more since then...

Well, it has been an interesting week. I went off to my field-based-training in northern El Salvador, to the border of Honduras in the departamento (state) of Chaletenango. I went with four other trainees and our leader, Carlos. The place we went to, El Centro, is within a kilometer of the highest mountain in El Salvador, about 8,000 feet up. We were cold. And we caught colds. The houses we stayed in were humble, non-insulated, frigid. I did sleep each night under two wool blankets, but still managed to leave the mountain with a head cold that didn't feel good at all. But where to begin...

We arrived via a long and trecherous, but paved, road up through the northern mountains. All along the roads were recent land slides that hadn't been tended yet and across the distance on other mountain faces were enormous landslides that had happened probably within the year. We were travelling through an extremely vulnerable area, and up the only road that gave El Centro access to the rest of ES. Any major landslide on that road and people could be cut off for weeks. It probably happens. But we arrived without worries and met the two vounteers that would be showing us their community for the next four days. John and Kathy, from Sacramento, a middle-aged couple working with Agroforestry and Environmental Education had been working as the first PCV in that site for over a year. They spent the next four days throwing us into the fire, kind of. Our first task was to give an english charla (class) to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. We conjured up a presentation on gerunds (action verbs) and acted out for them a baseball game and played Simón Dice (Simon Says). It was fun but challenging. The challenge is that in this community, which is true for almost the entire country, the people have extreme pena; extremely timid. So any response or participation we desired was not there. Unless we threw them candy. But which we also learned is an aweful thing to do in ES because it imitates throwing scraps of food to animals. Plus you're not supposed to point, which I did the entire time. It went well though. Then we played soccer with the kids during PE and of course got our asses handed to us by 13 year olds. Later that day we worked with the counterpart of that community, Secundino, a noble and smart man in the community who works almost hand-in-hand with John and Kathy. He was a great man who taught us how to build a successful worm-farm, which produces great foliar fertilizer as well as organic fertilizer, and how to make micro-tuneles to protect his tomato plants. In ES we say someone is a "buena onda" when we want to say that he is a good person. Secundino is a buena onda. A truly great man who wants to see change in his community, and knows that working with the PC is a good way to that.

The rest of the time in the community we participated in small activities during the days. We gave another charla to the same group on water contamination and even made some carrot bread. I milked a cow in the morning and later that night had some great cheese and a warm cup of sweet milk (the fruit of my labor). I stayed with a family that could barely support itself but scrapped together some of their spare blankets to give me at night. In this community at least half of the husbands had gone to the US years ago to send back money to their families. I honestly believe that if their husbands weren't there now, they would not survive such a life in the cold mountains, absent of government support, of sanitation, of any type of health system.

I left there feeling good. Well, sick but more knowledged of truly rural life in ES. The next couple of days I spent with a few of my compañeros up in the north again, playing with the Peace Corps soccer team. Every now and then a volunteer will invite the PC team to his/her community to play the community team. This time it was in Metapan, where i went for my immersion days. It was a glorious day and the trip was beautiful. We convoyed with four trucks through the mountains to get to a cabin, then walked a few kilometers more to arrive at a soccer field that puts all to shame. We were surrounded by mountains, green and spectacular. In the distance we saw a waterfall, bigger than Yosemite Falls lets say(I know because we hiked to the waterfall after the game). Well the field was ok; covered in cow poop but had grass, a little short in size but had four corners and two goals. It was the view and the atmosphere of the people who had come out to watch their team hopefully beat up on some stinky gringo soccer-playing imitators. The women's team played first and tied 2 to 2. The men played next and won with fibre! I had probably my best game ever and scored a hat trick three goals. I'm finally finding my touch here. It's taken a while but it's arrived. After the game, a few of us hiked up to the falls and took a dip. We hiked back to the cabin with a setting sun, silohueting (sp?) 11 rows of mountains, dwarfed by a greater volcano in the backdrop. We barbequed burgers and sausage and had stir-fry and beer too. It felt United States-ish. But was just a great little release spending time with some great gringoes and already close friends. We hit the trail at 4 am to catch a ride into town at 5, so we could catch a few more buses back to San Vicente in time for language class. The hike back was lit by a full moon and our headlamps, as we were threatened by dogs at every house we passed. The experiences like these are those that make this country seem even more beautiful, and are those that make me feel even closer to the other trainees I am working with. Like many people around me have been saying, slowly as we go, I have fallen in love with this country.

