Futbol y el yoga

Here are the pictures I promised from yesterday's futbol match. It is still raining hard right now, but we enjoyed a brief respite yesterday evening in which we had this terrific soccer game. (Note the oversize uniforms on some of the kids- adorable. They took them off after a while because they didn't want them to get dirty...).

I also just had my first yoga class here at the Center and it went just fabulously. Christy, Korla, and Ariel all graciously attended, along with 6 or 7 Salvadorans and a whole slew of Danish women from an immersion program that is located here in Suchitoto. I met the facilitator of the program, Ciri, who was excited to hear we'll be giving the class every Tuesday and Thursday.

I hope some more "Suchitotenses" can come next time, but this was the first class and it went very well. I was a little nervous but I knew what I was saying was good because I had been reviewing spanish vocabulary that would be relevant for the session. So I just trusted my instinct and relaxed into the session. One of the best parts was the "corpse pose" at the end where we just listened to a couple songs. One of the songs was "Casa abierta", a simply beautiful song that reminded Christy and I both of our good friend form Casa, Kelly Miguens, to an almost unbearable degree. If you have time you should look this song up, and it's lyrics in spanish and/or English- it is really something. I think the artists is Guardabarranco.
Anyway, I'm off to find something to eat for dinner. Thank you for tuning in and take care tonight. Special shout out to Derek - miss you brother, hope you are having a great night tonight.

Peace,

Alex

P.S. here's the corrider in which we did yoga. There's a bit more space to the right and stretching back into the corner both behind and in front of this vantage point. But it should give you a good idea of the ambience. I'll take a picture next time maybe of the set-up with all the mats and what not.

GOLAZOOOO!!!

Well I do not have much time or energy to update at the moment, but I just returned from a soccer game with the ninos from Barrio San Jose, the neighborhood in which the Center is located, and it was absolutely awesome. The kids had been pestering me for days for their uniforms ("Don Alex, deme el uniforme"), which are Large to 2 XL shirts donated from a softball league in the states, so I was a little worried about letting them down. Apparently the Center has received some real soccer uniforms in the past, so I was thinking the kids would be disappointed with the gigantic t-shirts with baseball players on them.
However, that was not the case at all. As soon as I arrived with the uniforms to play ("Como estamos amigos"? I said. "Bien Don Alex!"), all the kids excitedly tried on the oversized uniforms, and took to tucking them in at the waist and tucking the sleeves into the shirt at the shoulders. We then started playing around on the concrete concha (futbol pitch), and actually within minutes the majority of the kids decided they didn't want to wear the uniforms- because they didn't want them to get dirty on the recently rain-soaked court! Imagine that. Here I was worried the kids would be let down by me holding out on them for so long and then delivering less than ideal jerseys. But no, they were so taken by the "gifts" (as David called them) that they didn't even want to wear them if there was a chance of getting them muddy.
Wow, so these kids are just really special, and it felt so good to just get out and run around after all the meetings in the Center today. One of the meetings was for a women's group from Suchitoto who are organizing a trip to the hospital for mammogram check-ups and breast cancer, or "cancer de mamas", education and awareness training. Apparently the only option for most women is to go without examination because the only mammogram machines are privately owned and located in the capital. However, the mayor's office here has allocated some funds for this program for at-risk women.
The other meeting was for a bunch of campesinos (countryside/farmer folk), and I really mean a bunch, probably about 200, to receive a whole bunch of beans and rice from a charity donation from Taiwan. Lots of stuff going on here...

Anyways, tomorrow I will try to upload some of the pictures Korla took at the soccer game. You will just love to see the kids in the oversize uniforms, they are awesome. Especially this kid "Carlito", who must be aobut 3 feet tall and weigh maybe 40 pounds; yet he's a fearless 'portero' (goalkeeper), and he jokes around with the older kids like he's just one of the guys. I'm really hopeful I can be a good role model for these guys because they are surrounded by a culture that is not exactly big on chivalry. Korla, Ariel and I are thinking we can develop this soccer thing and maybe get some girls involved. We could do some practices as well, not just games, since none of these kids have had formal p.e. instruction. I feel great today because it seems like the sky's the limit. Oh man it was great: After the game (which was at the local school), we all walked home together, and this older guy Antonio who always seems to be hanging around with the younger kids, was basically being the father of all the boys, walking them home and assuring us they'd be safe until next time.

