Chris Wemp
Aidan Kelly
JoAnna Kyle
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Oops!
My apologies that this entry is so late! I do have an excuse…and that excuse is that desde Friday hasta Tuesday I did not have internet access, or access to any form of technology for that matter. This past weekend was my best so far. Going into it I felt pretty confident that living in the campo of Cedro wouldn’t be any more rustic than my winter term trip in January, but I was wrong. Delma’s family was made up of seven people—herself, her husband, Anher(13), Gisela(10), Renee(9), Xochil(7) and Avilena(5). She and her family graciously accepted me into their home, which was not bigger than a one-car garage. They had no electricity, running water or a trash/recycling system. They had a grill where Delma made tortillas and warmed beans every morning, and a barrel where rainwater gathered for drinking and washing dishes. Despite their situation, Delma’s family received me into their home with open arms. For two nights I shared a double bed with two of the daughters, covered in sweat and bugs. And I put off bathing until Sunday morning at 6am, where I just couldn’t bear my smell anymore--I “showered” with all the women in my family in the river that ran between the mountains. They could not get over how white my body was…
On top of spending lots of time playing mica(tag) with all of the neighborhood kids, I got in some quality time with my praxis partners who lived close by. Quentin stayed just 100yrds away at Delma’s cousins, and Chris stayed with the center’s gardener just down the mountain by the soccer cancha. We showed the children how to play cards and banagrams and Quentin tried to teach me how to play some songs on the guitar. We also played a lot of soccer…I did not as much as the boys because I did not feel completely comfortable since I was the only female within sight.
Classes have been going well—both my UCA classes and the computer/English classes at Cedro. I’m loving being both a student and a teacher…I really feel I could this for the majority of my life. It is such a blessing to have the opportunity. Some of my students are so bright and eager to learn. This week our theme is body parts…which has been so much fun! Classes have consisted of drawing the body, singing ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’, side walk chalk, and a new game I learned here called ‘back to back’. I think I get a bigger kick out of all the games than even some of the kids!
In many ways, El Salvador is creating its own little space in my heart…from the people I’m meeting here and quickly loving, to the food, colors, language, simply way of life, and so much more. Combining what I’m learning and teaching here with Liberation Theology and my faith has also been so rewarding and life giving. I see God in everything…good and bad.
Sister Peggy quotes from my last Theology class…
“We have an infinite capacity to love, and to be loved. So when you’re in love, make love!”
“God’s love is ludicrous…it is beautifully impossible to understand.”
“Forgiveness is love. And who isn’t in need of healing?”
“The person who has the why to live, overcomes the how.”
On top of spending lots of time playing mica(tag) with all of the neighborhood kids, I got in some quality time with my praxis partners who lived close by. Quentin stayed just 100yrds away at Delma’s cousins, and Chris stayed with the center’s gardener just down the mountain by the soccer cancha. We showed the children how to play cards and banagrams and Quentin tried to teach me how to play some songs on the guitar. We also played a lot of soccer…I did not as much as the boys because I did not feel completely comfortable since I was the only female within sight.
Classes have been going well—both my UCA classes and the computer/English classes at Cedro. I’m loving being both a student and a teacher…I really feel I could this for the majority of my life. It is such a blessing to have the opportunity. Some of my students are so bright and eager to learn. This week our theme is body parts…which has been so much fun! Classes have consisted of drawing the body, singing ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’, side walk chalk, and a new game I learned here called ‘back to back’. I think I get a bigger kick out of all the games than even some of the kids!
In many ways, El Salvador is creating its own little space in my heart…from the people I’m meeting here and quickly loving, to the food, colors, language, simply way of life, and so much more. Combining what I’m learning and teaching here with Liberation Theology and my faith has also been so rewarding and life giving. I see God in everything…good and bad.
Sister Peggy quotes from my last Theology class…
“We have an infinite capacity to love, and to be loved. So when you’re in love, make love!”
“God’s love is ludicrous…it is beautifully impossible to understand.”
“Forgiveness is love. And who isn’t in need of healing?”
“The person who has the why to live, overcomes the how.”
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Quick update...
