Un Techo Para Mi País

A few weeks ago, a group of us went out to Jimbo's site to work with the international relief organization Un Techo Para Mi País.

In total, about 15 of us PC gringos showed up to work alongside 65 San Salvador college students in constructing pre-fab houses for families who lost theirs during the November landslides.

I'll fill in more details later, but check out some pics for now...


The walls and platforms are constructed by carpenters and local professionals, while the laymen like us merely drop in the posts and line everything up. They don't have pressure treated wood down here which means a lot of adjusting needs to take place to fit all the sections together. Here's Brock kickin' it with his team.


Here's a shot of the chaos of the early morning jobsite. In the background, you can see the grey army tents that families have been living out of for the past four months.


At night, one of the women from the community came to the casa comunal where we were staying and spoke with us about life in the community since the landslides. In an emotional speech, she thanked us for the work we were doing, mentioning the theft and ever-increasing levels of violence and machete attacks prevalent in their makeshift tent city. Man that's frustrating. These people have suffered enough.

Here's a photo of Grant, sitting on his ass.


You may be wondering why Grant's sitting on his ass with a look of "what the eff are we doing here?" Well, at times it was all we could do!

It was definitely a challenge working with so many college students who, for the most part, lacked basic carpentry skills. And especially watching our team leader, a 21 year old economics major, micromanage the project and ignore the homeowner's suggestions.

I should mention at this point, I'm no Bob Villa. Far from it. But listening to some punk tell a grown man whose house we were building and who had previously built two of these houses just frustrated the hell out of me. Needless to say, my friends and I took many a coffee break to blow off steam, and eventually the home owner began to assert himself more.

Here's the home owner getting in on the action, shadowed by the scars of the landslide.


Nearby, a farmer burns his fields to prepare for the upcoming corn season.


Alright, time for a little fun. This next section I'm calling "Hot or Not" where you the lucky four readers of my blog get to decide who's hot and who's not. Go ahead, no tengo pene, as Chuck would say. I'll post your comments, and offer myself up to the chopping block first...

Stylin' I know


The wolfman, Karl


J-bo and our buddy Brady. Award winning smiles.


Some of our salvo team members. Almost positive we're in the initial stages of a nipple grab/purple nurple. You be the judge.


Ty guy rockin' the bandana, floppy hat combo. Bold.


Hoop, in all his sweaty, afro glory


And finally, my homeboy out east, Dave. Hey, somebody get this guy a cafe koolattaah cuz he looks hottttt.


Ha. Well, there you go. That was five minutes of fun. Looking forward to your comments. Okay, back to work.

Here are Dave and Brady gettin' it done on Day 2


And clowning around with some locals


One of the bichos from the pueblo helping out


The happy homeowner


Hightower holding things together






At the end of the weekend, our groups assembled a total of 11 houses. A drop in the bucket compared to what needs to take place, but a good start.

Wish list

You may have noticed that I recently added a "Wish List" to the right side of the page. If you hadn't, check it out. It's just below the photos. Go ahead, scroll around and find it. Got it? Good.

Now see anything there that you might have in a beat up cardboard box in the garage or lying around your apartment? Well let's find a better home for it! Keep reading...

It dawned on me the other day that I never posted some pretty important news. About a month ago, I applied for and received a six-month extension to continue working in my community. Officially, I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer until Adamoiselle's birthday, November 1. Man, even writing that date makes me wish I'd asked for a full year extension. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the work and the community in which I live. If you've walked the dusty roads of my community, or shared a Salva Cola with my neighbors, you understand.

Well since the extension will grant me a few more vacation days, 12 to be exact, I plan on cashing them in and returning to the states for the entire month of July. Chuck and Dana's wedding is just too big to miss and the ALS Ride, Steve, and Team America are calling me.

It should be ridiculous. After a full 22 months of being outside the states, I'm not sure how I'm going to react.

While I'm back, I'm looking forward to reconnecting with each of you, and will bring up the prepaid cell Sam got me back in September 2008 if you need to reach me. Lunches, dinners, camping trips, you name it. If all goes well, I'll even be back for the Fourth of July, which I haven't celebrated stateside in three years.