Ah, I hope that all made sense. I am typing pretty fast and I actually have to go now. Tomorrow I give my first yoga class at 5 so hopefully that will go well. I love and miss you all very much. Peace out!

Alex

Inspired gringos in a foreign land

(Alicia and I at the opening of "La memoria vive", the museum of Suchitoto, on Sunday)

I think the past few days have been pretty full and excellent experiences. Since posting my last blog on Thursday of last week, I took off for San Salvador early Friday morning to visit with Alicia. I had intended to travel with Sister Peggy at 5 am (she teaches Theology to Casa students every Friday), but when I awoke at 4:45 my stomach felt pretty terrible. I had been having some stomach issues the last few days- nothing too serious, just getting adjusted to the diet I think- but on Friday morning I felt like I may have been falling into a more serious illness. Fortunately I felt better after resting for another couple hours and I ended up taking off for San Salvador by myself via bus at 7.

San Salvador was a blast as usual. Alicia and I had some time to catch up and we spent the afternoon with Alicia's students and her CC staff having lunch together, running errands to PriceSmart (unfortunately WalMart exists here too), and just hanging out. We were supposed to take part in a dance lesson Friday night with all of the Casa staff, but unfortunately there were two family deaths on the same day and the directors of the Romero program (composed of the Salvadoran scholarship students) were busy coordinating a community trip out to see the families of the bereaved- Liliana and Efrain.

Instead of attending the dance lesson, Alicia, Guillermo, Betsy and I went over to Kevin and Trena's house (the co-directors of Casa) for a night of relaxation and the tv show "Modern Family". It's very interesting gathering around TV shows in El Salvador- and very necessary I think too. Christy, Korla, Ariel and I have been watching Glee episodes together quite frequently and I have been finding those times together to be a good release from the reality of El Salvador, as well as enjoyable simply because Glee is a tremendous show and our community of volunteers here is just great to spend time with.

So anyway, on Friday I was in San Salvador, and then on Saturday Alicia and I traveled back to Suchitoto together since their staff outing was canceled due to inclement weather predictions. It didn't end up raining too too much, but the outing was to a national park so it wouldn't have been great in the rain and the roads to and from the site could have been treacherous.

Saturday in Suchi was great, although again we had a late start because I started feeling ill in the morning and didn't want to get on a bus until about noon. Fortunately after Saturday morning I haven't felt ill at all so I really think it was just a matter of getting used to more greasy food (and learning that I should probably avoid some of it if I can).

The afternoon in Suchi was wonderful. Alicia was introduced to some of the staff here and we hung out at the skatepark for a little bit. The energy of the Center has been directed toward the opening of the Museum, however, which took place on Sunday. The opening was just spectacular. So many community members came, including the mayor of Suchitoto and the police chief, as well as enough kids and - - - a small interruption: a woman just came into the office (apparently she comes every day) bearing fruit for sale. I bought a couple discs of pineapple. - - - Anyway, many people came to the opening and even though it was raining the spirit of peace that Sister Peggy and so many others have worked so hard to build here was just shining through. The various speeches of the Salvadoran volunteers, the mayor, and Sister Peggy herself, were really hopeful. I was so proud to be in Suchitoto witnessing the opening of this wonderful museum and monument of culture and identity in a place that has been so scarred by violence, and continues to struggle with the realities of hunger and poverty.

(Berti, a director of programs at the Center, delivers some thank-yous and shares some thoughts regarding the museum as Ariel and Sister Peggy look on)

I will upload some pictures from the day, but I think there are more available on the Center's Facebook if anyone is interested. Just search "Centro arte para la paz" on Facebook. I may also open a photobucket account or something eventually so I can share many photos at once. I would like to upload all my pictures from the museum on blogspot but it would take way too long.