This Friday is the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Disfuntos, in ES. I will be accompanying my family to the cemetary to lay flowers at the grave of the son and parents of Gabriela and Bortolume. The next day I will be taking my first "vacation" with the rest of the training group to the beach. Costa Del Sol. More stories to come. And I bring my camera everywhere now. No more missed beautiful shots :)

Que se cuiden!

Dias de Immersion

Getting off the bus in San Vicente yesterday was like coming home too early from a trip that was too amazing. I spent four days in the north of the country, outside the city of Metapan in the state of Santa Ana. I went with my compañero Nick to stay with a current volunteer working with agroferestry in the mountains outside of Metapan. Bart, or Bartolume to his community, is the first volunteer ever in that site, working on his third year in the Peace Corps. And he was a cool, funny guy. After getting into town, he took us to a local restaurant, where we ate a delicious cow tongue, and got to know each other better. One of the first things he said while we were eating was "Yeah I was a vegetarian when I came here and two months later I was eating cow balls without even knowing it." We laughed and that was the first of many great lines from him. He turned out to be a great guy to talk to and to learn from. He's someone I really wanted to meet in the Peace Corps. He is there to really try hard, and enjoy his work too.

The first night Bart put me up with a family in his community. Staying there I learned that in that particular community, mostly everyone had relatives that had migrated to Fayetteville, Arkansas! I was talking with an old lady about Dickson Street and Eureka Springs. I don't even meet Arkansans in Indiana and I come to El Sal and meet a guy wearing an Arkansas Razorback baseball cap. We didn't get into who we know in NW Arkansas but I am sure that if we had talked long enough we would have made some connections.

The next day I took off from the house and headed towards Bart's place, at the top of the mountain. I crossed 8 km in two hours, hiking through cloud forests at 70% grades. There, I found my zen. I've never quite felt so far away and apart of something hidden as much as I felt in that hike. I was alone, tired, not lost but in unfamiliar territory, and looking over miles and miles of view of El Sal countryside. I'll let the bad news out now, which is that I didn't have my camera. Stupid, stupid, Matt. But my buddy Nick took some shots on his solo hike and i'll get some of the shots to show you. It was breathtaking. I crossed a region that separated those with electricity, and those without. Those with letrines, and those without. Those who send their kids to school, and those who don't. My experience can't be described to you. I just can't do it. It's too much for me to even recollect in one thought. I do know now that where I am posted, I hope to be just as isolated as I was here. That is where I feel I will be utilized best. Plus, the people were the nicest I have met.

The rest of the day I spent resting at Bart's house under the blanket of cloud at 4500 feet, then rushing down the mountain during a torrential downpour to collect Nick, and relaxing again at the apex drinking hot Salvadoran coffee and trying to stay warm. Me and Nick and Bart hit things off so well and kept each other entertained with shinanigans and great conversation.

The next day we ran again down the mountainside, taking pig trails that Bart new well, feeling like we were in an Indiana Jones movie, keeping our eyes on the track and out for pumas too. We grabbed a truck heading into town. In the back, we stood perched on the truck bed dodging low-lying branches (Nick was slapped once with a wet pine branch), and grabbing flowers from trees and giving them to the cute Salvadoran girl in the truck (Nick again). We got into town and bought some groceries for our next night's stay in a neighboring community, where two other trainee's were staying with another current volunteer. We arrived there after crossing a bamboo bridge spanning a white water river. We then delivered our salutations to a 90 year old woman celebrating her birthday, along with 200 other people who had come in from miles away, some from the US, to be with her. We tended a bee hive, where I was able to lend a hand with some practical knowledge learned from previous experience (thanks Dad). We swam in the river and rested out the end of the evening.

