without further ado

Well, now that I have now been home for a week and a half, I suppose it is time for me to add my final update... well at least the parts that still have something to do with being in El Salvador.

Sunday, August 14: I got out of bed at 6. I went to bed after 11pm last night after packing most of my stuff. It was rather difficult to get to sleep; I was antsy. I ate an apple and chatted with the delegation for a bit. I burned a CD of all of my documents from the trip and some of Bob's photos that I would like to use for my project. After breakfast Bob made me a receipt so I can be reimbursed for the trip when I get back to Knox. Then Bob, Sue, Paul and I walked to the market to buy machetes. We got the smallest ones they had plus their sheaths for only $8 a piece. On the way back I bought some pancake mix to take home and some Demonio hot sauce for Tim. Back at the house I packed the machetes (I carried Paul's in return for him carrying my cantara--water jug) and other things I was waiting to pack. There was a young man playing the guitar in the back yard. Blanca and Idalia were sitting under the lime tree singing along. I sat under the orange tree to listen, and to catch up on the morning's events in my notebook. The celebration was lovely, as always. They gave us copies of the song book, it was nice to sing along with them. Rosa came to the celebration, it was so good to see her again. Milagro said a prayer for Paul and I which was so sweet. I definitely got a little teary during the celebration. Someone brought another load of corn so the morning would be full of all the corn work. We ate an early lunch. Paul had gone to visit Marta right after the celebration and called during lunch to see if he could stay at her place for lunch. Shortly after lunch we carried the bags to the van. Paul still wasn't back and his bags were not in the car and it was pretty full. I had already said goodbye to everyone and then we all had to just sit and look at each other. It was hard. Finally Paul arrived and we managed to get his things into the vehicle and off we went. It was so hard to drive away from the house. But once we got a little down the hill and we knew we weren't coming back, we had only to look forward to getting home. In San Sebastian I bought my last 2 comissioned hammocks and a few other items. In Ilobasco the delegation looked around for a while, I didn't find much that was new and exciting so I read for a little bit. We stopped in at Daniela's to unload the van before heading out to the Door of the Devil. Jane and Linda weren't feeling well so they stayed behind. Lynn and Paul were not fans of the heights at Door of the Devil so they stayed on the ground while Sue, Dwight, Tim, Alejandro and I climbed up the "stairs" to the top. It was pretty overcast but it was still possible to see a lake in the distance and some of the mountains around. It was definitely lovely. I am pretty impressed with my flip-flops for taking me up there and lasting all summer. Then we walked to the actual Door of the Devil which is a cave where death squads murdered people and then threw them off the cliff. On the way back to the car there was a cavey kitchen. It was basically a rock formation or something carved that had some stove like things inside where people were cooking. Alejandro told me it is a Mayan kitchen. We went to a pupuseria for dinner--very tasty meal. On the way out of town we stopped at a little lookout point where you can see the lights of San Salvador. It was lovely. The weekend traffic made coming down the mountain back into the city a rather long endeavor. Once we reached the city we stopped for ice cream. Back at Daniela's I gave gifts to Dayana and Daniela. Daniel was asleep. I sat with the girls and we chatted for a little bit. Daniela really liked the body spray I gave her. Tim and I were going to go to La Ventana for a drink but it turns out we were both pretty tired and decided to skip it. Oh well, next time! We watched a little CNN and then went to sleep.

Monday, August 15: Long day. I got up at 6 and showered. We watched CNN until breakfast. Paul and I visited the ATM in order to have enough money to leave the country and pay Daniela for the last night. I took 13 lbs of Don Justo coffee in one of my bags-- the rest of the several hundred lbs was dispersed throughout the bags of the delegation. We loaded the van and headed to the airport. It was a nice ride, though the window blowing air at me made my hair a little tangled--but it dried quickly. We said our goodbyes to Alejandro, Tim and Bob then headed to check-in. We had our bags weighed (they were all HEAVY) and then checked them. Then we had to pay the exit tax of $27.15. I was one of the first ones done so I just went right on and proceded through security to our gate. At security they confiscated my hot sauce. Who'd have known? At the gate we had to wait about an hour to board, so I wandered around, got a muffin, listened to music and chatted a little with the delegation. This day of traveling is rough because now that I am on my way I just want to be home! We discovered this morning that our flight is actually going to get to Des Moines an hour earlier than we intended--wahoo! The flight from San Salvador to Houston was fine. I had cranberry juice for the first time since my last flight, which was exciting. Paul and I were seated right in front of an infant and a toddler. So our ears were ringing with infant cries and our seats were frequently kicked by little toddler legs. We watched Fever Pitch, a baseball themed romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. I enjoyed it. Houston was experiencing a storm when we were supposed to arrive so we were put into a "holding pattern" for a little while to wait it out. Unfortunately, we were then diverted to Austin to refuel where many other Houston bound planes were doing the same. The pilot said something about us being first in line to do something. We were actually pretty excited about the delay landing because it would make our layover in Texas so much shorter... so we thought. However, our plane landed in Houston about 30 minutes before our plane to Des Moines was scheduled to leave. I kept the optimism and decided that all the planes are probably delayed in taking off too. Then it took forever for our luggage to arrive; someone told us something about them being so heavy but we saw all the other bags that came around and they were all marked heavy too. I am sure that our luggage being last had something to do with us being some of the first people to arrive at the airport to check our luggage for that flight. Who knows? But bottom line is, once our luggage arrived we still had to go through customs.

INSERT DRAMATIC PAUSE HERE.

Customs: Well Dwight and Lynn's bags were flagged because of the insane amount of coffee in each one. Dwight had like 40, and Lynn 30-something. A lot of coffee. And there was more spread through the rest of the bags. Yikes. Apparently this is a no-no for customs. We learned--after about 20-30 minutes of waiting and wondering about our fate--that each person is allowed 5 kilograms, or 11 lbs. Whoops. But they let us off this time. It was probably that seductive wink I gave each of the customs guys. So then we could proceed to the baggage re-check... where we found out that our flight left at 8pm (it was then 8:15). Bummer. Paul was PISSED. I stayed pretty laid-back and told him all the options I thought we might have. We got up to the counter at the place where you go when you missed your flight. Paul and I were one party and the delegation was another. The next flight to Des Moines left at 7:30 the next morning and then went through Minneapolis and got to Des Moines at 2:30pm. That was not cool. So I asked our ticket lady if there were any flights to Omaha this night and what do you know there were! So Paul and I called our mommies to say, Hi Mommy, come pick me up in Omaha at midnight! And our mommies said, ok see you then! Oh and the ticket lady let us use her cell phone to make these calls. She is my new best friend. So we got our bags all checked and RAN to the gate which was all the way at the end of a terminal to which we had to take a SLOW tram. Maybe it was only slow because we didn't want to miss another flight. The plane was supposed to leave at 8:50 (it was by this time 9:15) so the run down the terminal was delightful, especially since it ended with the discovery that the plane was now delayed until 9:50. Phew. Sue decided to join Paul and I and get back tonight. As soon as we boarded the plane Paul and I were really anxious to get started and get home. We chatted and giggled and looked at pictures. Finally! We got into Omaha. We stopped to freshen up in the bathroom. I wanted my mom to know I kept up with my hygiene practices in El Salvador by arriving with freshly brushed teeth. Mom and Caitlin were sitting on the benches at the end of the hall. I ran a little bit to get my hugs even quicker. It was so good to be back! We headed toward the stairs when I noticed something moving quickly toward me. I let out a little squeak as I recognized what it was... BRIAN! What a guy, he took the bus at like 2am and got to Iowa at 11am to spend a week with me. He even drove the car back from Omaha to Des Moines.