Praxis has been going great…The tally for haircutting is now up to 16 after two days!!! SO MUCH HAIR. My two praxis partners and I can now dance typical Salvadoran folk dances…Quentin and I are especially good at the “baile de los novios” (boyfriend/girlfriend dance). This upcoming weekend we are going to be staying with a family in El Cedro. I am staying with a woman named Delma.
Something interesting that has been happening in El Salvador lately (not sure if it’s made the USA papers or not), is the gang problem. These past two days have been especially hectic and dangerous to drive (I have been worried at times), because the gangs have been issuing threats to the bus system. Last week the Salvadoran government made it illegal to belong to any gang (M13, or 18Salvatruchas), meaning that if they suspect you are simply in a gang, not doing anything illegal such as killing, stealing, etc, you can be put in jail. In reaction to this law, the gangs have “shut down” the bus system, paying off bus drivers, and burning buses. This hasn’t affected us directly in any way, it simply makes driving more difficult, and there is a huge increase in people walking around the city trying to make it to work. It has also canceled classes for children and adults of all ages. Most of our becarios have not had class for the past three days because their professors and classmates cannot make it to school. There is also increased police force and government officials on patrol…makes it interesting walking to get a chocobanana. Again, we are not at risk as long as we stay away from the buses. According to the newspapers and Trena and Kevin, all of the hype will hopefully die down in a few days.
Something interesting that has been happening in El Salvador lately (not sure if it’s made the USA papers or not), is the gang problem. These past two days have been especially hectic and dangerous to drive (I have been worried at times), because the gangs have been issuing threats to the bus system. Last week the Salvadoran government made it illegal to belong to any gang (M13, or 18Salvatruchas), meaning that if they suspect you are simply in a gang, not doing anything illegal such as killing, stealing, etc, you can be put in jail. In reaction to this law, the gangs have “shut down” the bus system, paying off bus drivers, and burning buses. This hasn’t affected us directly in any way, it simply makes driving more difficult, and there is a huge increase in people walking around the city trying to make it to work. It has also canceled classes for children and adults of all ages. Most of our becarios have not had class for the past three days because their professors and classmates cannot make it to school. There is also increased police force and government officials on patrol…makes it interesting walking to get a chocobanana. Again, we are not at risk as long as we stay away from the buses. According to the newspapers and Trena and Kevin, all of the hype will hopefully die down in a few days.
Puchica!
This past weekend was our first real free weekend(though really our third), after what still feels like two weeks of orientation. A few days ago it really hit me that I’m here for four months, and the honeymoon stage of orientation and first week butterflies is almost over. My roommate Michelle said to me Sunday evening, “Wow, this place is starting to feel like home.” I agree with her. But, back to our fun weekend! Friday morning started off as usual with my 8am Theology class with Sister Peggy (what we talked about in those three hours alone could be an entire blog entry in itself). After class we had our weekly community lunch at the Romero House, and then some headed off to History class in the afternoon. I, on the other hand, took advantage of not having class and spent the afternoon watching movies in our room with Michelle, who was running a fever because of a 24hr bug…not good. Everyone in our program but myself has been sick with either stomach issues or some sort of virus. I did have a strange reaction to something in Cedro last week, leaving me with hives for about 5 days, but I’d take that over bacteria and amoebas in my intestines any day!
That night was our first official meeting with all of the becario students (Salvadoran scholarship students). Up until that point I really only knew the two girls who live with us( Suzanna y Reina) and some of the other who live in the two other houses. Before sitting down to a delicious dinner of chicken tamales and fresh fruit, we played some “dinamica” games to get to know each other. I was paired with a boy named Salvador who also spoke a little French and is studying Education…what a small world was all I kept thinking. Following dinamica and dinner, one of the becarios picked up his guitar and began to play typical Salvadoran folk music. The female becarios then each grabbed a partner (me, being one of them) and began dancing. Ten songs later, the party died down and people started to leave. Though I was having a lot of fun, I was tired, sweaty, and wanting to get back to Michelle, who, after dinner wasn’t’ feeling well again. The goodbyes were quick, because all of us knew we’d see each other just hours later, the next morning.
