The (first) wedding weekend

So, I am now officially civilly married in El Salvador! We signed the papers Saturday morning at 10 in the CCSA board room, which ended up being a little awkward in many ways, but some of that we didn't find out until later. We walked in and I was a little confused because no one was around, I mean no one, which is not at all normal for a Saturday morning there. Come to find out they'd been planning some food and all for us, but then one of my co-workers found out her partner had
passed away minutes before we got there. Hence the sad looks on the few people's faces that were still there, but I didn't find out until Monday.

So, we signed along with the two testigos, Josue and Consuelo, went to buy shirts for Sunday's El Salvador-Panama game, and headed off to Suchitoto to take a ride around the lake. I'd never really wanted to go there before since Suchitoto is always hot to the point that I feel sick afterwards, but I gave in. The lake, Suchitlan (Suchitoto + Cuscatlan according to our lovely guide Jose, and as dubbed by the famous Mr. Coto), is actually man-made reservoir of types. It was created in 1973 , and you can still see the remains of the haciendas and cantones that were covered by the lake. Quite interesting. It's also home for many types of birds.

Sunday afternoon we headed to the stadium. It was my first soccer game since I left Colombia two years ago, so I was excited. We saw one of my ex-ILEA students, so I got to introduce Edwin as "my esposo" for the first time. We got soaked in the rain, but El Salvador won 3-1. It was semi-worth the $40 tickets, but made me miss Barranquilla and Junior. At least I got a nasty wet kiss in the ear from the very drunk guy sitting in front of us!

Wednesday we'll be off to Roatan for a last-minute, semi-planned honeymoon!

Parque El Boquerón

Last week the new Parque El Boquerón opened. El Boquerón is the most visible crater of the San Salvador volcano (there's also the Picacho and Jabali peaks which are remnants). I've wanted to go for a while, but the piece of the road that goes up to the crater was not so nice and rather dangerous up until now. You still can't walk all the way around the rim without a guide, so I was a little disappointed, but it was nice to be outdoors anyways. Yensy and I had fun buying veggies and some really strange-looking raspberries, and the atol de elote that I've been wanting for so long. It's a good thing we went a bit early though, since around 11 lots of people starting coming in.

You can also read more about the park in the Diario de Hoy's article.

Random Thoughts

On Professional Clothing:

When looking for an interview suit about two months ago, Edwin and I came to the following conclusion: there aren't many places here that sell professional clothing for women. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised; female newscasters and tv reporters here sometimes look like they're dressed up to go to a club. It really hit me when we started looking for a suit for him, though. In Siman (local "nice" department store), I can get the equivalent of a suit from K-mart or Wal-mart, or at the very best, Kohl's, for maybe two to three times the price. But for men's suits in Siman, there you have some choices. Why is it like this? Even though it might not be true, there are many more men in power positions here than woman. So, women don't need nice suits, since apparently they aren't professionals.

On Things that I Haven't Done Here:

I was going through my email yesterday looking for info to fill out some forms when I came across a email from one of my grad school professors. There's a group of students here from UC this week on a study tour focusing on human rights and economic justice. Out of curiosity I was looking at their schedule, and realized that there's some things that I haven't done since I've been here, such as visiting Romero's tomb and the rose gardens at UCA. Have I been that engrossed in work? Maybe. Not with other people that would want to do those things? Possible, but then I should have gone myself. This brings me to another point...as nice as study tours, mission trips, and vacations are, it's never the same as living someplace. I wonder if I would have come back to El Salvador had I gone on the study tour offered by UC in 2002 with CRISPAZ. What else have I been missing out on? My experience is very different than that of a Peace Corps volunteer (still glad that I chose AmeriCorps over Peace Corps by the way, although I think I might like to try someday). Why haven't I read more about El Salvador's history? Or asked people more? I was a bit surprised when a volunteer in Chinameca told me that the war is still a huge topic of conversation for people in his community. In San Sal, I hear people mention bits and pieces, here and there, but the only one who's ever really told me his story has been Edwin. I feel like that's my fault, especially since it still affects people and the way they live their daily lives.

