car. We walked to the post office to mail my letter and give Michael a tour of the booming metropolis that is Berlin, El Salvador. Lynn presented my with an early birthday gift: three bags of Goldfish crackers! After lunch we enjoyed a little of La Nevaria and then Michael, Lynn and I drove to Alegría, a neighboring town with a pretty church. The church appeared locked up—well it was locked up. But it pays to hangout with reporters, they are nosey (the good way). Michael found an open side door and we snuck in. There were bats hanging from the ceiling, until we walked in. Then there were bats flying around. I was fascinated by them; bats are pretty cool, especially in a church. Then an old man came in the door and Michael asked him if we could look around. The man was ok with that. He told us a little about the renovation of the church and he even agreed to let us go upstairs to the bell tower, but told us to be careful. We climbed up a ladder to the first upper level that had really cool round window holes that made interesting perspectives looking out. Silly me—I forgot my camera. The next set of ladders led up to the bell tower. It was a little scary climbing from the ladder hole to the roof. There were no railings to separate the roof visitor from the air leading to the steps two levels below. The view was incredible. Looking toward the church entrance, the distant mountains and valley were clear—except for the hazy clouds. Looking the opposite direction, we could see the lush green vegetation and little cantons heading up the mountain. Truly lovely. When we returned to Berlin Michael and Lynn left for San Salvador. I immediately left to go with Paul to the high school to help teach his English lessons as a part of my new plan—the get Ashley off her duff and out of the house once-in-a-while plan. There was only one student—Manuel—so Paul and I talked to him for nearly two hours about movies, music, food, drinks and video games. When we returned we switched the computer on to discover the horrors of NO INTERNET! We cursed the computer fix-it man for spending all day here and leaving with our internet. I listened to more silly pop music and finished Reading Lolita in Tehran and began The Secret Life of Bees so it wasn’t a wasted evening. I was still feeling a little blue though, I need a purpose to keep me occupied. I am looking forward to starting interviews again.

Saturday, July 9: Yummy breakfast of eggs, beans and plantains. This led me to the decision to have a Salvadoran breakfast feast back at Knox sometime. I read the Secret Life of Bees all day, this really sparked my interest in bees and beekeeping. The internet still didn’t work all day. We did discover that it wasn’t working in all of Berlin on Friday afternoon but that it should have been working on Saturday. The issue was that the computer guy had been working on the computer and couldn’t check if things worked correctly because the internet didn’t work all over the town. Now that the service is apparently back, the computer guy is off for the weekend. So Paul and I prepared for an internet free weekend. I received a birthday card from my mom and attendees of our family reunion last month, as well as a postcard from Jess and a note from Anna Werner. That made my morning. Thanks! After lunch I took a little nap. I woke up to a LOUD mechanical noise outside my window. I groggily looked out and noticed that smoke was coming into my room from outside. I thought, this can’t be good, I should leave my room. So, I opened the door and there was smoke all over the house. I thought, #$@%! Since the noise was coming from the front of the house, I ran to the back, breathing into a sweater and carrying my book—who knows what how long I would be occupied by this event. I knocked on Paul’s door but there was no answer. I could see to the front door that some of the folks from the house were outside in the front. I thought I should probably be there to figure out what the hell was going on. As I got about halfway there I heard Paul yell “Ashley! Get out here!” So I did just that. I learned that they were smoking out the insects and had forgotten sleeping beauty (me, of course) napping in my room. After about 10 minutes on the front stoop with Idalia, Rosa and Paul, we decided it had cleared out enough. So we went to open the rooms in the back to clear them of the nasty smoke and to read out in the backyard. The fumes certainly didn’t help with the coughing that was nearly over, but it helped get rid of some bugs. I will never forget being smoked out of my room in Berlin. This evening Paul and I had a dance party of sorts. Basically we played his silly CDs on the computer and I danced and sang along. He swatted at and killed the bugs that had survived and perhaps mutated during the great Salvadoran smoke out.