So, in the months leading up to July, please take an afternoon to rifle through your basements, garages, roommates' stuff, whatever and if you encounter anything you'd like to donate to my community members or the people of El Salvador, please contact me and we'll arrange a pick-up/drop-off. I plan on bringing a giant, empty backpack and won't leave until it's filled up.

One last thing. We're currently in the process of organizing a fundraising/awareness get-together in JP while I'm back. I'll also be accepting donations then, and will let you all know of the date and location once they're confirmed.

Many thanks in advance.

An update on the relief efforts

Here's a long-overdue post on the hurricane relief efforts and my man Jimbo out east.

Over the passed couple months, I know many of you generously donated thousands of dollars to help families affected by Hurricane Ida through the Aid El Salvador webpage. This is the same NGO that my boss founded back when she was a volunteer and that will be managing the scholarship funds we raise for my community's kids. More on this later, but in the meantime, here's a link.

By now, you might be curious to know the status of the relief projects and the families involved. I am writing now to briefly update you on those efforts and to ensure that your hard-earned cash is going to the hard-working people rebuilding these communities.

First off, the AES cash. I was recently in contact with the folks at AES who explained that we are in the equivalent of relief work limbo, which is all too common after a disaster. If you're following the relief efforts in Haiti, or a few years back with New Orleans, you know how complicated this can get. Basically, this situation is this: we got the cash, we're ready to rebuild, but should we?

Peace Corps staff and AES coordinated efforts to get families the immediate relief they needed in the days and weeks following the disaster. Clothes, mattresses, food and water were all brought to the landslide zone so that families would, at the very least, not have to worry about water sources or where they were going to sleep that night. But rebuilding in an area in which a landslide could plausibly reoccur isn't necessarily the best option, so there is still a great deal to be worked out. Vamos a ver...

Jimbo, on the other hand, doesn't need anyone to tell him what's up. He's knee deep in projects and up on the mountain getting it done like a true Spartan. Recently he teamed up with an organization called Un Techo Para Mi Pais (A Roof For My Country) which builds small, pre-fabricated wood and aluminum houses in high-poverty and disaster areas throughout Latin America. A large group of us are heading there this weekend to get our hands dirty and help out any way we can.

Here's the link again to his blog for more info:

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Beef. It’s what’s for dinner

WARNING. There are no laws in El Salvador regulating the backyard slaughter of a cow. For reasons which will become immediately obvious to those who choose to continue reading, anyone even somewhat weak of stomach or animal rightsy should avoid the following post...

I live in the campo. That means the woods, the boonies, the sticks. And in the campo, it goes without saying we kill animals and eat them. Every day. We do this because children who eat meat, beans and tortillas once a week grow up bigger than the ones who just eat beans and tortillas. And sometimes, the meat that kids eat comes from that cute cow you passed on your way to the school. You know, that black one with the cool white splotch extending across his side, like someone hopped out from behind a tree and mischievously splashed it with a bucket of paint.

At this point, I believe I should mention for the record that I firmly believe cows are:

1. oddly cute
2. have pretty eyelashes
3. are an icon of pastoral life.

But deep down, we all know the facts. We’re carnivores and one of them feeds hundreds of us.

So here ya go. A quick primer on killing a cow.

Am I safe to say that most of you haven’t done this? And if you have, you cow-killers you, will you be insulted if I explain things that may seem obvious to you and other cow-killers? I hope that you won’t.

For starters, killing a cow is a big deal. They cost hundreds of dollars and take years to raise to maturity. The one we killed and ate was three years old. My buddy Carlos (Cowboy Carlos to those who've had the pleasure of visiting and meeting him in person) had raised it for a special occasion. I wasn't kidding, by the way, about what I said above. They really do feed hundreds of people. The catch is, they’re a bitch to kill and make into bite-sized pieces.

So what do you do? You call up your buddies, invite them over, and go to town on the big guy.

Ok, now the back story...

About two weeks ago, Cowboy Carlos's eldest son got married. And to celebrate the occasion, Carlos, a few friends and I slaughtered one of his cows. A big one. A bull, in fact, that apparently tipped the scales at around 700 lb.

The process of killing and butchering him took way longer than I expected, having only seen a butchering a few years back in training and having not stuck around for the full process. It's quite a bit to take in. Here's a glimpse of what's to come just in case you're not ready.