(Salvadoran youth performing Frere Jacques on harp for the opening of the museum. These kids took harp lessons at the Center from a local musician and they were really good. I will try to upload my video of their song on the Center's facebook)

Ok, so yesterday was a free day after the big opening of the museum. Alicia took off in the morning because she had morning meanings with her staff in San Salvador. Korla, Ariel and I went for a long and steep walk down to Lake Suchitlan, which was beautiful, and then we spent the afternoon going to the market, making lunch together, and of course watching a little Glee. I swear the intention was to do something productive, and actually by the afternoon I had completed my advertisements for the classes I'll be giving here at the Center.

One of my classes is a simple Yoga session which is intended to provide a space especially to adults in which they can relax and stretch their bodies. I am going to structure it as a guided meditation, emphasizing awareness of breath and body, and I will lead the group in a series of fairly simple stretches and yoga positions. After a while if the group feels comfortable we will probably do more advanced moves, but for now I want to emphasize the all-important process of simply taking the time to slow one's body down, pay attention to breath, and intentionally remove stress by moving the body in relaxing manners. There are already a bunch of people (majority women I believe) signed up for the class so it should be great. We start on Thursday so I am actually going to spend some time after this blog preparing the session and figuring out how best to explain moves in Spanish.

The other class I'll be giving is called "Poesia y Rap", and we'll be doing some interdisciplinary poetry and rap studies and hopefully performing original poetry at a later date along with Ariel's chorus group and Christy's life-stories illustrated class. There are some great things going on here at the Center; I'm really excited to be here and even though the process of figuring out what to do, how to do it, and how to get people to come is somewhat daunting, the fact is that people in Suchitoto need spaces to gather and are open to exploring creative outlets like poetry, yoga, chorus and story-telling. As time goes on and us volunteers get a feel for our respective "talleres" (workshops) and the people of Suchitoto, I am sure we will continue to find ways to bring people together which simultanously allow us to grow as individuals and as inspired gringos living in a foreign land. The Centro arte para la paz is uniquely equipped to nurture this mission, as the museum opening proved, as it is singularly geared toward promoting peace through creative energy and community cooperation. Way to go Sister Peggy and way to go Suchitoto.

Shout out to Mom, Dad, Will, Rose, Chris and Ogg. I love you, and hope you are having great days. Peace,

Alex

Cojutepeque

As promised, I have finally uploaded some pictures from my first week in El Salvador. Here is a picture of Eduardo, Bridget and Parker playing baseball at the base of Eduardo and Reina's hillside finca (see previous blog posts).

These two spider pictures are from the garden behind Reina's home. Alicia showed me the spider and asked me to take a couple pictures... I think its black and white speckled backpack is just amazing. Imagine the evolutionary history of this species...

Mas Cojutepeque

Here are another couple pictures of the Casa Silvia group, plus me and Eduardo, Reina's brilliant little nephew (see previous blog post). We are under the roof of the little shed on Reina's family's finca (right).

Above to the left, Bridget and Eduardo are hiking up the hillside finca past a papaya tree.

These pictures are from the "mirador" overlooking Cojutapeque. Note the picture of Casa Silvia's entire cast (minus Susana, the other Becaria student who couldn't go with us, and PLUS Heidi the new Casa director). Sorry it's a little tough to see everyone. There's a picture with better light above.

My Suchitoto Casa

This is where I live! It's been sort of an overcast day as is often the case. Actually it's usually quite sunny for periods of the day, and pretty hot, and then it will rain for an hour or so and the clouds may hang out for a while.
Anyway, this is the courtyard in the center of the hostel portion of the Center. Right now I live in a room off to the right (no. 9), right next to Ariel's number 10 room. I love sitting on the edge of that cistern in the center of the garden and looking up into the clouds at night. Last night the moon was almost full so it was quite peaceful to watch clouds streaming by high up in the night with the sound of dogs barking off in the distance.
The sounds here are a little different than I'm used to in San Salvador. Things actually become quite silent in the night here, whereas in San Salvador there seem to be more dogs barking, music playing, and random slams and bams occurring all the time.

That's all for now. I'm watching Glee with Christy and Ariel. Peace.

*

(Don Lito in the Peace Garden here at the Center)

(Another picture of the peace garden. I took this one from the bench outside our office while I was on the phone with Rosemary, Ogg, and Mom.)