Sunday, July 10: No celebration of the word today, on account of Balmore’s cough and sore throat. It rained really hard from about 10 until 2. So Paul and I camped out in the office listening to music, reading and writing. Being cooped up on a rainy day like this sure has made us goofy. I was in a pretty good mood for most of the early part of the afternoon but then discovered that the watermelon jolly rancher that I had stashed away to be a delicious birthday treat was covered in ants. So the can of RAID was my weapon of choice. Then poor Paul was throttled with my whining, etc.

Monday, July 11: We have been in El Salvador for one calendar month! This marks the beginning of the week of halves. Today was sunny and the sky was mostly clear. I did some of my laundry; Cecelia seems to have a cold (it is winter here, so I suppose that means it is cold season) and I wanted to help. Bob returned to the house for about an hour between trips to San Salvador. He called the computer guy to come fix the machine and he said he would come Tuesday. So we were hopeful that we would be back online soon. After lunch, I finished reading The God of Small Things. This book sparked my interest in being a twin. Unfortunately, I think it is a bit late to pursue that interest. Oh well. Paul and I walked to the post office to send off some letters that Paul wrote. We also stopped into one of several internet cafes in Berlin but they had no internet service (maybe they have the same internet guy that we do). So Paul and I decided to burn the dollars in our pockets on a trip to La Nevaria. We went to the high school in the afternoon. Manuel was back and joined by Maria and Nahum. They are all nice kids. I am glad to be making some friends. We worked on conversations for an hour or so and then spent the rest of the time talking about various things in Spanish and answering questions about English words and phrases. Somehow, tongue twisters came up so we exchanged a few in each language. That was fun. The guys showed us the way to Western Union which has an internet café with internet service(!), an well as a DVD rental store. Renta-Video was closed but we decided to return to Western Union after dinner. Paul and I were both extremely relieved to spend an hour online, informing friends and family that we are ok, but internetless. It was a pleasant surprise for Paul to hear that that one hour only cost $1. He was expecting it to be expensive (around $10 per hour like he claims it was in Italy). I laughed at him and reminded him of our location. Still, the $1 charge was welcome and certainly worth every penny.

Tuesday, July 12: I spent the morning writing letters and coloring pictures with crayons. It was, needless to say, a fun morning. My latest book is A Case of Curiosities. It is about a young boy who loses a finger but is still a good artist and his journey of skill improvement, blah blah blah. I like it. It reminds me of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, which holds a special place in my heart. The great thrill of today was the discovery of a pile of freshly laundered underwear AND clean sheets on my bed. I really love the fact that in El Salvador clean laundry is my idea of an exciting day. Paul finished reading Ishmael (Kathy, Lynn and I highly recommended he read it) today and really liked it. So it is now my personal goal to expand his literary horizons beyond the DUNE books in this last month here in El Salvador. At the high school this afternoon Manuel and Nahum were back and so was another boy whose name is (I think) Juan Carlos. We played Old Maid. Each time someone laid down a pair, he or I, had to say something about the picture in English. It worked out pretty well. Then we played color and animal Bingo that Paul made for his kindergarteners. It was a fun day. I hope more girls come to the class. It would be nice to offer encouragement to some young women while I am here. Lynn and Bob returned from San Salvador this afternoon. It was good to have them back for some varied conversation at dinner.

Wednesday, July 13: Today is the exact middle of our stay in El Salvador. 33 days behind us and 33 to go. I woke up around 5 this morning and it was pouring down rain. It hasn’t rained much in the early morning here—well that we have noticed. It was nice to listen to as I tried to go back to sleep for a few more hours before our 7:30 breakfast. The backyard was full of fog during breakfast and it was a beautiful change in scenery out the window. Some of the fog was even drifting into the house where we ate. After breakfast I took a nice warm shower; it felt good because this morning has been a little cooler than usual. Visited the internet café this afternoon and managed to instant message my mom and Mark Davis. It was so nice to have actual conversations. Paul and I went to the school and waited outside with Manuel for other students for a few minutes. While waiting I watched a group of four men who were talking in a huddle in the schoolyard. Two are custodians, one is the guard—or at least the guy who is in charge of opening the door to the schoolyard, and one was perhaps a teacher or administrator. Something must have been hilarious, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching them laugh so boisterously. Then another guy came in wearing a nice striped polo shirt, light colored denim jeans—with flared legs, and bleach streaked hair. Oh, he was also carrying a baton and twirled it occasionally while he talked to the men. This added another level to my amusement. Well, then we went to our classroom and another student came. Kathy, who is a secretary for the school, joined us for a few rounds of Old Maid and then barnyard Slapjack. We had a lot of fun playing the games and I think it really helped with some of the vocabulary. Then we read through Paul’s conversations a few times and Paul lectured on a few grammatical things etc. After dinner I “helped Lynn pack” by keeping her company and listening to her CDs. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. We interviewed Milagro for my project. It was another 90 minute interview and yielded 5 pages of notes—another great experience for me. The internet worked this evening at the house so I checked my email. Eric and Brent (and Brian too) left delightful messages that made me smile, thanks guys! However, the emails kept me up way past my bedtime. I finally got to sleep around 10:45—is it even dark in Iowa at 10:45?