Man, those blue eyes were mesmerizing. Where was I? Ah yes, cow death. Apparently, by the way, not as bad as pig death. But that's not saying much. At this point, I'm glad I have to take their word for it.

After we tied him up, our fearless leader Carlos started it off with a quick stab, just behind the head. I was surprised, but as if on cue, the big guy quickly lost his balance and fell down. Okay, so apparently that's where cows keep their gyroscopes. After that, Carlos made two large holes in the jugular and you can imagine what happened next. A lot of blood. Torrents of it.



After about 20 minutes, the sides of our beautiful beast stopped moving. Somebody deemed him ready to go and, using a series of ropes passed through branches from the mango tree overhead, we turned him on his side. Carlos grabbed his knife and quickly went to work stripping the hide.







After the hide's off, you really start going at it. I kept joking that we could all save a lot of time if I went and got my neighbor's chainsaw. And that's when they brought out the axes.

"Jesus, what the hell are you gonna do with those?" I asked.

Then this old guy grabbed one, ran his finger along the edge to make sure it had something to it and started going to town on the ribs.







Hey, I’m feeling kind of nauseous and have dry-heaved multiple times in the past 10 minutes. But you know what I need? Snacks. Lots of 'em. And coffee. Fuck it, how ‘bout a coffee break?



This is about the time one of my female neighbors shows up and just quietly sits on a rock under a tree, waiting patiently. It wasn't until we separated the stomach, intestines and unidentifiables that she perked up and I started to discovered why.

Here the men are haul the good stuff far enough away for her to work "comfortably" they said. Translation: even they were kind of grossed out she was going to make soup from that.



Later on, the expert butcher we brought in, turns the giant slabs of meat into their more familiar looking form - steaks for the wedding banquet.



And there you have it. Elapsed time: 7 hours.

For the most part, the big guy just laid there and accepted his fate. I think maybe that's the part that was toughest to watch. Seeing this enormous creature pass from one astral plane to the other. Or if you're feeling more philosophical, passing from here and there to everywhere.

Thanks for the care package!

Not sure who sent it, but thank you (whoever you are) for the xmas package! It was exactly what I needed... two gringas and new year's at the beach.



Well, another bold pair of gringos has ventured south and survived the savior. By now we've put together quite the little packaged tour. A little bit of community time, a night in the mountains, some coffee time in Juayua, and finishing up with a few days at the beach.

Here are a few shots from the week...

We started out in my community, where the fearless gringuitas dove head first into the experience. Bucket baths, hot, dusty roads, and of course, the infamous roosters. "You mean roosters crow at two in the morning too?" Yep, they do.

They met my neighbor, Melida, and her four beautiful daughters, and got a good taste of campo life. Here they are at my local wholefoods



And here's mom giving tortillas the old college try



Ellie using the "dishwasher"



In general, we just sort of hung out in and around my house. I wanted them to acclimate and to sort of soak in the pace of life in the campo. Plus, they were visiting in one of the driest, hottest months, and even my idiot dog who eats rocks (yes, eats rocks) knows walking around in the afternoon sun means certain death.

But when the air cooled, we ventured out. One afternoon we hiked to the edge of my community and up to a hill overlooking the volcanoes and nearby lake, shared with Guatemala. We turned around and were stunned by a pretty amazing sunset. I couldn't remember the last time I actually sat and watched one.



Afterwards, we went mobile and hopped around to mountaintop villages and pueblos around the country, trying to give them a sense of tiny El Salvador. Highlights included small artisanal workshops, a healthy amount of hitchhiking, and an impromptu reiki session at a french bakery.





Hitchhiking mom



Hitchhiking Ellie



Later we met up with a few of my buddies at the beach. Here's one of those idiots showing off the guns



We hotel hopped and found a nice one with... drumroll please... a waterfall and an infinity pool. Here's Ellie enjoying infinite relaxation







I think in the lead up to the trip, I definitely had my concerns about what type of a trip we were going to have. They weren't exactly like Ben and Adam, my camping compadres and indestructible as far as I was concerned. But I knew it was important for me to share my life in the campo and reconnect with my mom(s) worrying about me back home. I think most people have a tendency to imagine the worst, like how I had been worrying about them, until they step foot in my house, talk with my neighbors, and see the people I work with. In short, see how good a life it is.

