Poco a poco

I got a hammock last week at the market in Usulutan and finally decided to hang it up in my room Saturday night after getting back from the capital. In related news, I've read about 300 pages and taken some serious naps in the last couple days.

..........

Walking up the cobblestone path to my host family's house the other day, I ran into a guy I've talked to a couple times before and we started talking about all sorts of things, exercise, life in the States, discrimination, Salvadoran history, human nature... just had a really good conversation for about a half an hour. Afterwards, I'm thinking, man, what a motivated dude. This guy really wants things to change for the better in his country and seems like he is willing to work his ass off to do it.

The next evening, I'm throwing rocks at a mango tree and I hit the jackpot. The only mature mangos in the tree fall in a cluster all at once, knocked loose by a round rock about the size of a baseball thrown like a pitcher out of the stretch. I hear someone say my name and I turn around and it's Manuel, the guy I talked with the day before. The kids scatter to collect the mangos and I walk over to the fence. It's about 5 pm on a Sunday and he's wasted, tells me he just vomited and asks me for a dollar.

It's hard to get a read on people here. I've been in the country about two and a half months, and here in my site for two weeks and some change. At the end of the first two months living in the community where I had training, I was feeling really comfortable with my host family and a few of the other people in the community. Now I'm starting over with a new village, and it'll take a while before I really know what's what here. I'm certain Manuel is a good guy, but just like me or anyone else, he's not perfect and it's important to keep an open mind about people while I'm getting settled in here.

..........

Everyone here is a fan of either Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. After the first 38 times I was asked which one I supported, I just decided to go with Barcelona and stick with it, for no real reason other than I visited Barcelona once for a couple weeks when I was 17. The two clubs played each other Saturday in Madrid and a friend and I made a bet. If Madrid won, I owed him a $1.50 calling card for his cell phone. If Barcelona won, he had to buy me dinner at the pupuseria, which is pretty much the same price. Dinner was delicious.

The Campo and the Capital

I went hiking up the volcano in my backyard the day after I got here with 5 kids from my village One of them told me how his uncle was killed at the bus stop just down the road last month. My favorite of the group, Luis, is 10 but is small enough to pass for a 6 year old. A lot of kids here are malnourished. With a quick boost from standing on my shoulders, he can hop up into a mango tree and shake down about a half dozen of them quicker than I can spot them all. I´m not nearly as agile as he is, so my preferred method is tossing rocks to knock them down. Target practice, with rich rewards for good aim. A lot of my clothes have orange stains on them now. Besides kicking it with the kids, I´ve spent most of my time meeting people. It doesn´t really sound like hard work, but speaking Spanish alone can be tough depending on who I´m talking with and how many teeth they have left, and trying to make a good impression, remember names, explain who I am and what Peace Corps is, and try to find my way around the cobblestone maze of paths in the village takes a lot of energy. So far I´ve met with the school director and some of the teachers, the local health promoters, a few members from the rural community board, and stopped by about 50 of the 500 houses in the village to talk with people. I´ve still got to make it to the police station and the mayor´s office in the pueblo down the road and I´d like to meet at least another 50 families in the next month. Despite my borderline celebrity status as the new gringo in town, most people just stare at me with their mouths open when they see me. Stopping by their houses, asking about their families and listening to what they have to say for a bit goes a long way. It helps them feel more comfortable with me, and vice versa.

...........

I used to despise pop music from the States. Last night I was at a club in the capital and I got so excited I almost started jumping up and down when I heard Alicia Keys belting out "Neewwwww York." Well, not really, but I thorougly enjoyed it.

Making it the capital once every few weeks is a way to stay sane. I like my village so far, but it wears on me sometimes. There are a lot of expectations, hopes and requests and as much as I want to be able to do everything, it´s exhausting trying to keep up. I´m also still getting used to the quirks of life in a village here in El Salvador. I know some of you will think "uhh... aren´t from Kansas?" but I feel more comfortable in the city where I can blend in a bit more and have a break from being the resident gringo. It´s a vastly different life for a lot of people in the capital. I´ve made some Salvadoran friends from the capital who´ve gone to college, have cars, go out to clubs, like drinking a beer with dinner.... things you don´t really see much in the campo. Every time I´ve gone out, I´ve ran into people from a country other than the US who speak English. So far I´ve met people there from Denmark, Japan, Canada and Algeria. I can´t really afford it on the Peace Corps budget but I´m already looking forward to the next time I can make it back to relax for a night.