Now that I am home:
Brian stayed at our house until Sunday. We went to the fair one afternoon to eat fair food. It was fun and delicious. Highlights: veggie corndog, sweet corn, funnel cake, and fresh lemonade. We went out to eat at a semi-fancy restaurant. We were the best dressed I believe. We watched the sun set and lightning flash at Saylorville lake. We played apples to apples with the O'Connors and Woodins at our house. We picked vegetables at Dan and Dawn's with Dawn and Joseph--and got lots of those sticker things on our clothes. We cooked a lot--fresh salsa, fake bacon BLTs, fried okra, and other delicious treats-- all accompanied by lots of beer and wine. Brian's mom came for dinner Saturday night after delivering his sister to Grinnell.
I spoke at a Heartland committee meeting on Wednesday night and then at both services on Sunday. Paul even showed up for "moral support." It went pretty well. Everyone seemed receptive and thanked us.
I babysat four days this week which was fun. Then I have started thinking about going back to school and all that is going to mean-- a new apartment, seeing new friends, choir, oh yeah and classes.

As a result I haven't done a lot of reflecting about changes. People have asked me how this summer has changed me. But I don't think it has changed me. I had already changed four years ago, this just made me much more secure in what changes I had made then. But there is no doubt that this experience has been worth more than I can explain. I urge all to do something similar. Let me know, I can help!

Emotions

Thursday, August 11: 4 more days. This is getting tough. As usual, another beautiful morning greeted me when I opened my door. Breakfast was a little earlier than usual because the delegation had an excursion planned to visit La Quisera, a massacre site near Berlin. I did not go on the excursion because I was unsure whether they would be back in time for our party at the high school this afternoon. I stayed home to make preparations and to finally get my blog updated. I have enough clean clothing to last me the rest of the trip so I don’t have to do laundry until I get home. Bob is still weary from the Dengue so he takes many naps. He came out of his room to check his mail while I was working on the computer. I went out to my throne to read for a while. Soon I noticed that I couldn’t hear him typing or clicking. So I peaked into the office. His head was slumped down to the side and his hand was still on the desk next to the mouse. I gasped (silently) and thought “Bob is dead!” But just to make sure, I got a little closer and noticed that he was moving up and down with his breathing and that every once in a while he would twitch like sleeping people twitch. So I finally exhaled and went back to my chair. Eventually he came out and apologized for falling asleep in front of the computer. I didn’t mind, I was just glad he wasn’t dead. The delegation returned around 1 pm, which means I would have had plenty of time had I joined them. That made me a little disappointed because it sounded like a really powerful journey on a beautiful day. Oh well. Around 2, Paul and I walked to the market to buy soda, juice, cookies, chips, wrapping paper and ice cream for the party. While we were out I decided to buy a cantara (the big jugs that people carry on their heads to haul water) and a plastic cord shopping bag (also frequently carried on the head). On our way back to the house we saw the high school director drive by. His wife is Kathy, our student (we just learned that yesterday); she was with him. They were on their way to San Miguel with two students in the back. They said it was something about visas I think. So we were a little sad that Kathy would miss the party. We wrapped the dictionaries for our students as well as some little gifts from the delegation—orange Iowa bracelets like the Lance Armstrong ones for the boys, and perfume and lotion samples for Kathy. The delegation really enjoyed talking to them in our class yesterday and wanted to give them some little gifts. It was very nice. We wrote each of them a little note and our addresses and stuck those in the dictionaries. When we got to the school our students were nowhere to be found. We left Kathy’s gift in the director’s office. Finally Manuel arrived and we moved into our normal classroom. We had some soda and cookies and played Old Maid. Soon enough Nahum arrived. We all ate a little ice cream. We sent all the leftovers home with the boys to share with their families… or not. After Old Maid we just talked for a while about pranks we play on our friends (Manuel mentioned putting various things in people’s backpacks such as: large rocks, the contents of the wastebasket, and dead animals—frogs and dogs) and other random topics as usual. It was fun but I was distracted by sadness. Nahum’s teasing was a little less malicious today, not as much stomping on my toes, he didn’t make fun of my Spanish quite as often, he pinched more gently, and for some reason took to playing with my hair. I think he said his family owns a barber shop, but that could have been a joke… I really wasn’t paying attention. We took a lot of pictures. They were really pleased with the dictionaries and liked the bracelets from the delegation too. We all hugged and started to walk home. They might come to the house on Saturday afternoon, hopefully we are back from the celebration in San Francisco. It was very sad to see them walking away. The high school class was one of my big interactions with individuals and losing that daily interaction is sad. But we will keep in touch for a while I am sure. When we got back to the house it was almost time for dinner. Enchiladas and plantain doughnut things… so good. So full. I suppose the starburst and tootsie rolls for dessert didn’t help. I read for a little while. Mari and her family stopped by for a few minutes, it was nice to see them again. I think they will come for the celebration of the word on Sunday. I chatted with Milagro about her mother and the journey that morning. It was nice to talk to her. I helped translate some Bishop etiquette to the delegation as well. I like to be useful. It rained off and on throughout the evening and extremely hard as I was getting into bed. My new room leaks a little in the rain, but I haven’t noticed it splashing on my face while I am in bed, so no water torture for me so far.