Last story of the night: I returned home not too long ago from walking Christy across town with Ariel. We walked Christy to the home of her host family, or host women, Eva and Rosa. It was quite a beautiful walk, through Suchitoto's town center and then down some backroads into Nueva Suchitoto (there are about 80 rural community's outside Suchitoto proper, one of which is called Nueva Suchitoto).

On our way back we stopped nearby the Center at the house of one of our little skateboarding friend's family and had some pupusas. The women who lives at the pupuseria with her family is named Nuria. She is the aunt of our friends Diego and Miguel (11 and 8 years old respectively), and she told us quite the story of her family's move to Suchitoto from one of the rural community's during the war. Ariel and I were so lucky to be hosted by someone so generous both with her delicious cooking and her story telling.

I am still somewhat on the fence about going to San Salvador tomorrow. I could do some work around here this weekend to help get the museum ready for Sunday, but I really want to see Alicia tomorrow and spend some time with the Salvadoran family we worked with two days a week in Tepecoyo when Alicia and I were students here almost two years ago.

Anyway, time for bed. Peace and Love,

Alex.

First day in Suchi

This is going to be a very brief post as I am exhausted. Today was my first full day in Suchitoto, El Salvador. I am basically two hours north of San Salvador in a rural region which was initially the indigenous capital way back in the day (cerca late 1800s I suppose). Sister Peggy told me that for this reason the department in which Suchitoto is located is called "Cuscatlan", the original name of this country.
Anyway, I am typing away in the office right now as Alcides the vigilante (night guard) paces around. A few minutes ago as Ariel and I were watching Glee on her laptop he came into the room with a big wooden rifle. Ariel and I exchanged surprised glances even though we are well enough acquainted with Alcides' warm nature to know that him having a gun poses no threat. It's actually the standard procedure for security in most of El Salvador.
Anyway, as Alcides prepared to leave the room he made a comment about hunting pigeons (para casar palomas) and Ariel and I just had to clarify with him that he was going to be sitting out in the courtyard firing a real live gun into the air at night, while "guarding" the Center. (I have to say I wasn't totally surprised. After all we are in El Salvador.)
Upon viewing our surely incredulous faces Alcides smiled and said, "si, son copas", which I didn't really understand. He then asked us if we thought the gun was real, at which point I realized that the gun did look an awful lot like an air rifle. Alcides approached the desk at which we were seated and proceeded to show us the "copas" he was toting. Copas apparently are the little metal bullets that his gun shoots, which- Alcides assured us as his final commentary on the matter- "se pueden matar". Good. I hope I am not mistaken for a pigeon tonight. (Seriously though I am completely safe here.)

Today was great. It is awesome to have some community with Ariel (from Santa Clara University; a great singer and consequently organizing an adult and two youth "coros" here; also friend of many Casa students) and Korla (from Minnesota; met Sister Peggy as part of an educational immersion program she attended a year or so ago in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala). They are both just great individuals. We are beginning to warm up to one another and we actually had a great little dinner date at a pupuseria in town just a few hours ago. It was nice to sit and talk about everything from "the Scottish play" Macbeth (which apparently is cursed as far as many theatre folk are concerned), to food alergies and their causes, to Disney movies. We also reflected a bit on our days and our journeys here in El Salvador and it was great to vent some of my "I don't know what I'm doing here" thoughts and feel as though someone (or two people) can relate.
The day did go very well, although I struggled with Spanish a bit and did feel as though I wanted to figure everything out about myself and Suchitoto all at once. One special moment I had took place after we closed the skatepark for the day at 4 o'clock. Ariel, Korla and I spent most of our time running the park, signing kids up and supervising them, but at 4 we closed for the day and a few kids lingered. Diego, his brother Miguel, Jose, and Henri all were sitting around so I went to chat with them a little. They wanted me to ask about getting uniforms for their soccer team (which apparently is just them and "the other kids that didn't come today"). As we spoke I had the idea that soccer could become a part of my job here in Suchi, but I was so overwhelmed from the day and the thought of starting up a whole other project (finding a field, organizing, etc.) that I almost said "no" when they asked me to play with them for a little bit. They just wanted to practice for a little today they said, and as I reflected on this event tonight I realized that this opportunity to coach one 4-person team for one hour was exactly what I needed to be doing. The kids needed me, they wanted me to be their "entrenador". So I sent Miguel off to fetch his soccer ball, went to my room for my shoes, and upon reuniting with the "equipo" we commenced our first ever futbol practice.
It was so great. I had them do warm up laps, some stretches- all of which I imagine they had never done before. (Alicides told me later that "physical education" for kids here consists of someone handing them a ball, pointing at a field, and saying "go play for 40 minutes.) It was great, the kids were so cute. And they had a great time even though they were kind of out of control and really just wanted to kick the crap out of the soccer ball and score goals.
When things got a little out of hand (arguing, ostracising the youngest Miguel) toward the end, we sat down and had a little reflection. I don't know where it came from but I directed them to sit in a circle and roll the ball to someone sitting across from them. Once the ball had arrived the recipient was to say something they did well in practice today, and also say something the passer of the ball had done well in practice. This was a great exercise for them I think, especially as it seemed to me they were not necessarily accustomed to talking about things they'd done well, or complimenting others (except of course complimenting Henri who is the best futbolista of the 4).