Gas Prices

This is the gas station on the corner of Los Heroes and Los Sisimiles in San Salvador on Friday afternoon. I had to fill up this afternoon, since the gas light came on right when I left work, and it had gone up to $4.60. Fun times.

Six Days

I'm almost at the end of my "real" working time (a.k.a the time in which they pay me and I have health insurance) here in El Salvador. I've been at CCSA for almost two years in the ELF program, and am not sure how I feel about ending my time with them. I've certainly learned a lot about teaching and teacher training, curriculum, diplomacy, grant writing, and of course, Salvadoran culture. There are certainly many things that I'll miss when I move on this September to the Colombo Americano in Manizales, Colombia through the ELF program, but I think I'm ready to move on to something new. As an ELF, I've done so many different things and haven't done a great job of documenting any of them. I was thinking about that on the way to Paraiso del Osorio for a mobile library event today. Sometimes I feel like I could have done so much more in the past twenty months than I've actually accomplished. And that there's so much more left to do and so much more to learn here! I'm not going to have any problem "volunteering" the two months I'll have in El Sal where I don't have to work. In the end, it's always difficult to leave a job and a place that you're used to. It's hard to think that I'll be getting married, and then have to leave. I figured I'd find a decent job here in El Salvador for another year, but it just didn't happen. And really, I'm excited to move back to what was my favorite city in Colombia! And be able to walk outside again, and go to cultural events, and drink gooooooooood coffee! And go to the hot springs!

I'm not going to miss driving in San Sal, or the $4.60 a gallon it is now for gas, or really even San Sal itself. Will miss being able to find salsa tobasco whenever I want it and going to Office Depot. And my gatito of course, since I don't think he can go with me, at least not at first. And living close to the beach. I think I could go on and on...

Parque Nacional Montecristo

Edwin, Jonathan, myself, and some others from CCSA headed to Parque Nacional Montecristo for the labor day holiday. It took a long time to get there and we didn't stay very long, but I'd like to go back to hike and camp if I can find the time. The park is close to Metapán in the department of Santa Ana, and sits right on the Guatemalan and Honduran borders. It's a cloud forest, but it was nice and sunny the day we went and I don't think we actually got into the cloud forest part anyways. We did get to see the famous arbol de amor (love tree)...see if you can figure out why it's called that from the picture.

Planning a Wedding in El Salvador

The date is coming close for the civil part of my wedding (June 21), and I've still got a lot to learn about the whole process of getting married. The "real" wedding a.k.a the party is not until November, but the problem is I'll be going back to Colombia in September for work. This adds just a little bit of stress I'm not very traditional even by US standards, so getting what I want here has been a blast so far. There's a lot of people trying to tell me to do this and that, but not much luck so far in finding what we'd (okay make that I'd since Edwin is even less picky than me) really like to have. I've got a stack of bride magazines, some from here, with awesome articles about the "first night" (pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee, salvadoreños that write these articles, that's not very practical for people here). Maybe the women, but definitely not the men. All the dresses look like cake icing, which I'm really not into. And no, I don't want a cola (train) as long as Thalia's. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd only send invitations through email and facebook.

Anyways, this is all I really want from my wedding:

1. live music,
2. drinks and food (in that order),
3. a beach (this is a hard one since salvadoreños don't seem to get married on the beach much),
   
4. not to be broke at the end,
5. not to be stressed to the point I get sick.
   

I really don't think I'm asking for that much. I've been to many places that swear they'll send me quotes for prices, which never happens. Prices at hotels on the beaches that are semi-close by are ridiculous in general. Eloping would be so much easier. I'm sad because I really don't have the time to change my name because of changing countries again. I'm pretty sure the passport wouldn't be ready in time, especially since I'll be leaving El Salvador, going to Ohio, going back to El Salvador, back to Ohio, to Colombia, then back to El Salvador. Not at all complicated. In addition, I'd have to change my IDs in three different countries, tax info, bank accounts, credit cards, services...I'd rather not. I'll do it some day when I know I'm not going to be changing continents every 10 months!