Thursday, July 14: Good day! The internet is kaput again this morning. Bob is really (REALLY) frustrated. I read some essays by Dean Brackley, S.J. about the murder of the six Jesuit priests and their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of Central America in 1989 and about the philosophies of the UCA itself. I was extremely excited about the philosophies of the UCA, as their main issue is “social projection” and teaching about national and international realities such as poverty etc. They encourage their students—mostly middle-class—to have contact with people who experience these realities and then to reflect on their own experiences. It got me fired up about trying to convey my sense of the realities here to other middle-class suburban youth. Again, I hope my excitement doesn’t fizzle into apathy as it is so likely to do upon my return to the U.S. (I am counting on your support!) Bob was working on the itinerary for the next delegation, which is here the week before our departure. They are going to be doing several cool El Salvador things that I haven’t done yet this time around—like visit the UCA!, a volcano, and some other picturesque views from up high in the geography of this oh-so-unlike-the-midwest country that I love so much. Lynn and Paul stopped by the house on their way to the bus to Usulutan with their fellow teachers. Lynn had some going away gifts to drop off and Marta—one of the teachers—found a turtle in the street and decided to adopt it, but she needed a turtle sitter for the day. They shut the little guy in Paul’s bathroom for the afternoon. After a nice lunch with Bob I returned to the backyard to work on a letter when the day of rainfall began. I retreated to Paul’s room because it was closer and there is more fresh air in his room than down in the house. I spent the afternoon watching the torrential rainfall. Bob says that it has rained more this year than in all the rainy seasons since he has been here. I suppose that is good for the crops, and I don’t mind at all. I stood at the door, my feet getting wet from huge drops hitting the pavement and splashing all over the place, and watched the water falling from the roof and emptying into the yard. The yard looked like a small pond while it was raining but soon after the rain had stopped the yard had sucked up all the puddles. While sitting in Paul’s room reading, I noticed some peculiar scratching at his bathroom door. The poor little turtle was trying to get out. It stuck its head and one of its front feet through the crack under the door to try to escape. I felt bad for the little captive and decided to take him outside for some fresh air once the rain stopped. I sat on the porch while he sat in the grass. After about five minutes he cautiously stuck out his head to keep an eye on me. If I made too sudden a move, he rapidly pulled his head back inside his shell. The internet worked again so I went in the office to check my email. I came back out to check on the little guy every once in a while. Sometimes he was still hiding in his shell, sometimes his head was poked out a little ways. Finally, he started walking around. It was so fun to watch him! Twice, I had to gather him and bring him back so he wouldn’t escape the yard. The third time he walked around I thought I had lost him. Fortunately, someone had put paint on his shell which made him easy to find as he had tried to camouflage himself next to the trunk of the tree. Bob decided we should bring him in the office, so he sat by the door and occasionally—but briefly—poked his head out to look around. Marta came back to pick up her little tortuga, and decided he was a she and her name was Baby. Personally, I would have gone with Oscar. At any rate, I sure miss my little turtle friend, we had some good times today. Then the internet stopped working again, Bob was appropriately infuriated, etc. I accompanied Lynn to Mari and Alejandro’s house so she could bring Mari a birthday gift, tell the family good-bye and get a few skirts altered/made. Their little girl Alejandra was still awake, she was fun to play with and listen to. Alejandro escorted us most of the way home, carrying his machete. That was pretty cool. We had never had a machete- wielding escort before! Lynn still had some packing to do but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Friday, July 15: I got up at 6:30 to see Lynn off. I even made her a jelly sandwich for the road. She was rushed to leave so our good-bye was also pretty rushed. However, we are frequent invaders of each other’s home-states (She is from Illinois and graduated from Drake), so we will be able to keep in touch. After breakfast I took a shower and it was not just warm but hot! It was great! I finished A Case of Curiosities this morning and am now moving on to Amazing Grace. Reading continues to be a treat, as does pretty much everything else I do here. How have I been so lucky? Well since the internet seems to be working now, I can finally post this latest update. Enjoy!

