My electricity was cut off some time in April and remained off through the end of May. Meanwhile I moved back in with Lety, my host mom. Despite the inconvenience we had a great time reconnecting and talking about her boyfriend in Texas. I got to translate several lovey dovery spanglish text messages to her giggling delight. I also rekindled my love for requeson, which is whey, like Little Miss Muffet's cruds and whey, with toasted tortilla. Such a tasty treat.
Meanwhile the rainy season started in full force. By full force I mean it rained 24 hours a day for nearly 2 weeks straight. The landslides started again, fortunately not in my area, bridges washed out, many people lost their homes and we were home bound. Fortunately the volunteers in my area had gathered in Esparta for Emily's Food Festival. We got stuck at her house for 48 hours which turned into a grand ol' time playing pool, watching Glee (my new favorite show and obsession) and cooking up our own little food festival on Emily's swanky back porch kitchen. (see pics below) Back at my house I began to learn the other pitfalls of the rainy season. Everything gets wet and molds. My shoes, clothes and even some organic jewelry all are covered in pretty little sprouts of pom pom floral looking mold. Nothing is safe. Two weeks later my clothes are still damp. I get in bed at night and my sheets feel like I just pulled them out of the washer. I'm back to sleeping in my sleeping bag.
Aside from the rain and the lack of electricity, which was turned on a few weeks ago, it has been a pretty evenful weeks. Here are some pictures of the adventures and activities going on in and out of my community...
Youth Development 2010: In Service Training @ Jardin Celeste in Apaneca
Stranded on the side of the road because a small car size boulder was impeading our bus's way home... Why not hold a stranger's baby? She felt so good in my arms, even if she looks miserable, and made me forget for a moment how hot it was and that I was sweating profusely.
Tried on the kidergardener's tradition Salvadorn dress. It fit. Did a little dance. Thank God for elastic.
NLU Clan (Northern La Union volunteers in my region) at Emily's first Food Festival in Esparta, sans the rain. It was a huge success as were our bellies afterwards.
Floods trapped the NLU Clan in Esparta for 48 hours.
So we played pool with a lottery ticket sales woman and an 80 year old grandma, obviously.
Left to right: Rosellen, Erica, Abuelita, Brian, Me, Missy, Random Lottery Ticket Sales Woman
Still stuck in Esparta at Emily's super swank house, but never going hungry, I made lentils.
Dental Health Education @ my school: I was the tongue. Dont forget to brush me for good breath!
Dental Health Education: Getting ready to brush us some diiiiirrrrty teeth.
That's all the pics I've got for now. I just spent the weekend at a self defense training in my favorite little town, Juayua. It was awesome and empowering. I learned some techniques for myself and also how to teach the class to Salvadoran women. Most importantly the 4 most vulnerable spots of your attacker: eyes, throat, groin, knees. Throw a few elbows to the throat and knees to the groin while shouting "No!" and you're outa there! Hopefully. I wish I would have gotten pictures but there will be a video floating around out there some time soon. I'll see what I can do to give you a good laugh. I felt so tough.
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