Well I really should go get some sleep. Tomorrow we open the park again at 9, and I am going to speak with Sister Peggy about setting up my yoga class as well at some point in the morning. Not sure yet if I am headed to San Salvador to visit with Alicia on Friday or if I will remain here. Either way it should be great. Love to all. Goodnight.

This is a pretty good representation of a Salvadoran bus, although there is also another smaller type called a "coaster" which I'll have to depict at a later time.

With my head in the air and my feet on the ground

Today I had planned to travel to Suchitoto from San Salvador but ended up staying in Antiguo Cuscatlan (the town where the Casa program is located). Yesterday was really the first day I felt as if I had arrived in El Salvador since actually getting here. The first couple sleep-deprived days were very enjoyable, especially being reunited with Alicia and the Casa family, but I did not feel as if my feet were on the ground. I felt like I was floating. I knew I would need to be patient with myself and my surroundings and give myself time to feel like I am still living in the same world, but it was a strange feeling I was experiencing to be sure.

Not that I feel completely arrived now either, I just think I've had enough time to catch up on sleep, take-in my reunion with the Casa program and all its life-altering energy, and reflect a little bit on my hopes and fears heading into my work in Suchi. I think the main thought I observed on my mind earlier today centered on the conflict between taking care of myself and being available to others. One of the practices that the Casa nurtures is a self-awareness that makes room for one to take time to recharge, to "go to the places one needs to go" to feel alive. For me, that will mean lots of hiking and exploring in the mountains around Suchitoto, as well as taking time to blog, meditate, stretch, and just hang out with friends. However, I am also aware of my desire to be present to the community in Suchitoto, both my volunteer community and the village as a whole, and so it will be important for me to seek a balance between these two. And I guess that's where the practical "what am I doing here in El Salvador" question intersects with the deeper "what am I doing here on earth" question, and while I do not have an answer, my experience tells me that I am here to feel alive and to share the love and flourishing that comes from opening oneself up to life. There are many reflections on the impact that living with the poor of our world can have on one's sense of purpose in life, and I think many include or lead to a similar conclusion: the world is full of suffering, so let's find a way to live together and share our experiences both of pain and, perhaps more importantly, liberation.

I am hesitant to go on because I think I am sputtering somewhat, struggling to give voice to feelings and thoughts that are as yet quite undeveloped. I know that I am in love on many levels and that feels great. Yet there are no conclusions in my mind, only open-ended signposts represented by such statements as "living together and sharing our struggle for peace". This is not a fact of human nature, at least as far as I know, but a decision of some kind. I believe it emanates from the deepest place in me, and so I revere it and think it holy. Yet I do not know any morning when I wake up what it would mean to work for peace in the world. And many mornings I do not even think about it. Yet the desire to love and to see others loved guides all of my actions and is the motivation and as-yet highly undetermined force I hope to follow and learn from in my time in El Salvador and beyond.

Thank you for reading that bit of reflection if you took the time to do so. Feel free to comment or ask questions to help us understand better what I'm getting at.