Friday, August 12: 3 days left. Of course it was another beautiful morning in Berlin. I had a hazelnut creamer in my coffee, compliments of a care package from Lynn that Paul and I received yesterday. She sure knows what its like to be down here and get mail. Thanks Lynn! The delegation visited San Francisco all day today. I stayed in Berlin to visit the kids at Brisas del Sol on Paul’s last day. On our way we stopped by the post office to mail some letters for Bob. I took some photos of Paul and I with the postman. He was our buddy. Then we made the long hike up the mountain to the school. There was a beautiful view of the mountains and valleys this morning. I took a lot pictures at the school today. Of Paul and Marta and tons of kids. The children wrote Paul notes and drew him pictures. Some of them even drew pictures for me. It was sweet. We played a little team keep away. Marlena was not there, nor was the entire younger kids’ class. There was some sort of arts festival that they were participating in all day. During Paul’s lesson on time (working on the thirty concept) two men from Intervida an educational promotion NGO came to deliver supplies to the school. After school we gave Marta her dictionary, she was very excited about it. That made us happy. We walked her to the square in town and then headed home. It was a warm morning. The delegation came back in the early afternoon excited about San Francisco and the celebration tomorrow. I helped Tim look in the classifieds for some tour groups similar to the Honduras/Guatemala tour we went on so Bob doesn’t have to drive him around for the 3 days after we leave with the delegation. Around 5 Milagro and I went to visit Rosa at her house. It was a nice walk in the early evening. Rosa was glad to see us. I was extremely glad to see her smile! She is somewhat without things to do at her home because her sewing machine is broken and she only watches television for the news. I brought her a little gift and she was excited about its contents. I gave her a flashlight, a mini dustpan and brush, a bottle of lavender body spray all wrapped in a blue handkerchief. She tried everything out. She shone the light on the wall, brushed off her broken sewing machine with the brush, sprayed some body spray and modeled the handkerchief on her head. I just can’t get enough of that woman. I chatted a little with Milagro and listened to their conversations about laundry and oranges and various other topics. She is coming to the house Sunday morning for our celebration of the word. I am glad I will have one more opportunity to see her. On our way back we met Raul and Lynn headed to the AA meeting in town. Lynn brought them a bunch of AA books in Spanish. She was very excited about it. After dinner I completed my final interview with Cecilia. Paul helped of course, and Tim sat in to practice his listening skills. We had fun joking and laughing. I will miss Cecilia’s smiles. She always has a smile for me. Lynn and Raul came back around 8, and Lynn was so excited that she got to chat with them. She was all smiles. It was fun to see her so happy. She really is always happy here, as far as I can tell, but this was mega happiness. It started raining hard right after our interview; the lights flickered a little. It was nice. Writing in my journal somehow made me remember how close I am the day that I have to leave this place. My body must understand, it is feeling overwhelmed. My emotions are pretty much in control. I cannot believe that in just a few short days I will be in the United States. I no idea what it will be like to return. I am sure it will take some time to get over missing my family here, but seeing my family and friends in the US will certainly help. When I went to brush my teeth this evening it was covered in ants! I was so mad. But I brushed them off, picked out the ones in the bristles and brushed my teeth. I would much rather risk an ant leg or ant on my toothbrush than go without brushing. Besides, vegetarians need protein, and ants don’t count as meat. I borrowed Lynn’s copy of the Rob Borsellino book and jumped around in it. It is a nice buffer to prepare me for coming back to Iowa. Thanks Rob Borsellino.

Saturday, August 13: I can’t do it! My stomach ached as I wrote that date in my journal and again now as I type it here. I only have 2 more days in this country and only a day longer in Berlin, my home. I woke up around 5:30 this morning because of some noisiness outside…imagine that. Then I got out of bed at 6:15 and took a shower. This morning my coffee was blessed with French vanilla creamer. Strong coffee… At breakfast I talked to the translator, Raul, in Spanish. That was fun. Our breakfast was grilled cheese sandwiches. That is definitely one of my favorite breakfasts as well. I almost died in this country, as I nearly tripped down the stone stairs leading from the backyard to the pila. But I survived another day. Alejandro arrived this morning to help escort us to the celebration in San Francisco. We waited around for the bishop’s arrival for a long time. I was a little antsy from the coffee and a little tired from getting up so early. I am also generally in a constant state of weird because of my emotions about leaving this place. The bishop finally arrived, but then we waited around for a while longer as he drank his coffee and smoked his cigarettes. We took some photos in the chapel and then finally hit the road. When we arrived we were greeted with banners across the streets leading to the church. People were already waiting for us in the church. They were excited to see the bishop. The mass was not extremely long, I have definitely sat through longer! Following the mass we all went to the school for a meeting and ribbon cutting ceremony. We all got a piece of the ribbon pinned to our shirts. That was sweet. We then had a nice lunch in one of the classrooms. Following lunch the Pastoral Team went back to the house in Berlin with the bishop. The delegation stayed to party. Loud dance music signaled the beginning of the big dance. But no one was dancing. Finally Lynn and a woman from San Francisco started to dance. Then a few young people joined in. I wanted to dance but nobody asked me. Eventually a young man named Miguel asked me to dance and I agreed. He was nice, and a decent dancer. He offered me his sweaty handkerchief to wipe my own face; I took it. Then he helped me out and wiped my neck for me…yikes. He also gave me some grape gum. I hope we aren’t married now by Salvadoran custom, who knows?! It was strange enough being the only blonde gringa in town but once I started dancing I felt even more eyes watching. The Miguel on the Pastoral Team later told me that I am a good dancer, that I dance like a Salvadorena. That made me happy. I think I wore dancing Miguel out, because after a long while he asked if I wanted to rest; mostly I wanted some water. When the Pastoral Team arrived back at the party they wanted to stay and dance but the delegation was tired and ready to get back into town. So we left pretty soon after a small sing-a-long in the church and then a quick dance with Alejandro. When we got back to the house I took a beautiful shower and felt much cooler. Manuel and Nahum stopped by to visit around 4:30. We chatted, Paul showed them a music video online, and basically we had a nice time. Nahum wrote a few lists of good Salvadoran music and other music that is popular here. He also wrote me a very sweet note. He and Manuel also gave Paul and I key chains they got in Santa Ana on their school swimming excursion. We introduced them to Bob and Milagro. Bob told them about the perks of being a translator, so hopefully they will keep studying English and make some good use of it. When it was time for them to go we walked them to the door. It was hugs all around and a special good-bye cheek kiss to and from Nahum. He really is a good friend, I will miss him very much. It was sad to watch them walk away. I hate saying good-bye. The delegation was invited to eat dinner at Haydee and Mily’s house. We had pupusas of course. I was asked to send salutations to Heartland, so here it is publicly for the whole world to see. More specific greetings when I get home… It was fun to chat with them for a while. It is however, rather difficult to make new friends and then have to leave them so soon. Sigh… the story of my life. Well I am sitting here on Saturday night for my last night in Berlin. In 24 hours I will be in San Salvador protecting myself from the assaults of Dayana and Daniel. In 48 hours I will be just boarding my plane from Houston to Des Moines. Hopefully by that time I will be more excited about getting home than sad about leaving my other home. I will post again on Tuesday, when I am safely home. Please keep Paul and I in your thoughts as we struggle to leave our new friends and family here in this amazing country. Now I must try to figure out how exactly I am going to get everything I have purchased (and have yet to purchase tomorrow) back to Iowa. Peace.

Honduras! Guatemala! Delegation!

Monday, August 1: Wow, August already. While I was working on my last update Bob was sitting next to me and said “That is the distinct scent of marijuana” (referring of course to my joint… ha… actually referring to the scent I frequently smell drifting into the yard from some neighbor. I always thought it was just burning leaves or yard grass but the frequency with which we smell it suggests otherwise. Also, later in the week I became certain the smell is pot. More on that to come. Rebecca, the peace corps volunteer, came by to print something and told us that she had talked to our student, Kathy recently. Kathy told her that she really enjoys our class. So that made me feel good. Kathy is just the sweetest. I am really going to miss being at the school this week. Paul was driving me a little bit crazy today, more than usual. I was a little concerned about spending so much time with him on this little mini excursion to Honduras. We visited Marta’s house this afternoon to work out some details, there weren’t many details known. She told us what to bring, gave us really delicious grenadia juice. There were some thunder rumbles this afternoon but no rain until much later. Paul and I interviewed Blanca this evening on the back porch. It was great! I really like Blanca. I haven’t talked to her much, but I am glad that we had this interview. I read in my room for a while this evening. Marta called to let us know that the cost of the trip was going to be around $140. I said, no way, I can’t afford it. Marta agreed. So Honduras is off. Marta and Marlena decided to come up with an alternative and call us in the morning. So I could breathe a little easier, not having to worry about going to Honduras. It is so close but it seems so far away and exotic. And really, I love the peaceful relaxation of Berlin. The wind picked up and became strong and cool. It felt very nice coming in through the window. And finally the sky opened up and gave us some rain… a lot of it. Hallelujah.