Brief Excuse

So the internet service at Casa Pastoral has been kaput since Friday afternoonish. Thus Paul and I-- the technology adicts that we are-- survived the weekend by talking to each other... (shudder). I started accompanying him to the high school to tutor advanced students in English on Friday. Two students led us to the Berlin branch of Western Union which boasts one dollar per hour internet service! HALELUIA! So this is just a brief post to get you salivating for the latest news from El Salvador. It has been an interesting week, stay tuned!

A cold day in July

Tuesday, June 28: One member of the Wakonda delegation was extremely sick this week and visited the doctor this morning. I know illness of this caliber is a first for Bob and Pastoral Team. We were all very worried. The delegation visited the marginalized schools and the coffee roaster in town while I posted that last journal entry. In the afternoon I tagged along to the women’s prison. We sat in a circle with the women. Everyone introduced themselves and the women showed us their stitching projects to sell. The delegation brought them bags of personal items and each woman got a a little doll. They went wild for the dolls. Some of the women said they planned to give them to their daughters, others will keep them and have some company. It was a great visit, the women really seemed like a family and to help each other out. We visited the health center/clinic that is close to Lynn and Paul’s school. We saw the pharmacy full of half-empty shelves of very few varieties of medication. In the evening our health-care theme of the day continued as three members of Provida, a local health promotion group, stopped by the house to talk about what they do and about the health needs of the country. This was an extremely interesting conversation. We learned that 86% of the population in this region (Usulutan I assume) are living in families of 6 persons and are “surviving” on about $1 per day. The major project Provida is involved with now is nutrition. The volunteers in the organization go door to door in every community, spend 30-45 minutes chatting with each family and promoting better health by providing information about keeping latrines and water clean, how to grow the most nutritious foods on their small bits of land, etc. One member of the delegation asked what major element is missing from the diet of most children that would improve the problem of malnutrition in the country. The doctor who visited replied half-jokingly but in complete seriousness, “food.” It truly was an enlightening conversation.

Wednesday, June 29: We left Berlin to take the delegation to the airport. Then Paul, Bob and I arrived at Daniela’s and had several hours to kill before we went back to the airport to fetch Paul’s mom, the lovely and talented Ms. Kathy Mahler. I read about 200 pages of Oscar Romero: Memories in Mosaic. This is another interesting book, especially the beginning when many people tell stories about Romero that cast him in a rather negative light. Romero was not always the hero of the poor. In fact most of the campesinos were extremely disappointed by his promotion to archbishop of El Salvador. Of course that all changed. We went back to the airport to get Kathy and saw another dead body. This one was in the middle of the left lane of the highway and seemed to have been hit by a vehicle. Total summer body count: 2. Anyway, at the airport we ran into the puppeteer, Jose, who had just returned from Spain and was picking up two pieces of his luggage that the airline lost the day before. I had never met him but he and Bob chatted for a long time. But I was happy to get the customary cheek kiss at greeting and departure so I was just fine with me. I enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone while Paul opted for Pizza Hut—in El Salvador. We spied Kathy through the window. She was waiting in the customs line but when she caught sight of us she lit up! It was nice. Being at the airport so much this day made me really excited for my return to the Des Moines International Airport in the late evening of Monday, August 15th ( I believe around 11pm). I love the DM airport because it always means that I am there to pick up someone I have missed or that I will be arriving home to people waiting there for me. So wink, wink friends and loved ones, party at the DM int’l airport when I come home. Anyway, we took Kathy to our favorite hangout in San Salvador, you guessed it, La Ventana. And what do you know; Eduardo was there (which meant 2 more delightful cheek kisses). He met Kathy and later Bob, when he stopped by to join us. Bob, the boss, approved of our friendship with Eduardo, and even said he would try to get him some translating jobs with CIS. Good day.

