0 to 60 in under 30 seconds

Is this real life? Wow, things in el campo are verrrry different from San Salvador. We were very fortunate to have a comfortable orientation retreat with wifi and flush toilets. The shower was in the house! That is just not the case in el campo (the rural areas). 

Today I peed in a deep dark hole and attempted a bucket shower, but it was more like an icy curse from hell. My room is attached to the house, between the kitchen and the porch. There's a metal roof which gets pretty loud when it rains. And of course it rains, because its the rainy season. My bed is fine, I have a Peace Corps mandated mosquito net. In all, it's not bad. My host mom is very careful about being sanitary when she makes my food and I always wash my hands with chlorine treated water. 

My family consists of a father, Roberto, a mother, Maria, and three of her children. One daughter is married and lives in the town over, so I only see her and the baby, Byron, before meals. I have a host sister, Mandie, who's in her twenties but I honestly can't tell if its low or high because salvadorans don't age. She goes to college for communications and she's incredibly nice. My host brother, Eric, is 18 and is studying to be an electrician. I told him that when the electricity goes out in America, it's a crisis. Those aren't their given names, but it's the trend here to take on an American nickname. I have no idea how to spell their given names, but they're beautiful. 

There are two other volunteers who were lucky enough to be placed in the rural training center with me. I love them, and they don't even know it. If I didn't have other trainees near me, I'd be a goner. Both of them speak Spanish significantly better than me. I am the misfit who thought "it'll all come back, no prob." No. That's stupid. Learn some freakin Spanish before you leave for peace corps, ok? 

I want to take pictures and videos and document everything, but the humidity is terrible here. Also, I try not to travel with anything that might call attention to me. I will take a video soon and post ASAP. 

It's getting dark now and the roosters are going nuts. The quaint idea of roosters cawcawing to awake up farmers is bs. Roosters caw any damn time they want. Especially the roosters that live 5 feet from my room.... 

I get Internet on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I go into town for medical and security training. My goal is to write when I'm en mi casa, then post it the next time I'm in town. As I write, it's Saturday night. I'll probably get to post this on Monday because we have a special training. We get cell phones finally! 

The culture shock is worst than I thought. It's only the first couple of days, so I need to stay strong. If I still feel like this in 10 weeks, then I'll be screwed. But right now, it's totally normal. 

I love and miss you all. I really do. I wish I could respond to all your Facebook messages and emails, but ya know. Life en el campo. In the coming weeks I may be better at communication, but right now it sucks. 

Its getting dark and I don't want my host mom to turn on the light. Light= bugs as big as your hand. Hasta luego!