Tuesday, August 2: Last night’s rain made this morning nice and cool. It was also nice to have to pluck the water droplets from the strings of “my throne” –the rocking chair in back. I really like when one of the women is doing laundry or washing dishes down by the pila, looks up and our eyes meet, resulting in a smile. Those smiles and the occasional giggle really make my day. Marta called back this morning—Honduras is back on. I was a little nervous about this because I had already unpacked and gotten used to the idea that I wasn’t going to spend a ton of money. But Marta assured us that it will cost less than $100 and it will be fun. She wasn’t exactly sure what we were doing but it will be in Honduras. So that is that. Paul and I traded rooms today to accommodate the arrival of the delegation this weekend. I repacked for Honduras and then organized my new room a little. Paul and I headed up to the square around 2:30 and stopped by La Neveria before the bus arrived. Marta came and we loaded the bus. We were dropped off at Mercedes Humana and then waited for another bus to come for San Salvador. The bus helper who collects money spoke English pretty well. The ride was nice, there was a man behind me who talked to me in English a little, he had spent 5 months in Maryland. Paul got really sick on the bus, fortunately we were almost to our stop. We got off and he puked and then we caught a city bus to somewhere closer to Marta’s. Paul had to puke again but we just gave him a bag. Marta’s was nice. It is a small condo-type dwelling. 3 bedrooms (only 2 furnished), a dining area, and a living area. Also a bathroom, back patio, and side room garden area with no roof—in order to water the plants inside. Cozy. Paul was still feeling yucky so Marta and I took a bus to Daniela’s to drop off some of the things I didn’t need in Honduras but would need in San Salvador for the weekend. Also, Bob forgot his cell phone charger so we delivered that too. We stopped by the grocery store for some food and to get cash. When we got back to the house Marta made fresh lemonade (delicious!) and we went to a Pupuseria close to her home. We got a call from Juan, Marta’s friend who was going to Honduras with us and we found out that our trip is not until Thursday, not Wednesday… so we have an extra day in San Salvador. But I am sure we will find some way to fill it. We found out a little more about the tour. It will be in a microbus, in a tour group, and it will pick us up at Marta’s very early on Thursday morning. It will take us to some Mayan ruins and to a tourist town for a one day, one night excursion. What a day.

Wednesday, August 3: We slept in until about 10, that was nice. Then we spent the morning and part of the afternoon hanging out at Marta’s. We chatted about our respective majors at school. Marta is studying chemistry, micro-biology and business administration right now. It was interesting hearing about each other’s plans and goals. We wrote a song about the months of the year for Paul and Marta to teach their students this week. That was a lot of fun. We walked to a shop and bought tortillas and purified water for the trip. When we got back to Marta’s she toasted the tortillas on the stove with some cheese. She and Paul also had some left over chicken that was in the refrigerator. We decided to go out into the world so our first stop was the Palacio Nacional. The national palace, the government building. It was closed for repairs, but Marta charmed the guard into letting us in to look at the central courtyard area. It reminded me of Elizabeth charming officials left and right in Guatemala. Next we visited the National Cathedral where Monsignor Romero preached when he was archbishop. He is buried in the basement, but that part was closed. It is a lovely cathedral, and it was nice to put the events I have read about in context by seeing where they took place. Next we were off to a portrait studio because Marta needed a photo for her identification card at the university. We looked around the market up the street a little, then hopped on a bus and headed to Metro Centro, the huge mall that is near Daniela’s house. We waited for Marta to pay a bill, looked around, ate some ice cream, and then decided to see a movie. Paul and I thought War of the Worlds looked more intriguing than Herbie… but it started much later. So we took another bus to a different mall to see if it was any earlier, but alas it was not. Then we found out that Marta had already seen it and so we decided to see Herbie, but at the same later time that War of the Worlds was playing at the other theatre. Craziness. I actually enjoyed Herbie. It was in Spanish but I understood most of it and of course it was easy enough to understand. We waited for a bus afterward but since it was getting to be later, the buses came less frequently. We took a smaller bus to a more populated part of town and hailed a cab. It was pouring by this time by the way. We headed to bed soon after we got back to Marta’s because the tour bus was supposed to arrive around five the next morning.

Thursday, August 4: And we’re off! I woke up at 4 am to take a shower. Unfortunately, the water was not running this early so I doused myself with several buckets of cold water from the pila (this water was the home to several swimming wormies, no doubt some creature’s larva stage). Of course as soon as Marta went to the shower at 4:25 the water was running perfectly. The bus picked us up in front of Marta’s house around 5:15. We learned that punctuality is not very Salvadoran. We were the first group to be picked up. By 6 a.m. our bus was full and we were off! There were 8-9 groups of 2-5 people. In all we were around 30 people. I sat by Marta, Paul and Marta’s friend Juan sat in front of us. The bus part of the tour cost $23 each. On our way to the Guatemalan border we passed a beautiful lake surrounded by mini mountains and lots of trees. We had no problem getting out of El Salvador or into Guatemala. There were three other foreigners on the trip, two women and a young girl from Switzerland—they spoke German. Unfortunately I have been concentrating so hard on learning and using my Spanish that I have lost most of my German. Oh well, this trip was especially beneficial to my Spanish. The drive through Guatemala was beautiful! The mountains are bigger and more numerous than in El Salvador. Juan made all the arrangements for us to be on the tour. He is an organized business man, a civil engineer (I read his occupation on his immigration ticket). Marta and I had some nice conversations. I explained things to her with the help of several pictures that I drew. I was also curious about a common billboard in El Salvador so I drew it in order to get an explanation of its meaning. I found out that the man in all of the billboards is the Salvadoran president, Tony Saca, and the billboards are his propaganda. They claim that he values all of the Salvadorans. This is done by showing his picture on every billboard in the background and a picture of a variety of ages of people in the foreground. I enjoyed learning with Marta. The border to enter Honduras took a little longer but it was still extremely easy. They stamped a piece of paper for both Paul and I with an exiting Guatemala stamp on one side, and an entering Honduras stamp on the other. This was our ticket to go just to the one city where we were staying. Then when we return we just give them back the paper. Sounds easy! The town we were visiting in Honduras is Copan (technically Copan Ruinas, but who is technical these days?). It was only about 20 minutes from the border. When we arrived the bus parked in front of the town square park and we dispersed to find hotels. Juan, Paul, Marta and I found a hotel a few blocks from the park and paid for a room. All four of us shared a double, consisting of a double bed and a single bed and an extra mattress on the floor, and paid about $5 each. I could really get used to the prices in Honduras. Paul and Juan headed to a restaurant for lunch, Marta took a shower and I changed into cooler clothing. It was hot! We changed a little more money into lempiras, the exchange rate was about 18 lempiras to the dollar. In all I changed $20, it got me through the time there. We headed back to the park to meet the tour group and make our way to the Mayan Ruins just a few kilometers down the road. Juan and Marta bought Paul and my tickets into the park because gringos are charged $22 for entrance while others were charged much less (Paul and I can’t really remember, but needless to say, we dodged a huge entrance fee). We adopted new identities as Pablo and Sara the Salvadorans. We kept our mouths shut when passing the ticket takers. We spent about 3 hours at the ruins. We walked around to all the sculptures and structures, and walked around in the tunnels. I took tons of pictures. My battery is finally wearing out, which is to be expected, it is the same batter I have used since January. We caught the bus and rode it back up to the town square. We shopped for a little while in the artisan market and then headed back to our hotel to rest for a while before dinner. We sat in the room teaching and learning English and Spanish respectively. We all walked away with a slightly extended vocabulary. We had dinner at a restaurant. I had nachos. We had a fun day, but everyone was tired. So we went back to the hotel. I was asleep very shortly after I got into bed. I certainly slept well…until….