I had no problem waking up early Saturday morning. Michelle thankfully was feeling better, so we both put on our bathing suits and layered ourselves with sunscreen, knowing that the sun here is so much stronger than at home. Outside of Silvia, there were two buses. One bus was quickly filling up with mostly Casa students, and initially I started for its door, but then I decided to sit on the other bus with the becarios. I knew I had made the right decicios when the bus driver BLASTED regaetone the entire way there, and all of the becarios sang and danced along.
Costa del Sol was even more beautiful than I remembered (I was there in January with DePauw). The black sand and hammocks were peacefully familiar and calling my name. The first two hours I spent in the water, though not very deep because the waves were the biggest I had ever seen. I also played three games of volleyball and two games of futbol with the becarios. Both of these left me extra sandy and exhausted. For lunch we all enjoyed grilled chicken, fresh vegetables, and of course rice and beans. Surprisingly we also were given dessert, vanilla icecream, which I haven’t had since I’ve been here. Following lunch, I took a nice long nap in the sun, which sadly at the end of the day left me with a nice sunburn, since I failed to reapply sunscreen.
We returned home to the casas, and all showered, then attempted to devise a plan for the open night we had ahead of us. Finally, we decided to go to a local bar, La Luna and check out the scene there. When we got there, we quickly figured out it was not going to be a typical bar night out in El Salvador, or at least not one we would expect. Going on at La Luna that night was, “Rock Night”. We saw two bands play different covers of The Rolling Stones, ACDC, Led Zepplin, etc. On top of already standing out as a blondeish haired, blue eyed, gringa, I was the only one wearing a color other than black in the bar that night…bright green and pink to be specific. Needless to say, after one Pilsner, and my watch read 11pm, I decided I needed to go home. It was quite the experience…
That night was our first official meeting with all of the becario students (Salvadoran scholarship students). Up until that point I really only knew the two girls who live with us( Suzanna y Reina) and some of the other who live in the two other houses. Before sitting down to a delicious dinner of chicken tamales and fresh fruit, we played some “dinamica” games to get to know each other. I was paired with a boy named Salvador who also spoke a little French and is studying Education…what a small world was all I kept thinking. Following dinamica and dinner, one of the becarios picked up his guitar and began to play typical Salvadoran folk music. The female becarios then each grabbed a partner (me, being one of them) and began dancing. Ten songs later, the party died down and people started to leave. Though I was having a lot of fun, I was tired, sweaty, and wanting to get back to Michelle, who, after dinner wasn’t’ feeling well again. The goodbyes were quick, because all of us knew we’d see each other just hours later, the next morning.
I had no problem waking up early Saturday morning. Michelle thankfully was feeling better, so we both put on our bathing suits and layered ourselves with sunscreen, knowing that the sun here is so much stronger than at home. Outside of Silvia, there were two buses. One bus was quickly filling up with mostly Casa students, and initially I started for its door, but then I decided to sit on the other bus with the becarios. I knew I had made the right decicios when the bus driver BLASTED regaetone the entire way there, and all of the becarios sang and danced along.
Costa del Sol was even more beautiful than I remembered (I was there in January with DePauw). The black sand and hammocks were peacefully familiar and calling my name. The first two hours I spent in the water, though not very deep because the waves were the biggest I had ever seen. I also played three games of volleyball and two games of futbol with the becarios. Both of these left me extra sandy and exhausted. For lunch we all enjoyed grilled chicken, fresh vegetables, and of course rice and beans. Surprisingly we also were given dessert, vanilla icecream, which I haven’t had since I’ve been here. Following lunch, I took a nice long nap in the sun, which sadly at the end of the day left me with a nice sunburn, since I failed to reapply sunscreen.
We returned home to the casas, and all showered, then attempted to devise a plan for the open night we had ahead of us. Finally, we decided to go to a local bar, La Luna and check out the scene there. When we got there, we quickly figured out it was not going to be a typical bar night out in El Salvador, or at least not one we would expect. Going on at La Luna that night was, “Rock Night”. We saw two bands play different covers of The Rolling Stones, ACDC, Led Zepplin, etc. On top of already standing out as a blondeish haired, blue eyed, gringa, I was the only one wearing a color other than black in the bar that night…bright green and pink to be specific. Needless to say, after one Pilsner, and my watch read 11pm, I decided I needed to go home. It was quite the experience…
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