This is our new dog. I know, she’s adorable! She even winks! No, wait, that’s a severe eye infection from a recent bite wound. Well, at least we’re gonna nurse her back to health. No, wait, in the short time she’s been living with us, she’s actually lost weight and acquired a decent amount of puncture wounds (our yellow lab is literally tearing her to pieces whenever it’s feedin time). Great.
See? Sweet wound, huh?
You can't really see it here, but the bite wound is huge and nasty, with this big white thing in the middle. My buddy Salva said it was actually part of a bone sticking out and he dared me to touch it (I didn’t, but it wasn’t). Side note: I’m not one to back down from a bet, but in the two weeks we’ve had this mutt, it’s already managed to bite pretty much every member of our family, including our 3 year old and 5 year old. Nice! Great for a family with little girls. Rest assured that, at least as of this morning, I’ve managed to remain ten fingered.
Also, a handful of you keep reminding me that I’m not really doing a good job blogging. Thanks for keeping me on my toes. Also, you’re all pricks. But despite your prickishness, you’re right! So in-between reading my dilapidated (but loved) copy of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and listening to an unhealthy amount of Kings of Leon, this is how I spend my time:
Sports
When I’m not nursing a leg injury (Nomar Garciaparra, I’m sorry I ever doubted you), I play pickup softball and soccer every afternoon. Side note: being injured sucks. Especially when it’s your kicking foot in a country whose national sport is soccer. Anyway, being out there every afternoon has been awesome. And nothing builds confianza better than getting cleated in the knees and getting right up to knock the guy down the next time he tries to come near you. The rest of the guys love it.
Reforming my ADESCO
An ADESCO (more or less Association for Community Development) is a group of people elected by the people of the community to work on community projects and make community-wide decisions. Did I mention community? Because that part’s pretty important. ADESCOs are a link between the people in rural communities and the mayor’s office in town. And they’re sort of like student council for grown ups, ie, with the power to impose taxes and/or solicit the American government for gringos. I find them actually kind of fascinating. They came about after the civil war ended in the 90s as a compromise between the two sides (leftist peoples party and the right wing govt). They were a way for communities to have more say in how their government was run. At least I think that’s why they were formed. I might have been dozing off during that part of training. Anyway, they work on infrastructure projects, raise money for families in need, and in general, have their finger on the pulse of the community. I actually live with my ADESCO president, which is sort of an added bonus, as I'm in a position to hear insider info and (gently) influence the way we handle certain issues. Anyway, our ADESCO isn't exactly firing on all cylinders so I'm working on getting us to meet more regularly, set agendas, review member roles, and fill vacant spots for people who no longer participate. Very time consuming!
Coordinating stove projects
As you guys know, these stoves are pretty amazing. And the people in the community are really buzzing over them. Right now I'm in discussions with the NGO that makes the fancy stoves (not the homemade ones) to come and give a demonstration. If you're interested in more info, here's a link to their webpage <<<www.stoveteam.org>>> Anyway, they're throwing our community into a current grant ensuring us 20 stoves at $20 each. The catch: I have to buy at least two stoves at full price to cover their transportation costs from the coast. Damn, I hate losing arguments. But they got me over a barrel. Or a stove. You decide.
Cooking group Thursdays
Like I said, starting to slip. The good news is, I just got a copy of Cooking in the Campo, PC/El Sal's unofficial cookbook. 80 pages of campo recipes. Should help a ton.
Killing time in town
Basically, I make the same list every visit. Post office - internet - picture frames - supermarket - licuado. A licuado fyi is a fruit smoothie. Okay, stop laughing. I freely admit to loving fruit smoothies. They’re like mandatory here. Probably the most nutritious thing in my diet. Milk from a gallon jug the licuado lady buys across the street at the supermarket (not local milk from a plastic bag), clean blenders you can watch her clean with soapy water, papaya, bananas and pineapples she washes and cuts up right there for you with a clean knife. Ah, what am I talking about? You guys won’t understand until you’re here and can see what every other place is like!
Working on my house
Latest projects. I cut 2 liter plastic bottles in half and swapped them for tiles in my roof. Now, my kitchen and bedroom are a ton brighter. For free. Well, the money thing isn't really an issue, as my monthly electric bill is sub 4 dollars, with a fridge. Also, building a set of stairs for my side entrance and planting a vegetable garden (more on this last one later).
Watch movies with Salva
Poco a poco I’m introducing my counterpart to the greats of american cinema. It started with 300. A classic. No, really. If Homer were still alive, he’d give it two thumbs up. Then the Spartans would probably have him killed for being a pansy poet and not a soldier. But I digress. The next movie: Kill Bill V.1. For some reason, he didn’t want to see the sequel. A shame. Way better than the first one. And last week Juno. Side note: don’t watch Juno with your salvadoran counterpart. Ever. The hipster humor just doesn’t translate.
Also, last week Salva and I threw a fiesta for the kids in our school to celebrate how much trash we collected during our recycling day. (Over 140 lbs!) Which ended up being a ton of cash. In the future, this money will go towards school supplies. But just to get them excited on the whole idea, this time around we blew most of the money on pinatas, jello and 14 loaves of banana bread. Well, that last part I contributed. We ate, played a trash pickup relay race, and afterwards I gave a short charla on the importance of recycling. It was great.