Friday, August 5: I was jostled awake around 5:30 or so by Marta tossing in the bed. At this time I would like to explain the layout of the hotel. There are about 10 rooms all facing out into a courtyard. We were in one of the rooms that made half of a corner. It is hot in Honduras so the windows are left open… Once I was awake I had a hard time falling back asleep because our neighbors (the other half of the corner) were rather “noisy,” especially the woman, the squeaky bed, the shower and the toilet. And they were rather noisy 4 times—that I was awake for. Paul and Juan claim there were several more earlier. So everyone in our room, and probably the entire hotel, was awake. Unfortunately, our shower was not functioning properly. So we were invited to use the shower of one of the vacant rooms down the hall. When I came back from my (cold but clean and refreshing) shower there were two men standing outside the door to our noisy neighbor’s room. They smoked a joint. I then realized that the scent I so frequently smell in Berlin is indeed marijuana. International travel is the best! We packed our bags and loaded them on the bus back at the square. Then we went for some breakfast at a little restaurant. I had a plate of fried plantains, some beans and coffee. It was delicious, but of course not as good as Cecilia’s breakfasts. Marta and I had some lempiras left to spend so we talked around a little and spent them all. I even bought one of the little husk dolls that the young Honduran children crowd around gringos to sell. They cost one dollar and support the communities and families of the women who make them and their children who sell them. I know, I read a laminated card that told me so. Then we loaded the bus and took off. 8 people did not ride back on the bus with us, 4 high school aged boys, certainly on their school vacation, and a family of 4 with grown sons who met other relatives in Copan. So we all had a little more room on the bus, that was delightful. We also discovered that one woman on the trip grew up in California and spoke 5or 6 different languages, including perfect English. She is a teacher at the international school in San Salvador and was on the trip with her father, a rotund jolly Salvadoran man. He was sweet. Things I noticed about Honduras: Many of the men wear cowboy hats and several even wear cowboy boots. The mothers are just as young (think 15), and the dogs are just as mangy as they are in El Salvador. At the border they just took our little piece of paper and even stamped something about Honduras and Copan in our passports. Hooray! We were off to Esquipulas, a Guatemalan tourist town, bigger than Copan, where a basilica that houses a black Christ, is located. The black Christ is basically a regular Jesus crucifix but Jesus is the color black, not the race. I was rather intrigued by the prospect of a black-race- Jesus, but no such luck. People form long lines to see the statue and to pray to it (and of course to donate lots of money to it). It is supposed to cause miracles, heal people. There are engravings of gratitude for healing, for children born, some in the shape of body parts that needed healing. These decorate the wall that one follows in the line to see the statue. There was a box for people to write prayers and deposit them, and even a sign displaying the website where one can visit to pray online. The technological update must be a part of Vactican III… After people have knelt before the statue to pray, they walk away from the statue backwards, I suppose so they aren’t turning their back on it. But I am not Catholic, so I kept on walking Presbyterian style. I got some funny looks, but I suppose I was the only gringa in line. After Marta and I visited the statue, we found Juan and Paul and walked through the market as Marta and Juan bought souvenirs, recuerdos (memories). We had lunch at a café on the main road. I ordered a pizza con queso—with cheese. But I should have ordered a vegetarian pizza. My cheese pizza was actually a sausage and bacon pizza with about a ton of cheese piled on top. That was not so good on my stomach. I am however, quite a pro at spotting meat in my meals and picking it out. My lemonade was delicious. It was blended with ice and mineral water, and of course fresh lemons. We went back to the market so I could spend the rest of my quetzales. I only changed $10 in Guatemala, and spent almost all of it. We headed back to the bus and everyone was back a little early. The driver threatened that the bus would leave at 3 with or without the passengers, so we left 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The drive back into El Salvador was lovely. At the border Paul was not a hassle, but I was. Remember my last trip to Guatemala and my visa being one day less than I need? Well that was a bit of a hold up. The immigration workers chatted for a while about the best way to handle it. But in the end, I got a 90 day visa and didn’t have to pay at all. Hooray! We got back to Marta’s around 7p.m. and took a taxi to Daniela’s. Bob and the gang were out at the fair (a giant food fair that lasted a week in San Salvador… speaking of, I can’t wait for the Iowa State Fair!). I checked my email but someone had unplugged the mouse and I didn’t think that plugging it in before turning on the computer would fix it, so I navigated my inbox using nothing but TAB and ENTER. I am a pro at that now too. I read my newest book, Ellen Foster, and then fell asleep. I left a note for Bob so he would know I made it safely.

Saturday, August 6: The shower at Daniela’s was weird, a plug popped on the shower head and water was flying everywhere! Oh well, it was a shower. I met Tim this morning. He is visiting for about 2 weeks to make use of his recently completed Spanish courses at the University of Iowa. His sister is a frequent visitor here in El Salvador and he thought he should come and see what all the fuss is about. We spent the day walking around San Salvador and hanging out at Daniela’s, waiting for the delegation from Westminster Presbyterian Church to arrive that evening. We played with Daniel and Dayana, they were rather energized, as usual I suppose. It was kind of fun to watch the Disney Channel with them. Dayana, Bob, Tim and I went to the airport to pick up the delegation around 5. On the way we drove through torrential rain. Dayana and I had a mini Spanish/English lesson by pointing at things and acting things out and naming the word. That was great fun. We got some dinner at the airport while waiting. I had a Subway veggie sandwich—oh it was delightful. When the delegation made it out of the airport their van had still not arrived. I helped hail down the driver when he arrived. I rode back to Daniela’s with the delegation so that I could get acquainted with them. They are a fun group, I could tell already. There are only six of them: Sue, Lynn, Jane, Linda and Dwight. It is Linda’s first trip down but the others have visited many times. Back at Daniela’s there was a toast to the delegation and how successful the solar energy project in San Francisco, their sister community, has been. Bob bought them a bottle of wine and Tim and I got to help celebrate as well. Kathy Mahler wrote cards to Daniel and Dayana, I helped translate Dayana’s. Then Dayana wanted me to help her write back in English. There was a lot of playing with the kids before bed, and I finished reading Ellen Foster.

