Whenever people in my community ask me about about what I miss from home, I always make sure to include my dad's superb pizza from his wood-fired oven. I crave it alllllll the time. I was so excited when I got to my site and saw all these dome ovens scattered on people's property. Perfect for pizza!
Niña Orbelina, the woman who sells bread and pupusas in my community, has been hounding me for MONTHS trying to get my dad's recipe. She wants to sell real American style pizza, and who better to show her the ropes than the only American in town?! She's also seen a video of my dad's pizza oven and thinks pizza making runs in my genes.
Finally the day came when we bought all the ingredients, did a cost analysis, and made a huge batch of dough. It was a long day, but the pizza turned out great! We didn't have power all day so all hands were on deck to help cook. No power = no FIFA. We had a great pizza feast!
Working the dough.
Me and Lady, Orbelina's daughter. She has Down Syndrome and usually doesn't warm up to people, but she loves me. I submitted this photo to a PC contest because we're so cute.
I'm trying to show Cati how to stretch the dough without making holes.
Our ingredient boat.
Inferno!
Some of the pizza making crew.
Before inferno.
After inferno!
So proud!
I brought some home for Aysel. She loves "pee-sas"
It's my birthday and I feel absolutely, positively loved! Because I have an August birthday I'll be spending 24, 25 and 26 here in El Salvador. I'm happy to report that the first of three PC birthdays went swimmingly. Here's a recap:
6:30am: Wake up, bucket bathe, eat juevos rancheros, chit chat with my host mom about how awesome I am and how she's so happy to have me. Get a great text from my birth mom, and I'm excited to start the day!
8:30am: Spanish class. I was really happy because we worked on the perfect tenses, which I cannot use perfectly. See what I did there?
12noon: Get amazeballz coffee compliments of my Spanish teacher. Coffee Lovers is the new Starbucks.
1pm: Soup! I've been waiting to eat soup all month!
Soup= a bunch of boiled stuff. It's delicious.
2pm: Review dirty words with my Spanish class. For science! I mean, so we don't make fools of ourselves in site.
3:30pm: Everyone pile in the PC micro to go to the KARAOKE BAR! Guess that song!
Maria and me!
SanAn represent!
Maria and Amanda. Man, they feel like women!
They tried to make me and Anne go to rehab, but we said no, no, no!
We even had backup dancers!
Open up your heart and you'll find love, love love. And Kai.
Great action shot. We're so lucky, we are stars, but we cry cry cry in our lovely hearts thinkin, if there's nothing missing in our lives then why do these teeeears come at night?
Solo. I can't do what ten people tell me to do, so I guess I'll remain the same!
Luke and I. We sang them a song, because we're the piano... People? Ok, that one was a bit of a stretch.
Sneak attack happy birthday song! And then "In Da Club" came on and a new PC birthday tradition was born.
6pm: My host family knows how much I love pizza! Dinner with my SanAn family!
My host mom. Those pizzas had to travel a long ways to get to the campo.
Me and my family.
My besties.
My happy birthday signs. And I caught the majestic eagle between photos.
7:30pm: Call my birth parents and tell them all about Immersion Days and my birthday. I miss them terribly but I'm honestly truly happy here, and I know I can do this. I think they're happy for me too. I'm happy they're happy I'm happy!
9ish: Summarize my wonderful birthday for your reading pleasure.
Love you all, and I'll keep you updated on how Super Weekend goes! Besos!
Good morning! I figured today is as good as any to start writing posts for my Peace Corps blog. Today is actually a very important day because this is the day I have to say goodbye to the majority of my friends and family before joining the Peace Corps in El Salvador on Tuesday. There will be tears. And pizza. I just hope more pizza than tears.
I'm honestly not the best writer. I tried keeping a journal during a study abroad trip to Peru. It lasted two days. But, per the instructions dictated by my mom, I'm going to keep this blog updated to the very best of my concentration abilities. I'll probably make a lot of youtube posts because anyone who knows me knows that my stories are convoluted and best told rambling. Trust me, they always come back to my main story/point! When and if I make a post on the video box, I'll link it back to here. My blog's the one-stop-shop for weird Alex moments. You're welcome.
I'll update later when I try packing my life into two 50lb suitcases. Like I need another reason to cry. Waaah.
No Woman No Cry? Nah, I'm just gonna let the tears flow.