Thursday, June 30: We visited the artisan town of La Palma which is known for the brightly colored paintings on wooden crafts, etc. There was a lot of road construction on the way and even a herd of cattle or two, slowing down our pace. We had a nice time at the little market. I bought something at almost every shop in this market because it is hard to buy from one and not the other. Thus, I spent all but $2 of my cash. Fear not, it only amounted to about 35 bucks, and there is a lot to be had for that much money here. Because Paul got carsick on the way up the winding mountain roads, Bob let him drive on the way down. Let’s just say that Kathy and I have said our share of frantic prayers for the year. He took the curves a little fast and may have defied gravity once or twice. And of course, Bob slept through the entire ordeal and didn’t notice it one bit. On the way back to San Salvador we stopped at El Paisenal where Oscar Romero’s best friend Padre Rutillo Grande was murdered with his driver and a young friend. Grande’s murder is the main reason why Romero began his turn-around to be committed to the rights of the poor of El Salvador. That evening we were invited to the home of Vidal and Stella Gonzales for dinner. They are the owners of Don Justo Coffee. We had a great time. The evening started with a few shots of delicious tequila (Bob and I had to teach Kathy how to do it, that was great), and some political discussion. It must have been the tequila but I was excited to jump into the conversation, in Spanish no less, when we decided to change the subject, oh well. Stella made a delicious dinner—potatoes, broccoli, beets, cauliflower, (and roast beef with mushroom sauce—not for me). To finish we had fresh home-made apple-pie—Salvadoran style, and fresh coffee prepared with a miracle coffee/espresso maker. What a machine. What coffee! We met 2 of their sons, Justo and Emilio. Emilio looks like a skinny Salvadoran version of Nate on the Knox Ultimate Frisbee team, so that was interesting. All in all, another good day—big surprise.

Friday, July 1: What a day! We headed out for Guatemala at 6 am. Our mission was to buy fabric at the market in Ciudad Guatemala (Guatemala City). We took Bob’s friend Elizabeth who lived in Guatemala for a long time. She was our guide and more importantly provided entertainment in the car ride. She was great. We had no trouble passing from El Salvador to Guatemala in the morning, and once we arrived to the city got our shopping done in 20 minutes. We got 30 yards of beautiful fabric. We decided to let Bob nap in the car for a little longer so Elizabeth took us to the national palace which was just across the street. She told us it is called the guacamole house because of its pale green color. We joined a little tour group inside and killed about 30 minutes. The building is less than 50 years old. It was a lovely tour. For lunch we ate banana splits (because it was the only thing we could afford with the Guatemalan money we had left from shopping). Across from the ice cream shop was a park where Elizabeth used to take her kids on Sundays for pony rides. She was sad and nostalgic as we left the city. It was sweet and sad because three of her sons live in the U.S. and she can’t see them as often as she likes. So I guess that means, for Mom’s sake, that I’ll stick around the states for while… ha. Kathy drove for a while on the way back into El Salvador, and even through heavy rain it was less scary than when Paul drove (Kathy tells me that she offered to drive not only to get out of the back seat but also to avoid Paul’s driving for another day) (oh, and of course, Bob slept the whole time… snored a little too). Now the fun begins: (Deep breath) we walked into the Guatemala side of the border to do the exit procedure and there was some problem with Kathy and Paul’s passports. I thought that since they went to a different line on the way through that they had missed something and that I would be fine. However, then I stepped up to the window and the man pointed for me to come around into the office to join the others. We had no idea what was going on. There were just stern looks and lots of Spanish. Fortunately, Elizabeth was there, and Bob too I guess. Apparently, we were illegally in Guatemala because we had not stopped on the Guatemala side on the way in. Whoops. So first we thought, great, immigration prison. Then we thought, great, immigration fine. Then Elizabeth helped sweet talk us out of all penalty whatsoever. (Sigh of relief). The immigration people stamped us into the country and immediately out. So then we headed over to the El Salvador side, thinking that it would be easy compared to this nightmare. We waited in a line for quite some time and then found out that—lucky us!!—we returned to the country on the very first day that the country was charging entry visas. Great. So no big deal right, pay the 10 bucks and be done. I told the nice lady that I was leaving on August 15th so she gave a 45 day visa. But she gave Paul 60 days. We counted the days and what do you know, I need 46 days… so that has been a bit of a worry. Bob says that next time we are in San Salvador we will stop by immigration and get one extra day. Or we could go on an out of country excursion again! The day improved when we had returned to San Salvador and ran into Eduardo on our way to the grocery store. So my two cheek kisses made everything ok. Kathy and Paul had a fun evening babysitting Dayana, Daniel and their cousin Valeria. I finished my book and fell asleep to the sounds of a drumline parading through the streets.