Sunday, August 7: After showering and breakfast we got ready for a full day. Alejandro arrived in the van to escort us around the country. Our first stop was Super Selectos to buy marshmallows for Daniel, and tissues for Linda who had a bad cold, and for me who just had some congestion. Then we were off to Divina Providencia, the cancer hospital and compound where Monsignor Romero lived, worked and was assassinated. His house, which is now a museum, was closed for the weekend but we visited the chapel where he was shot. As soon as we got out of the van the same tightness in my chest and throat that I experienced at El Mozote returned. It is difficult to visit these places here and not be affected. After our visit to Divina Providencia we were off to La Palma to the same artisan market I visited with Paul and Kathy a month ago. I didn’t spend quite as much as my last trip but I still came away with some good stuff. I am excited to share it all, well some of it… At one of the shops the woman who owns it recognized me from a month ago. I spent $5 in her store then, and $7 this day. Once I had left her shop Alejandro came to the shop where I was browsing and told me to follow him. The owner of the shop who recognized me wanted to give me a little present. It was one of those pendants made from a big bisected seed and painted with typical scenes. This particular pendant is oval shaped and shows a woman carrying a big round basket on her head. This is certainly a typical Salvadoran scene. I was extremely touched by her gift. Alejandro and I chatted for a while, he said he will miss me when I leave. We also joked about my Salvadoran boyfriend. At another shop in the market one of the owners spoke what little English she knew to me. Her friend, a younger shop keeper, must have been teaching her phrases. When I bought something from both of their shops she told me “good-bye baby,” that was pretty great. We had lunch at a restaurant in La Palma. Everyone had pupusas but Alejandro and Bob. They said I was still a gringa because I didn’t eat a hamburger like they, the Salvadoreños, did. I didn’t feel too bad about it though. On the ride back we stopped at El Paisnel, where Rutillo Grande—Romero’s best friend was assassinated. We arrived back at Daniela’s around 3 and rested until dinner. My rest included reading A Girl Named Zippy and playing with the kids. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant located a few blocks away. I had really delicious lemonade and a burrito—which was without meat, as far as I could tell. When we got back to Daniela’s I read more and of course couldn’t escape playing some more with the kiddos.

Monday, August 8: Alejandro and Bob are both ill today—a result of their Salvadoran hamburgers yesterday in La Palma. I was delighted to have the upper hand in that situation. Bob claims he is going to be a vegetarian now. I volunteered to teach him how. We had a different driver today so Alejandro could recuperate. We visited the University of Central America (UCA) this morning. First we stopped by the chapel. There are graphic paintings of images of torture from the war hanging on the walls in the back of the chapel. In the front of the chapel, the six Jesuit priests who were assassinated at the UCA in 1989 are buried in the wall. Again, another uneasy, tense feeling here. We walked through the museum in the Monsignor Romero center at the University and saw many of Romero’s things, and the clothing worn by Rutillo Grande as well as several of the priests when the were assassinated. So of course there are bullet holes, burnt and frayed fabric and blood stains. There were also memorials to the two Salvadoran women who were murdered with the priests, objects from the excavation of El Mozote, a memorial to the four American women who were raped and murdered during the war, and some books that were showered with bullets during the attack on the dormitories of the Jesuits the night they were assassinated. We walked by the rose garden planted and tended by the husband and father of the two Salvadoran women who died with the Jesuits, and visited the dormitories where the Jesuits lived and died. Of course we had to visit the bookstore on the way out… I picked up a copy of Dean Brackley’s book that got me so excited a few weeks ago, as well as some English/Spanish dictionaries for our pupils at the high school as well as the teachers—Marlena and Marta—at Paul’s school. Next we were off to the San Salvador volcano. Our driver took us on the short hike from the parking lot up to the nice view. We passed beautiful plants and flowers on the way up. The volcano was really beautiful. Tim is a geology student and is especially interested in volcanoes and tectonics so he was the resident expert on what the earth had done to make the volcano. A young man named Samuel came to us and offered each of us some flowers as a gift. He is a gardener on the volcano during the mornings and a guide to hike to the bottom in the afternoon. He was very nice. He took us to some nice look out points and pointed out all the treasures along the way. The flowers were absolutely beautiful. My bunch had two purple flowers, some little white flowers and a huge pink flower. Tim bought a few cala lilies and a really cool orange flower. What a beautiful country. We passed some fresh herbs growing, I picked a little cilantro and chewed on that for a little bit. I love cilantro by the way. We gave Samuel a little donation for showing us around. We met Bob at an artisan market in San Salvador—the same one I visited four years ago. We ate lunch at the little café inside. I got some of my commissioned items taken care of and then just sat on some steps waiting for the others to finish. Two women—a mother and daughter—approached Tim and I and asked what part of the U.S. we were from. Then she asked us how long we had been here. Then she told us that she and her daughter had applied for a visa but had been turned down. Of course they would have had to pay for this visa application and even if it is denied they are out of over $100, which is of course a fortune here. It really seems unfair that decent people of this country with family and friends in the United States have to pay so much just to apply and then all but about 5% of the numerous daily applications are denied. But it was such a cake walk for all of us to come down here. It isn’t right. It is unjust. Our flowers from the volcano had become quite wilty in the van so we left them hanging on the fence at the market. We stopped at Daniela’s for a little break and then headed back to Divina Providencia to see Romero’s house. Bob bought us some candles that are sold at the office by the nuns. They are a nice reminder of Romero. Bob is still not feeling the best, he is weak and achy. So we dropped him at home and then proceeded to the monument of the four American women without him. The women were intercepted on their way out of the airport and driven about 45 minutes away. They were then raped and murdered. There is a church and small monument at the site where they were murdered. We looked around a little. As soon as we turned off from the airport I started to imagine what it was like to be one of those women, knowing that they were riding to their death. There could have been no doubt in their minds. Considering the torture they surly experienced is overwhelming. It was a difficult ride for me. Back at Daniela’s the delegation walked to the grocery store to get fruit and cheese for a light supper. Tim took a nap… and I was left with the wild children. They eventually started beating me with pillows so I decided to go take a nap myself. But I wasn’t sleepy. So I just hid in my room for a while. Soon enough they realized I was faking my nap and came back to beat me up. They tickled and teased and wore me out. Dinner was fabulous. We had tons of fresh fruit, yummy cheese and crackers—very refreshing and satisfying. I packed my things to prepare for the morning departure to Berlin!!

