Welcome to campo life

You know you're getting old in "Peace Corps years" when another cohort from your program area arrives and you have to show them the ropes of PC life. I've never felt more integrated or just plain settled than I did this past week for Immersion Days with two trainees, Ofira and Julie.

I looked back on what I had to say on my Immersion Days last year, and I smiled to see "I can't wait to get my own PCT in July!" Immersion Days are supposed to be a laid back, ask me questions, welcome to the life experience and I think we accomplished just that. Luckily, no pants were pooped in the making of these Immersion Days.

I went to Gotera on Thursday to pick up my charges. We grabbed lunch and gabbed with some other PCV/Ts. My trainees were great with asking poignant questions. I really had to think on some like "What are your indicators for success?" and "What's the most surprising positive and negatives?"

We missed art class on Thursday, but not for lack of trying! As soon as we made it up the road a group of my kids came rushing towards us with new bracelets on. I was so proud. I've realized how much the kids love me here and truly look forward to our time together. (In case you were wondering- THAT'S my indicator for success.) We spent the rest of the day with my host family waiting out a terrible wind storm that knocked over a huge tree, thus cutting the power in my house for a few days. All the cheese went bad :(

We spent Friday morning with more Q&A and coffee time, wrapped up by going to the lookout on my host family's property. It was a hazy hot day, but the valley was just as beautiful as ever. Friday afternoon was pizza time with Niña Orbelina and Co. Last time we made pizza, I was heavily influencing the process. We used my dad's own masa recipe and they kept checking in with me to see if they were making it right. This time I let the process go as it would if I wasn't there, in an effort to let Orbe find her rhythm. It worked. She was rolling out dough and firing up the oven in a flash of concentrated effort that only comes with being a very experienced chef and entrepreneur.

Julie and Ofira helping with the masa.

Learning with Orbe and Ciomara, their host mom for Immersion Days.

Gringa pizza with crust on the left, before going in. 

Proud of our work. 

Yum!

The family posing REAL QUICK before digging in.

In true PC fashion, we had coffee by candle light at my house after pizza. Erik came over and I helped him with his English homework. He walked the trainees home and we noticed how amazing the stars were. I guess that's one plus to having the community's power knocked out.

Saturday morning we climbed to a new waterfall in La Montaña. The whole family came! Even Otinia make it up to the top with Vaquito leading the way. I tried explaining to the PCTs that climbing waterfalls is a rare experience typically reserved for special ocassions, but the truth is I go pretty.  darn. frequently.  This waterfall is smaller than the other, but still worth the climb!

On the move.

Ta da!

Ofira and Julie enjoying the posa. Cati hanging on to the irrigation tubes (which we ended up breaking shortly after). 

Climbing higher.

Welcome to PCV life! I think they like it.

Vaquito thinks he's a human, but refuses to bathe. 

Salvadorans are fearless!

Otinia, queen of the waterfall. She's the coolest 65-year-old best friend ever!

Trying to keep the irrigation tubes together. 

 We made our way back down and Ciomara, being the AMAZING host mom she is, made a delicious lunch for us still in her wet waterfall clothes. We had a quick ADESCO meeting then went to check out the sugar cane mill.

Manuel picking at the cobwebs. It hadn't been used in a while, clearly. 

At work!

Eating fresh cane. It's delicious! 

We came back and made pupusas. After dinner we spent some time talking about Salvadoran food, which I've come to love. I kept saying, "Mmmm me gusta atol chuco! Mmm me gusta arroz con leche." They tried a Salvadoran cookie called salporas, a dry and crumbly cookie that desperately needs a side of coffee. Apparently, if you want to buy salporas at the Sunday market in the pueblo you gotta take the first bus. The first bus passes by my site at 5am. So, I dragged my butt outta bed at 4:30am and rallied the PCTs! It was actually great for me because I needed to do my weekly shopping and restock the queso duro in my fridge.

We came back around 7am and enjoyed another wonderful meal by Ciomara. More coffee and chitchat, then the micro came by to whisk Ofira and Julie back to the other side of the country.

Julie making pupusas with Orbe.

One last pic with the host fam. They were great!

 It's funny. Immersion Days was supposed to be an eye-opening experience for the trainees, but I ended up learning a lot about myself and my community. I've been here a year but there's still surprises. I went to parts of my community I didn't even know existed and noticed, comparatively, just how much I've integrated into Salvadoran culture. Really simple things that make a big impact like saluding all the kids, tuning out roosters, and dealing with loud culto radio have made me into a successful, well adjusted PCV.

Not everything's perfect in campo life, but there are perfect moments. Otinia perched on the waterfall, fresh pan dulce from the oven, a bigillion stars in the sky, a gaggle of kids yelling "SALUD ALE" from the streets. That's what PCV life is about.

Good luck, future PCVs!

Extreme exfoliation

We'll go three or four days out of the week completely without water in my house. That doesn't mean "without clean drinking water." That means no water period. No liquid type substance to wash your clothes, bathe, cook, and clean with. It really becomes a problem for me because I can't seem to stay hydrated in the 100 degree heat. When there's no water, there's no water to chlorinate and drain through my filter. 

One thing is for damn sure- I will never take running water for granted again.

The saga continues with my relationship, or lack therefore, with water. Just yesterday, I was dripping sweat at the hour of 8am. I had some meetings to get to so I figured I should take a shower before the water dries up (without fail, the water will be dry by noon). I'm happy, because the water is running so I hop in without a care in the world. 

I get to soaping up when I notice that my soap feels gritty. I think that's weird but meh, weirder things happen. But then my arms and legs are covered in grit and I put two and two together that the grit is coming from the shower head. Of course it is. I turn the water off, but I'm covered head to toe with suds. 

I work out a system where I fill up a guacal, let the dirt/sand mixture sink to the bottom, then I splash the layer of brownish water from the top to rinse the soap off. The floor of the shower is completely covered in mud at this point. 

Finally, I'm as clean as I'm going to get. I asked my host dad what happened this time. There's always a new excuse reason for why we don't have water. Normally the culprit is the dry season and there just isn't enough water in the waterfall to supply all the houses. Sometimes it's more interesting. "They're building a house up the road so they cut the tube." Sure. "The tube burst." Ok. "A bolo cut the tube for fun." Seriously? 

I never got a straightforward response. 

No one will be more relieved for the wet season than me. I do rain dances all the time. I know there will be some point, probably around September, when I'm sick and tired of having rain every single day. But then I'll look back on this post, remember how much it truly SUCKS to not have access to water, and I'll get over it. 

Go tell it on the mountain

Noah and Hilary, two amazing PCVs in my cohort, visited my site on Monday. They had friends visiting and wanted to show them the beautiful land of El Salvador. Of course, I took them up the mountain to see my favorite waterfall!

Me in my favorite spot. 

Only Cori made it up the ledge with me. 

Probably because it's stoopid dangerous. 

The PCVs

All the Americanos

Waterfall

I have a bad case of FOMO. Instead of trolling the interwebs, I fear of missing out on great cultural experiences because I'm scared for my well being or listening to common sense.

So that's why I decided to climb up the waterfall. You might recall my first trip up the mountain. It's a favorite hike among young people in my community.

Once I saw my host sisters climbing the ledge of the waterfall, I knew I had to do it too. Luckily I didn't fall or crack my head open!

Safe on the ground.

Oh, it's on.

Getting wet!

Ever so carefully...

I DID IT!

One foot! Because I like danger!

Uh, how do I get back down now?

So much fun!