Sports
When I’m not nursing a leg injury (Nomar Garciaparra, I’m sorry I ever doubted you), I play pickup softball and soccer every afternoon. Side note: being injured sucks. Especially when it’s your kicking foot in a country whose national sport is soccer. Anyway, being out there every afternoon has been awesome. And nothing builds confianza better than getting cleated in the knees and getting right up to knock the guy down the next time he tries to come near you. The rest of the guys love it.
Reforming my ADESCO
An ADESCO (more or less Association for Community Development) is a group of people elected by the people of the community to work on community projects and make community-wide decisions. Did I mention community? Because that part’s pretty important. ADESCOs are a link between the people in rural communities and the mayor’s office in town. And they’re sort of like student council for grown ups, ie, with the power to impose taxes and/or solicit the American government for gringos. I find them actually kind of fascinating. They came about after the civil war ended in the 90s as a compromise between the two sides (leftist peoples party and the right wing govt). They were a way for communities to have more say in how their government was run. At least I think that’s why they were formed. I might have been dozing off during that part of training. Anyway, they work on infrastructure projects, raise money for families in need, and in general, have their finger on the pulse of the community. I actually live with my ADESCO president, which is sort of an added bonus, as I'm in a position to hear insider info and (gently) influence the way we handle certain issues. Anyway, our ADESCO isn't exactly firing on all cylinders so I'm working on getting us to meet more regularly, set agendas, review member roles, and fill vacant spots for people who no longer participate. Very time consuming!
Coordinating stove projects
As you guys know, these stoves are pretty amazing. And the people in the community are really buzzing over them. Right now I'm in discussions with the NGO that makes the fancy stoves (not the homemade ones) to come and give a demonstration. If you're interested in more info, here's a link to their webpage <<<www.stoveteam.org>>> Anyway, they're throwing our community into a current grant ensuring us 20 stoves at $20 each. The catch: I have to buy at least two stoves at full price to cover their transportation costs from the coast. Damn, I hate losing arguments. But they got me over a barrel. Or a stove. You decide.
Cooking group Thursdays
Like I said, starting to slip. The good news is, I just got a copy of Cooking in the Campo, PC/El Sal's unofficial cookbook. 80 pages of campo recipes. Should help a ton.
Killing time in town
Basically, I make the same list every visit. Post office - internet - picture frames - supermarket - licuado. A licuado fyi is a fruit smoothie. Okay, stop laughing. I freely admit to loving fruit smoothies. They’re like mandatory here. Probably the most nutritious thing in my diet. Milk from a gallon jug the licuado lady buys across the street at the supermarket (not local milk from a plastic bag), clean blenders you can watch her clean with soapy water, papaya, bananas and pineapples she washes and cuts up right there for you with a clean knife. Ah, what am I talking about? You guys won’t understand until you’re here and can see what every other place is like!
Working on my house
Latest projects. I cut 2 liter plastic bottles in half and swapped them for tiles in my roof. Now, my kitchen and bedroom are a ton brighter. For free. Well, the money thing isn't really an issue, as my monthly electric bill is sub 4 dollars, with a fridge. Also, building a set of stairs for my side entrance and planting a vegetable garden (more on this last one later).
Watch movies with Salva
Poco a poco I’m introducing my counterpart to the greats of american cinema. It started with 300. A classic. No, really. If Homer were still alive, he’d give it two thumbs up. Then the Spartans would probably have him killed for being a pansy poet and not a soldier. But I digress. The next movie: Kill Bill V.1. For some reason, he didn’t want to see the sequel. A shame. Way better than the first one. And last week Juno. Side note: don’t watch Juno with your salvadoran counterpart. Ever. The hipster humor just doesn’t translate.
Also, last week Salva and I threw a fiesta for the kids in our school to celebrate how much trash we collected during our recycling day. (Over 140 lbs!) Which ended up being a ton of cash. In the future, this money will go towards school supplies. But just to get them excited on the whole idea, this time around we blew most of the money on pinatas, jello and 14 loaves of banana bread. Well, that last part I contributed. We ate, played a trash pickup relay race, and afterwards I gave a short charla on the importance of recycling. It was great.
Joyful onlookers. Hey, wait! Get the hell off my truck, you punks!
Lastly, just a quick recap of a mini adventure from a week ago. Last Friday, my host dad took me up into the mountains to visit a few of his cousins who live in the pine forests. He mentioned that it was far. I had no idea it would be two hours far... in the back of a pickup. But it was amazing. You guys ever heard of microclimates? It’s when, for example, you're sitting in the back of a pickup truck slipping it’s way up into the mountains passing through clouds on a muddy road 4000 ft. up when the rain just opens up out of nowhere and you're nearly washed away off the side of a cliff, but then you come up over a hill and 30 seconds later you're drenched in total sunshine. Only to repeat the process ten more times. So cool.
Anyway, we eventually got to our faroff destination and arrived at the party only to see... drumroll please... everyone hammered off their asses on guaro, aka backcountry hooch, aka moonshine. Pretty funny. Especially the guy who fell asleep inside a barrel. Well, partially inside a barrel.
They served us bbq'd deer, goat and beef. And all with insanely hot chiles. Then we put on sweaters, drank coffee they grew themselves, talked about hunting, and enjoyed the view. Good times.
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