In light of all the fun I've had trying to find someplace to make my dress that won't charge me $500 and trying to find a place to have the wedding, I'm going to start posting the places that I've had luck with.

Off to look for more ranchos in La Libertad...anyone know of any good ones that could hold up to 150 people and that are right on the beach?

IHCI Conference 2008

From May 15-17 I was in Tegucigalpa for yet another conference for English language teachers, this one hosted by the Instituo Hondureño de Cultura Interamericana, another binational center. Cecil, Martha, and Jackie from CCSA were there as well. Safe to say this one was much more fun than the one I'd gone to in Tegus the year before hosted by one of the universities, where no one knew what was going on, where anything was, and where the room numbers were changed randomly during and after sessions. I'd originally wanted to go to this one just so I could spend my birthday in a nice hotel with good food, comfy beds, and "real" hot water. Edwin was supposed to come meet me for the weekend, and another friend was supposed to be in town, but both of those things fell through. Allyson came up from Nicaragua though, and Kay was there from Mexico, so I had a good time drinking and chatting and shopping (bought lots of Lenca pottery that I don't know how I'm going to get home, but now thanks to Carmen from the embassy I know all the good places to go for some day when I have money). It was the best birthday I've had for a while!

I am also the proud owner of lots of pictures of myself looking stupid...sleeping on the bus...blowing out the candles on the cake that they brought to me during one of my sessions at the conference. Digital storytelling, topic of choice this time round, was not that big of a hit, but then again technology never is in C.A. The people at IHCI were wonderful and I hope I can go back to visit again some day. It's always fun to see people that you've met at other conferences and workshops...central america is small in the fact that you see the same people/teachers everywhere you go!

My ELF Story

Here's the first draft of my ELF story for your viewing pleasure...

Los Ausoles

Los Ausoles is located in the department of Ahuachapan, right outside the city of the same name by the geothermic plant La Geo. They're smoke-spewing fumaroles (vents?) that you can walk right up to, as well as boiling mud and hot springs. Smelled a bit like when the water softener at home in Ohio isn't working, but stronger. The best part was that it was just kinda there, free for anyone to walk right up to (or into if you weren't paying attention). Los Ausoles is defenitely on my list of cool things that I've seen in El Salvador that most people don't even know exist. Next stop is the Termales de Santa Teresa right down the road.





The vents make a hissing sound, just like a pressure cooker. Not a particulary comforting thought when you're walking over top of them.

Dia de la cruz

Dia de la cruz is celebrated May 3rd in El Salvador. It marks the beginning of the rainy season (winter) and dates back to prehispanic times when offerings were given to give thanks to the earth and what it provides. I just enjoy seeing all of the kinds of fruits that you don't see very often. These pictures are from Concepción de Ataco in the department of Ahuachapan. You can read more about this holiday in the Prensa Grafica's special from 2004.

What's Going On and What's Next

I have about two months left in my second term as an English Language Fellow at the Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano. Since I've been a not-so-good little ELF and haven't been writing my highlights (not true either, I've started to write them and just never finished them), this is my attempt to update the world on what I'm doing and to come out on top in google searches for "ccsa," just because it's fun.

Lots has changed in the past couple of months at CCSA, most noticeably the color of the buildings and the logo. They finally added the "americano" on for good (used to be just CCS). The paint part involved lots of fume-filled days, headaches, and the unfortunate deaths of many garden plants, but it looks good now that it's almost done. I also recently realized that I was in San Miguel this time last year, and had no idea how hot it would get in San Sal (even though this is an abnormal year). In San Miguel right now they're getting up to 110, but then you know you're never going to go outside unless it's dark. In San Sal, the heat comes in. Yuck.