Tuesday, August 9: I visited the ATM, hopefully for the last time. Alejandro picked us up and we loaded the van. Soon enough we were on our way home! As soon as we got to Mercedes Umana I was getting the same feeling I always get around Altoona and then again on the 86th street exit when coming home from Knox. It feels so good to get that sensation—to know that I was coming home. I am just sad that I will only be at this home for a few more days. As the delegation got settled I did some laundry, it was desperately needed. Amita was watching closely so I asked her advice on a few things… like the bleaching of socks and underwear. I decided to conveniently forget about the rest of my laundry and let Maria Elena have something to do. Both she and Amita were at the house and not many others were dishing out dirty laundry, and I had plenty. It was so great to be back in my throne, in my backyard under my favorite tree. I love Berlin. After lunch I walked to the market with the delegation. I left them to roam for ingredients for their dinner—Dwight is a chef and is preparing the dinner tonight. I bought a map and mailed a postcard. The usual postman was not there, but the new guy was nice enough. I even had a postcard from Lynn to pickup! It was an exciting mail day. The delegation took over the kitchen to prepare dinner all afternoon. Paul, Tim and I tried to escape by going to the high school but it was a meeting day and classes were let out very early. So we had no students. Facho invited us to join the school on its excursion to a pool in Santa Ana on Friday. Somehow I don’t think a couple of gringos in bathing suits surrounded by adolescents is a good idea…don’t ask me why. But also, I can’t imagine losing one more day in Berlin. We found out this afternoon that the bishop of this diocese will be in San Francisco on Saturday for the mass and the celebration of the solar project. This is amazing news. I am so excited about this celebration. It will be the perfect end to my visit because it shows the hope and success that is made possible by the partnership of the pastoral team and the delegations as well as the hard work and commitment of the people of the communities. My heart is filled with emotion. Today I finished A Girl Named Zippy. The dinner was delicious. Orange chicken, rice and wild rice, balsamic vinegar/oil vegetables, good white wine, fresh squeezed lemon-lime-ade from the tree in the backyard, and a rhubarb custard pie for dessert. I helped put dishes away after the meal and helped finish off the bottle of Chilean wine because it was the best way for me to help out. Needless to say that kept me happy all evening. Rocking in the chair, gazing at stars, marveling at the jumping grass (I haven’t had much to drink here this summer, every drop helps!); it was a good day. And then I went to bed for the first night in my new room.

Wednesday, August 10: My first night was splendid. My shower was hot, very hot. I woke up to a sunny morning. We visited 3 marginalized schools this morning. Bob stayed behind so Dwight drove. I sat up front to translate Milagro’s directions to get to each school. It was nice to be of service. At each school the delegation gave 20 books in English/Spanish (apparently this was some Christy Vilsack project?) and of course gave some candies to each student. At Paul’s school, I got to help translate for Marta. She gave her speech in English—she has been practicing for several weeks. The older students sang songs about the parts of the body, days of the week, and months of the year. The younger students showed off their skills in counting, naming animals and colors. I am so impressed with the work Paul and Lynn have done in teaching these students English. They know a lot! It was fun to see their progress and their satisfaction in what they had learned. When we got back I did some more organizing of my stuff, getting gifts ready to distribute upon departure. Bob has discovered that his symptoms match one form of Dengue exactly. Fortunately, its not the fatal strain. Also, it is good for him to know what it is so he knows what he can do to treat it—basically drink a lot of water and take a lot of aspirin. The delegation visited the women’s prison after lunch and then met us at the high school. We tried to convince our students that we were going to speak only in English for the second half of the class but they wouldn’t have that. So we looked through some Des Moines Registers until the delegation arrived. The delegation asked them questions and they understood for the most part. They answered in English. I was so proud of their speaking. Nahum and Kathy are really good at expressing themselves in English. It was a great class. Juan Carlos didn’t show up so I still don’t know how the end of my admirer story goes. The delegation gave each of them a book and they each read a page in English. I was just delighted by this day. It rained hard this afternoon and cooled everything down nicely. I had a lovely evening chatting with Linda, then Lynn, and then Tim. It has been great to have a delegation here to chat with about so many different things. I have been thinking a little about the few things I have left to do and then I am overwhelmed by how little time I have left here in this place. A month ago I was excited about going home and could only imagine what having to leave would be like. But now I am not really even thinking about being home. I am just trying to savor my last few days in this amazing country, with these amazing people.

Honduras?

Wednesday, July 27: Yet another warm sunny day (in fact all of the days in this entry were such, so I won’t mention that again…maybe). Milagro told me this morning that last night while Paul and I were out at the internet café, a young guy (muchacho joven), came to the house and asked for me. He was kind of tall. So basically, it was my high school admirer, you may recall that he passed me some little notes in class yesterday, I guess last night he was just stopping by to see that I had understood them or something. I am glad I was not home. I was not prepared to handle this situation in either language! There was a hummingbird humming around some flowers in the yard, that was cool to watch. The clear blue sky was just full of flying creatures today! Big black birds soaring in circles, dragonflies, butterflies, a kite, fluffy white clouds all floating by in the sky above "my throne" (i.e. the rocking chair where I spend most of my days). Bob returned today and called the technician about the faulty internet. Then he unplugged the cable and plugged it back in and voila! the internet functions once again! The teachers at Brisas del Sol—the elementary school where Paul teaches—invited me to join them on their school excursion to a swimming pool in San Miguel tomorrow. That will be a nice way to spend the day. At the high school this afternoon we realized that we only have three more days of class because of the various activities planned on certain days and the week of school vacation next week. That made me sad; I will miss them. In class everyone wrote a little composition about him or herself in English (Paul and I in Spanish) and we corrected each other. It was nice to share. Several of the students thanked us for teaching them, that was great. I really will miss them. Nahum was rather playful today, but Juan Carlos was no problem. I just avoided eye contact at all costs. But Then… when I got home to check my email I noticed that he had sent me an online greeting card. I didn’t check it until later in the evening—partially because I was a little nervous and partially because I was using the older computer and I wasn’t sure if the card would open. After dinner I opened the card…yikes! It was an "I love you" themed card, and the message he wrote at the bottom must have been put through an online translator because some of the literal translations were a little strange. Basically he loves me forever and wants to have the experience of going out with an American girl. Again, yikes.