The next day was our return. After sitting for half an hour and seeing Bart's dog get hit by a car, we hitched a ride to Santa Ana city and from there bused it back home, with the previous days on our mind. And last night I dreamt in Spanish. It was truly immersion days for me. Tomorrow I meet up with the other trainees and our day will be filled with stories. Different experiences but probably many firsts and many unforgetable moments. It was a great experience for me. Honestly, I am considering requesting that site for my placement. Bart is ending his tour soon and will need a replacement. I would love to fill the spot.

Coming up is a week of field based training, where again I will be in another site. This time learning how to do work within my community. More stories to come and definitely I promise pictures. Salu Pues.

just an fyi

I am heading to a community in the north of the country, possibly in the mountains for 4 days. It is called immersion days for us trainees and can't wait. i will be back next week to report on it.

on sunday i had a home game and it poured ALL night and day. but we still played because the ref showed up. a field of mud! on top of that about half of my fellow trainees showed up to root me on. it was so fun. here is a shot of me post game. we tied and i got dirty and actually played pretty bad, but still was a blast!

see you all next week!!

week 2

A lot has been happening since I last wrote. Particularly training has stepped up a pace and we are all going full throttle with integration by language traning, current volunteer site visits, market days, and now for me soccer with the community team. I have signed up to play with the community´s Federated team. We are the Atletico San Jose, and I start as a right forward. Last Sunday was my first game with the team and we ended in a tie. I could only play the first half because I am not up to shape yet to compete in this heat. Really, it is oppressive. It is awesome, though, being a spectacle for the crowd as the only Gringo on the team and even at the field. Many of our fans scream "Oy Mateo" and I can´t lie I enjoy the cheers. But I have to perform well if I want to keep the support. These teams represent their communities and if we don´t win, the community feels it. I love that atmosphere.

We went to San Salvador on Monday to get to know the area. San Salvador, the capital, is home to 6 million of the 9 million people in El Salvador. It is a monstrosity and "getting to know the city" was not done in our short stint there. However we did see the Peace Corps headquarters where we got to meet other current volunteers and the rest of the staff that support us while we are in site. The office is in a posh mansion that was once built by a local achitect who had originally built the house for his son. The rest of the time in the city was visiting the hotels where we´ll stay on office visits and the big shopping malls that our Spanish instructors thought we´d like to see, to remind us of home(?) In all we took about 7 buses that day, being sure to stay off the buses most frequented by Maras (gang members) by asking local people for advice. Mara are a daily dose of living in San Sal, as they hop on any bus and request a dollar from each passenger, apparently usually without any violence. It is an extortion more or less and Salvadorans have just grown to live with it. There isn´t really a way to avoid it so soon I might have a story to tell about encounters with Mara. I am certainly practicing my safe travelling rules: mainly to not bring valuables and keep money distributed all over my body in secret places :)

The other day I had a good talk with Niña Gabriela, the lady who I live with. She told me a good deal more about her life and what she has experienced, particularly the hardships. I have never been so humbled and empowered by someone´s own testimony as I was with hers. Gabriela lost her 17 year old son who was swept away to sea with two other friends, 19 years ago. She lived in one of the hottest spots during the civil war, losing many friends to mortar attacks and was even caught in a cross fire between the guerillas and the military, believing she would die in that moment. In 2001, the great earthquake of El Salvador shook San Vicente and all its surroundings, demolishing every home in La Cruz where she lived. Everything she owned was destroyed and she picked her life up again to make a home for her and her family. And to make this woman even more brazen in the face of hardship, she has lived with a man who for many years has been an alcoholic, who she helped become sober. I have so much respect for her because of what she has been through and what she has done to continue living her life. She is one who makes lemonade from whatever is thrown at her. Her ambitiousness is encouragement enough for any of us to pick up and keep going after any troubling event. She´s a tough lady.

So now that´s all until next time. I am writing in a short time because my computer access is limited, but I am glad I have these chances to keep you all in the loop. I´ll keep up the best I can. Enjoy some shots of my house!