I'm busy trying to finish up my curriculum project, teach my ILEA and admin classes, plan for July's national conference, and keep up with my Peace Corps outreach stuff, among many other little things. Our TESOL organization is finally on it's way to becoming legal and someday I'll publish it's first newsletter (once people send me things to publish). I'll head to Honduras for my birthday to present at IHCI's conference and enjoy "real" hot water in a nice hotel.

On the publicity side, the embassy wrote this nice article about me back in January and I'm making a little video about my time here.

Other than that, my kitten came back a couple of days after he ran after and I had my first car accident that was my fault (my fault for driving like I'm in Ohio and not El Salvador). I've got an interview on Monday, which is great if it works out. And then I can plan my wedding!

Gatito Gone Missing

My little gatito disappeared from my second floor apartment on Friday night. He was there when I went to sleep, not there when I got up. Salvadorans keep telling me that they don't like cats because all they do is escape (which is why they're not the most popular pet here) or that he's out chasing female cats and will come back when he's done (he's neutered, isn't this supposed to help keep him from doing this?). I find it odd, because there's no way to climb out of the one window that was open, unless he jumped down into one of the tree-shrub things below, and if he'd wanted out so bad, why hadn't he done it before? He could have fallen I suppose, since he likes to sleep on the window sill, but I doubt it. The vigilantes said they didn't hear or see anything, which is also strange, since Nico is a cry baby. Or, someone could have pulled him out of the window with a pole (apparently something that people do here). My neighbors (except for the one across the hall) are all unfriendly, but I don't think they would do that.

Anyways, I doubt he's coming back. I'm gone all day, there's no way for him to climb into the apartment, and I wouldn't be able to hear him crying at night if he does return. My first "real" pet of my own!

The circus

We went to the circus on Friday...first time I'd been in quite a while. Edwin had never been before. A couple of weeks ago four baby lions were born, and they let us take pictures with them (fun for us, I imagine not so much fun for the babies). It was fun, but sad at the same time (for the animals). And look, you can suggest names online for the babies here, and I suppose win something (unless you're a foreigner, and then you're not allowed to win anything).

Verano Feliz Verano Seguro

I love the one that says avoid an excess of passengers. The Salvadorans that were behind us on the Panamerican were given a ticket for having too many people in their mini van. There were 3 adults, 1 teenager, and 2 kids, and you know a mini van can safely hold more than that. They also did not stop all of the pickups with Nicaraguan plates full of people in the truck bed (not so safe). I also like the one that says drive with all of the doors closed. Why, may I ask, is this a problem?!

What You Should Know about Traveling to Nicaragua

1. Don't break any traffic laws, ever. Always have your fire extinguisher and triangle handy. Buy the stupid car insurance. If you have Salvadoran license plates, you will be stopped approximately every 15 minutes. Nicaraguans know how to drive like "normal" people. This is happy, even though donkey carts and horses are mixed in with cars.
   
2. Phone service sucks.
3. 70 sunblock does exist and is a worthwhile purchase.
4. You can spend cordoba or dollars. Why change, as long as you're good at doing conversion rates in your head?
   
5. Nicaraguans make good food. And they have international food. Yum, gyros and bibimbab.
6. Medicine is cheaper in Nicaragua than El Salvador.
7. Gas is more expensive (even though they're getting part of it from Venezuela?)
8. Malls are much more interesting. I actually found clothes I liked, even though they were outrageously expensive.
9. Buy the $1 map and don't get "lost" in the Selva Negra with the crazy howler monkeys.
10. You can't buy the isletas in the lake by Granada, even though there's signs saying you can.
11. Volcano fumes can make you feel really sick, or even pass out. A comforting thought for all of those who were tossed over the edge as sacrafices...they probably didn't get to the bottom before they were unconcious.
    
12. San Juan del Sur is nice, but nothing special unless you want to surf. The road to "one of the most touristed places in Nicaragua" especially during semana santa sucks.
    