Thursday, July 28: Swimming pool! I got up at 5:50, ate a little sweet bread and made a "mocha" with hot chocolate and instant coffee… close enough. Paul and I got to Brisas del Sol around 6:45 and waited for everyone to arrive. We finally loaded the bus and departed around 7:15 or 7:30. It was a full chartered school bus. I would say between 50 and 60 people were on the excursion. I sat next to a mom we tried to communicate a little on the way to San Miguel but that didn’t work very well. We arrived in San Miguel around 9 and stopped at a little shopping center so people could get food. I was still plenty satisfied from my sweet bread and mocha, so I abstained. But Paul gave me a bite of his ear… that is his danish which apparently is called oreja—ear—here. We arrived at the pool shortly there after and unloaded the bus. We lined up and paid our 80 cent admission price (2 bucks for the bus, 80 cents for the pool admission, I love this country). The pool was actually 4 pools of varying sizes and depths. I only went in the 2nd biggest pool, about 3 feet deep. The biggest, deepest pool was closed for cleaning and being refilled throughout the day. This is unfortunate because it had a slide. Oh well, the 3 foot pool was good for the elementary students who we played with. We played team keep-away for over an hour. That was fun. There were several students playing, and Paul, Marta, and I to begin with. Later a family—I believe the uncle, mother, and teenage cousins of one of the young students—joined. We had a lot of fun with this game. The uncle and his family live in Reno, NV and are here on the school vacation of his kids. Paul had a good time speaking English with him. Marlena was not feeling well today so she borrowed a hammock and lounged. She also went out for lunch and brought us some food. She gave me french fries, Paul and Marta chicken, and got Pizza Hut for herself. I also ate some goldfish—the crackers. After lunch Marta bought Paul and I sorbete—ice cream—for 25 cents! It was pretty good, kind of orange cream-cicle with graham cracker crumbs flavored. I bought a handmade bracelet from one of Paul’s students for 25 cents. She has been making them and selling them at school. Mine is blue and purpleish blue. Then Marta wanted to play basketball so we headed over to the basketball court and joined a father and his son and daughter in a game of 3 on 3. Paul has not mastered the art of running in flip-flops so he stood pretty still. Marta loves basketball so she was unstoppable. I guess I had a little trouble with flip-flops myself—I fell out of one and skinned my poor pinky toe. After that game we borrowed their ball and played with the uncle from Reno and some more of his family until the family we played with first had to leave and take their ball. I had a lot of fun playing—it has certainly been a while since I have played. Marta, Paul and I decided to spend a little more time in the pool before getting changed. I gave some kids rides on my back as I swam through the water. They were pretty excited about that. For many of the students and even the parents probably, it was their first time swimming especially in a swimming pool. It was really fun to watch them get so excited. Paul was approached several times by other swimmers who asked if he spoke English, I suppose he is much whiter than I am. One really cute little girl swam up and said "Excuse me, do you speak English?" She and her family are from Long Island, New York and were visiting on their vacation too. The mother was from El Salvador. I spent most of the day hanging out with Marta so it was good practice for my Spanish, and she got to work on her English. She wanted to know how to say "I feel fat" and then she repeated it all the way to and from the changing rooms. I suppose that wasn’t the best thing to teach, but it was pretty funny. I bought Marta and I snow-cone like ice treats with really sweet thick syrup and then topped with tamarind preserves. It was extremely sweet. I ate the ice and then had Marta make Paul finish the juice (he will do anything she says, including eat and drink things that will most likely make him sick—such as questionable horchata and fresh fruit washed with hose water…). He decided not to change out of his trunks but to wear his towel around his waste on the bus ride home. But first, Marta and Marlena tried to get him to do a little striptease. He wouldn’t there… but said maybe later. I got some pictures of him pretending though. I hope he doesn’t try to run for office. On the bus ride home I could communicate with my seat mate a little more easily after spending a day exercising my Spanish skills. Once we arrived home I showered, and washed my swimming suit, shorts and towel. After dinner I emailed Juan Carlos to let him know that I am not actually looking for a Salvadoran boyfriend, but would like for him to be my friend. I still haven’t heard from him… This was certainly a good day. I listened to and spoke a lot of Spanish, got some sun (maybe a little too much), got some good exercise, and didn’t read for most of the day—so I have another day of my reading to add to my daily ration. Oh and Paul is lucky that I am around, if it weren’t for my sunscreen that boy would have fried so completely that he probably would have been mistaken for a local delicacy and devoured. Or something equally painful.

Friday, July 29: I woke up very sore from yesterday’s swimming and the sun. It rained lightly very early this morning and was a little cloudy when I woke up, but you guessed it, it turned out to be another beautiful sunny day. Next door or close-by someone was playing a classical radio station. It was the perfect music for the morning, I really appreciated that. Today I feel kind of helpless and like I wish I could do more to help. I wish there were more delegations here this summer because I felt useful then. I like sharing with them what I have learned, what it is like around here, how things work, and helping them anyway I can. Oh well. I asked Paul to commission the little girl who made bracelets to make some more and I would buy more. Bob also wants to buy more and sell them to delegations and even to a market in San Salvador. Paul said that she was extremely excited to hear about her business opportunities. Paul and I interviewed Miguel this afternoon. It was a much shorter interview than the last two, but it was still good. Everyday brings us a little closer to leaving and that makes my stomach jump a little. I don’t know why exactly. I know it will be hard to leave. Also, I think after being gone from the U.S. in such a different place for a long time will make it really strange just to encounter my normal life again and the normal lives of my friends and families. I know that it will be hard not to compare these two places for quite some time. The sun makes these afternoons so hot that I have trouble staying awake. So I took a little break and listened to some music for a while in my bed. Milagro invited me to go with her to the women’s prison to deliver packages to the women with soap, detergent, and other hygienic necessities. That was a nice little break in the afternoon.

Saturday, July 30: I am still to tired and sore to do laundry, maybe tomorrow. I read a lot today. Paul drew a picture to decorate the door of the school. I helped him paint it when he finished. I painted the sand, the ocean, two swimming suits, and some hair. Then I colored in the sky and the mountains with crayons. Then I took a nap; a long nap. A man brought a sack of corn to the house this morning. The women spent most of the day working on corn foods. They shucked it, cut the skins, cut the kernels off the ear, mashed the corn, made tamales, made atol. It was a busy corny day. Bob says it was the first corn harvest. So it is good for the people of the country to have some of their food harvested now. I really liked watching them fill the rolled corn skins with mashed up corn, fold another skin over and then boil it in a huge pot to make tamales. Dinner was also corn-themed: tamales and pupusas. After dinner there was a huge—birdsized—moth on a leaf of the orange tree. I noticed it fly up there and got a flashlight to investigate. Paul took pictures. Then I chatted with Susie online. That was great. I miss Susie. I really wasn’t kept awake by my long afternoon nap as I thought I would be.

Sunday, July 31: I woke up around 6:45 and took my shower. I could hear people moving chairs around and sweeping in the chapel this morning so I thought there might be a celebration of the word. Finally, this morning my body doesn’t feel sore any more. So I decided to do some laundry. I left it soaking for a while. Then we found out that there isn’t a celebration but rather a meeting to distribute communication radios to some representatives of three cantons. Bob isn’t feeling well today so they asked Paul to take pictures to document the exchange. I decided to tag along because that is what I do here—tag along and try to learn something. Paul wasn’t really taking any action shots and of course my artistic nature… well basically I took the camera and took some photos during the meeting as well as some of the exchange and the representatives with their new radios. These radios will benefit several communities and have the potential to really help many people. It is very exciting. Paul and I helped Balmore stack chairs and asked him when we could interview him. We decided there is no time like the present and got to it. His interview lasted a little bit longer but still only about 45 minutes. Again, another good interview. When we finished the interview I returned outside to finish my laundry, but alas, most of it was already hanging on the line and Milagro was scrubbing away at the last of my underwear. Oh well… Paul went to Marta’s to go visit the internet café and send an email to Lynn. Then Paul called me and said "Hey, do you want to go to Honduras this week?" And I laughed. But now Paul and I are going to Honduras with Marta and Marlena to celebrate the school vacations. I works out perfectly because we will have to buy new visas when we return so I can get my visa for the proper amount of time and not have to visit immigration in San Salvador with Bob next week. Also, we will return to San Salvador Friday, which is when I would have been going to San Salvador with Bob to tag along with the delegation anyway. And, this week will not be boring by any means. Oh, and I get to go to Honduras. So stay tuned to an update telling of my wild Honduras adventures and exciting weekend with the delegation in San Salvador. Hasta Luego!

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!