Saturday, July 2: It really is hard to believe that it is already July. We watched a little CNN before we departed Daniela’s in the morning. I found it rather ridiculous and even a little disgusting that the whole time we were watching, maybe 30 minutes, was devoted to yet another missing person. Yet another white family in trouble in the poor little United States. Yes, missing children are important but certainly a news company such as CNN could include more in their programming than distressed white girls on vacation in Aruba and run-away brides. For example, Sandra Day O’Conner’s retirement, exactly how screwed are we now, that is news I am interested in. (Excuse my rant, but please add your comments if you feel so moved). There was a parade down the street featuring the high school band followed by the athletic teams. The others went down to watch. I watched a little from the door but then sat inside and enjoyed the Salvadoran marching band versions of “Eye of the Tiger” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Kathy opted to ride in the back of the pick-up on the way back to Berlin, and certainly had the hair to prove it when we arrived just in time for lunch. I spent the rainy afternoon watching Fiddler on the Roof on Kathy’s laptop. We had some nice discussions at dinner. And my day was made best of all by a postcard from Brian—I sure love getting mail (wink, hint, nudge). After dinner Lynn and I started the first night of our Godfather movie marathon. We both enjoyed the first film and look forward to the rest.

Sunday, July 3: Celebrate! We attended the Celebration of the Word service (all in Spanish!) I read a little in the morning. After lunch we had cake to celebrate Balmore’s birthday. It was a lot of fun. Lynn and I also asked the Pastoral Team about interviewing them for my project this week as Lynn (my translating buddy and all around great gal) will be leaving soon. I finished the Romero book and started Reading Lolita in Tehran. Kathy took Lynn and I for a beer in the late afternoon and we sat at La Tienda for a long time chatting. Bob even joined us for a little while. Having Kathy here makes me miss my own mommy a little, and it doesn’t help that I caught a cold today. Lynn and I watched the first half of the second Godfather movie and then had to call it quits, 200 minutes is a little long for one Salvadoran evening.


Monday, July 4: Another 4th of July abroad. It has been overcast all day, as far as I can tell. I got up for a little breakfast and then returned to bed for a few hours to read and sleep. My cold is still terrorizing me today so I have not done much but read, rest and work on this post. I had a fever at lunch time and once again headed back to bed for a few hours. Along with most experiences here, having a cold is interesting. I don’t have boxes and bottles of medication (purchased over the counter or retrieved from the pharmacist) to keep me going all day; nor do I have any reasons to do so. It is mostly interesting to see how my body heals itself without these medications, without throat lozenges, and even without “real” orange juice. Lots of water and lots of rest, along with the occasional ibuprofen for the headache and fever and a decongestant supply of a total of 3 little red pills and of course my signature enormous box of tissues are my body’s ally for this battle. I also just remembered that it is "winter" here so I suppose I have hit the cold season in two countries this year, just my luck!

Now for a plea: This week marks my 5th week in El Salvador, the middle of my stay here. I have enjoyed occasional comments and emails from friends but really do miss hearing news of the people in my life from that country over there. So please, drop me an email and let me know how you are and what you are up to these days. I am enjoying every minute here but feel a little out of touch with the life I will be returning to in a few weeks. Also, apparently mail arrives from the US to El Salvador a little more quickly than vice versa. (wink, wink).

With that, happy fourth of July!