13. Queso ahumado is awesome, as is Flor de Cana.

This was an excellent trip, and we got to see a lot. It was a good idea to come back on Friday, since we avoided traffic just about everywhere, and I got to see people making alfombras in Soyapango as we looked for a way that wasn't blocked to go to Edwin's house. Edwin went to the beach yesterday with his family, and said what is normally a 30 minute drive took 2 hours going and 3 hours coming. Glad I stayed at home with the cat!

What Salvadorans Put in the Back of Trucks

These people had a whole band in the back of their truck, with the cymbals hanging off the side.

Cavities? Go to El Salvador

I was just reading this interesting piece on Tim's El Salvador blog about the cheap cost of dental work in El Salvador. When I came to El Salvador after a year in Colombia of eating sugar filled/covered/drenched everything, and poor preventive care dentists (yes, I did go there, twice), my mouth was very unhappy. Fortunately, I now have a dentist in El Salvador, who coincidentally is my future sister-in-law, who gives me great prices. When I went two weeks ago, I only paid $20 for the filling of one nasty cavity. And that's without the help of insurance. I can't imagine how much that would cost back in Ohio, especially if I have no dental insurance!

What's New

This was my February:

1. I climbed half of a volcano (Izalco), so I half met my resolution to climb a volcano. I want to drive up the next one. Volcano rocks suck to walk on. On the same trip, I learned that when clouds move in scary sounding swarms of insects come are pushed along with the clouds because they don't like the cold. I have no idea if this is true or not, but could pass on seeing that again.
2. I got engaged. Yea! (note: picture was staged afterwards, the real thing took place on valentine's day when I came home from stressed and grumpy and half asleep).
   
3. I was thrown in a pool with all my clothes on by a bunch of drunk Colombians and Ecuadorans. But that's okay, because I got to dance salsa and vallenato all afternoon, and everyone else present was also thrown into the pool. Even after a year and a half in El Salvador, Colombians still win in my book!
4. Resolution that I need to do some extensive traveling in South America, and that before I die, I will make it to the Galapagos.
   
5. Looking for a new job is no fun. We'll see what happens, and I still have a while.
   
6. I don't think my cat is going to grow out of kneading my head. Not good.
   
7. I finally found someone who actually understands my tax situation, but that also means that my taxes have to be redone for the past two years. Expat fun never ends (if that's what I am).
   
8. Semana santa will be spent in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Yea, nice beach and cheap(er) prices.
   

The new gatito

This is my new kitten who has had approximately six names so far, including Mr. Pickles, Pushka (before his previous gaurdians knew he was a boy and that the name means rifle in Russian), and Señor Huevon. His current name is Nico, although he's called Mish or Mishito most of the time, the salvadoreño way of saying kitty. He's a very needy gatito and likes to eat my plants and make messes. He also likes the hamaca.

NCTE Costa Rica and ELF mid-year Conference

This was the second conference I've been to in Costa Rica, and most definitely more fun than the first. It was great to see some of the other people that are in the ELF program in the region, share experiences, and eat Korean and Indian food. I also enjoy the chance to see some of what goes on at the other binational centers, as it helps me gather ideas for my projects in El Salvador and see how the different countries have developed their programs.

Cancún Christmas

So this was my Christmas and after...on the beach in Cancún. I love México, but Cancún does not in any way resemble the México that I love. It does have nice beaches, though, and I got to see one of the new wonders of the world, Chichen Itzá, along with its swarms of tourists. This reminds me of several points that I want to mention:

1. Flying in Central America sucks. On the trip there, I had a flight from San Salvador to Guate, Guate to Flores, then Flores to Cancún. Note distances on map. Seriously, I could have driven to Guate faster than the nasty process of flying let me. On the way back, the flight was 2.5 hours late and I had to run to catch my next flight, after having circled around the city several times. This was also the flight where we were served the "leftovers" from the last trip. They didn't have any water. Which sucks, when you're sitting on the plane in Cancún with all the doors open for over an hour. But the amusing German couple sitting across from me (there was only 5 of us, plus the flight attendant) made it worth it. And the flight was almost $600...uggggggh Taca.
   