I think after that, all those fears, irrational or not, seem to fade away.

Besos and abrazos to the ladies for taking the plunge. Much love. G

Let's catch up. It's been a while - Part II

Guatemala, aka, Indigenouslandia

A while back, actually like months ago, Lauren and I took some time off to visit our upstairs neighbor, Guatemala. We could hear the music and smell the food and just couldn't resist.

If you haven't been, which I'm guessing you haven't, Guatemala is a remarkable country. Somehow able to modernize with the times, yet retain its indigenous heritage. Add to that some of the most impressive geography around, and you got yourself a pretty cool place.

As usual, our week hitchhiking and couchsurfing flew by. Along the way, we met some amazingly cool people. Guatemalans who opened up their homes to us without a second thought, gringos living down south, making maps, teaching art and yoga.

If you've never traveled without a plan, I don't think I could ever fully express what it's like. You begin to feel like a leaf floating in the breeze. Just trusting that you'll get where you need to get eventually. It's truly freeing.

You could literally spend months exploring Guatemala's nooks and crannies. And it would take me just as long to write about it. But here are a few memories from the trip.

Indigenousness

Probably the one word I would associate best with Guatemala.







I mean, damn! Look at those colors. We were struck by the rainbow of clothes and people. It was actually way cooler than I could ever show, but enough people told me about Mayan law and how the people reeeeeally don't like getting their picture taken (read: public lynching), so I decided to holster it for a while.

Halloween at 14,000 feet

In search of something a little off the beaten path, Lauren and I decided to spend Halloween waaaaay off the beaten path, on Tajumulco, the highest peak in Central America.

Imagine a dirt road that just sort of dissolves into pastures, and those pastures dissolve into pine forests rising up out of the hillsides, which then dissolve into boulder fields leading into whiteness above. Eventually your only guide is the mountaintop playing hide and go seek above you through the clouds.



All in all, it wasn't a terribly hard climb. But the last few thousand feet, the altitude starts to hit you and you begin to feel your heartbeat pounding throughout your entire body. It's amazing, I distinctly remember clinging to the side of the mountain, trying not to get blown off a cliff in virtual whiteout fog conditions, and the only things I could hear were my own breath and the pounding of my tired little heart. It was memorable.

When we finally reached the summit, we took a couple photos, ate a banana, and started realizing how underdressed we were.

The wind picked up and it didn't take long before we decided it was best to make a push to head back down. The decision was made even easier when the lightning, which had been casually striking the valley below us, started rising up towards the above-treeline summit. Yikes. Like I said, an easy decision, made easier by the hail (yes, hail), mother nature's final warning that maybe we overstayed our welcome.

Here's Lauren, before the lightning and hail kicked us off the mountain and reminded us living is way cooler than dying.



Back down at the base, where I experienced the worse hypo of my life. Took me 30 minutes just to get the feeling back in my hands. But worth it!




Lago Atitlán

Hippie sanctuary and all-around beautiful place. The allure of it is obvious. We stayed at a penthouse hotel overlooking the lake that cost 30 quetzales a night. In case you're wondering what that breaks down to, it's cheaper than a latte at starbucks. And that was for the both of us.

Many gringos come down to the lake to meditate, chill out, eat buddhist food, whatever, and don't ever leave. It's very tempting.











Well, for lack of time, that's how I'll have to leave it. But it goes without saying, I'll be back, and there will be more Guate photos in the years to come...


PC soccer team

Really good at posing. Not so good at scoring.



Couchsurfers

A couple weeks ago, a few acro-yoga teachers from San Francisco crashed at my place. So cool. They actually led an impromptu yoga class in my site and, probably the best part, they taught me how to do it (haven't dropped anyone yet!).





They were fun, and reminded me how much I used to love yoga. We'll see if the women who attended their class ask for a repeat.


Shampooooo with my women's committee

Last month, I made organic aloe shampoo with my women's committee and you won't believe it, people can't get enough of this shit. Even a few business owners in town are selling it in their stores. Who knew? The best part is it's actually good shampoo and crazy easy to make. Maybe next time I'm in the states we can do a little shampoo workshop. That way, Adam won't have any more excuses for going weeks without taking a shower.