2. I could not acquire Mexican food at the hotel. And anything in the hotel zone was expensive and not really what I was looking for. Is it too much to ask to have tortillas at every meal? I've been in Latin America too long, I think. But seriously, not even Christmas dinner was Mexican.
   
3. Tour guides should not joke about giving tourist iguana for lunch. It's not that bad, and really, anything's good when you put picante and tortillas with it.
   
4. It was still nice to see my parents!

When I go back to the Yucatán, I'd love to see all of the little places that a large tour bus would never take you to. Some day....


And this is the after part. I was in San Salvador for New Year's Eve. I'd been warned before that Salvadorans love to set off firecrackers and fireworks (cohetes), but did not really understand to what extent! My dislike for fireworks as a child has not changed...and here the fun part is that the dust and smoke in the aftermath makes it a little hard to breathe or see when you're driving your car. Just like a foggy morning in Northwest Ohio! And check out New Year's day sky...this is not a normal cloud!

My Christmas Cookies

I decided that in order to be more in the Christmas spirit this year I needed to make some cookies, cause it just doesn't feel like Christmas here when it's 85 degrees and sunny. Finding all the ingredients was a bit of a hassle, since according to what the grocery stores have, salvadoreños only cook things from a box. I had a hard time finding chocolate to bake with, a cookie sheet, and cookie cutter, among other things. But I had a fun time making them, and even more so giving them away!

Christmas 2007

This is the second year that I've gone with the Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano to deliver toys to various places. This year we went to the Hogar del Niño orphanage, Carcel de Mujeres, and to Centro Escolar Ochupse Arriba outside of Santa Ana. Toys, candy, and cookies are collected at CCS during the end of November and the beginning of December. It's been a lot of fun to dress up and go play with the kids, although a lot of them aren't sure what a M&M is. They like the big white hands, though! One of the teachers, Cecil, dresses up as Santa, and there's usually some clowns and other characters as well.


At C.E. Ochupse Arriba with Santa and Mr. Flamenco


With Santa


Beating up the piñata


At the orphanage


Playing games at Hogar del Niño

Miramundo

Even though it's almost vacation time here, Edwin and I decided to take a little trip to Miramundo, on the El Salvador / Honduras border in Chaletenango. It's one of the few places that actually gets cooooooldddd in El Salvador (3° C at night while we were there). I could see my breath, which I thought was kind of funny. Most tourists seem to drink to keep warm, since there's no heat and most restaurants and such are open-air, which isn't so pleasant when you can't feel your toes! But the views make up for the cold. You can see all the volcanoes in the western part of El Salvador, and neat things like trees, flowers, and birds, which you don't see much of in San Salvador! We got there Saturday afternoon and took what was supposed to be a little walk to see where they grow veggies and strawberries, but the person who told us this was a 15 minute walk apparently forgot that walking and driving do not require the same amount of time. Hostal Miramundo, where we stayed, was cute but way too cold. The shower did indeed have hot water, but I couldn't bare to put my feet on the tile floor. I liked how Christmas dinner was roaming around in the yard (guinea hens and turkies, which are called chompipes). I'm half-tempted to buy a chompipe, park my car in the street for a while, and tie up my chompipe in my parking space until he's ready for dinner. I'm sure the neighbors would love that!

Sunday we went to see Rio Sumpul and a little waterfall (which was actually in Honduras), along with a veggie plantation. Although I enjoyed the trip overall, the lack of infrastructure in touristic places sometimes bothers me, especially since there's such a big movement to start promoting ES as a tourist destination. When we went to the river, the mini bus left an hour and a half after they said it would. That I'm used to. Our tour guide, however, dumped her trash along the path at the waterfall (not even in her own country, mind you), and let people cut wildflowers and pull up plants to take with them. I can forgive lateness, but the rest really bothers me.

We also had some "little" tour guides at the river--three 7 or 8 year olds who followed us around everywhere and pulled up plants for me that I then proceeded to hide again. They were quite cute and helpful. Overall, quite a nice escape from the noise and craziness of San Salvador at Christmastime!