So one great experience I have had over the last couple days was a visit to Reina's house. Reina is a becaria (scholarship) student in the Romero program which functions parallel to the Casa de la solidaridad. She lives in Alicia's house, so the entirety of "Casa Silvia" went on the trip out to Cojutapeque (coe-who-ta-pe-kay) to get to know Reina a little better. She actually lives out there quite a bit these days since her mother is sick and the only other people in the house are Reina's father who works on the family's farm many days out of the week, and Reina's eleven-year-old nephew Eduardo.

Well Reina's family is just wonderful. Maria Victoria (Reina's mother) welcomed us into her humble home up a steep concrete road in the foothills of Cerro de Pavas, and we all sat in the family room and introduced ourselves. I quickly befriended young Eduardo who surprised me with his willingness to talk and engage. Actually a lot about Eduardo surprised me. Many Salvadorans, especially younger kids, seem either intimidated or not interested in interacting with gringos, but this kid had a Salvadoran culture and geography book out, and his little mind spouting out facts and interesting events in Salvadoran society within minutes of meeting him.

The most amazing thing about Eduardo that I learned over the course of the day is how incredibly mature and aware he is (again, not characteristics I'm used to associating with Salvadoran youth, or any youth for that matter). Eduardo communicated clearly and confidently, and actually I don't think I could find a better person to guide someone through a milpa, a farm. Eduardo not only knew which plants were which, and which birds did what, but he also knew about different types and names, stories behind their origins, the seasons in which foods are harvested and flowers bloom. It was truly amazing.

One really cool thing Eduardo told Heidi, Parker and I when we were in his family's garden is that El Salvador's national plant, Izote, represents "la unidad familiar". He explained this by saying that whereas one might view the household as supported by the work of either solely the man or solely the woman, in El Salvador family unity is achieved through cooperation of both parties in a process of support and mutual care. Not only did Eduardo present a beautiful sentiment and a previously unknown fact to us, but he did so in such a thoughtful and professional manner that I really didn't know what to make of him.

His lessons continued as Maria Victoria told us the tragic story of their pet "mapache", which died not too long ago. From our quizzical glances to one another Eduardo sensed that we knew not what a mapache was, so he disappeared into the house and reappeared a minute later with a little encyclopedia opened to a wild-life page. "Aqui tenemos el mapache" he told us, pointing to the picture of the raccoon. This kid is so cool. And no wonder: Reina is a superb person herself and although she is somewhat reserved I actually have enjoyed a very warm relationship with her thus far.

I met Reina last year when I was with the Casa and so I think part of our 'confianza' this week is due simply to the fact that we are glad to see each other again, and both of us appreciate the other being here. Anyway, Reina's house was great and her family's milpa was a joy to visit as well. We hiked up a pretty steep hill filled with wildflowers and papaya trees, and we saw Reina's father trudging through the corn, chipillin (some kind of small bush from which leaves are harvested for soup and such- an herb I suppose), quiskuil (delicious squash sort of vegetable), bananas, etc., spraying pesticides to keep the bugs from eating his family's sustenance. Wow, if you could have seen the view from the family's tool shed on the mountain. Once I have access to my pictures I'll have to post a few. Maybe I'll also put one up some Casa students and I playing monkey in the middle and baseball with Eduardo at the foot of the hillside farm.

One more short story: yesterday Alicia, Guillermo, Betsy and I (btw: Guillermo and Betsy are Alicia's co-coordinators) decided to head downtown to Metro Centro to look for a phone for me, some shirts for Guillermo, and three rabbits for the Yonkers-Talz girls (that is, the daughters of Kevin and Trena Yonkers-Talz, the co-directors of the Casa program). This was a great trip because I got to ride the bus again for the first time since returning to El Salvador, which is always an interesting experience. Alicia told me one time she saw a woman with a baby hand her child to a complete stranger next to her so she could adjust some of her belongings and retrieve an item from her bag. That should give you an idea of how tacitly aware Salvadorans are of the interdependence of us humans. I'm not saying all Salvadorans would entrust their baby to their neighbor on a packed bus, but the prevailing feeling is that Salvadorans just care about each other and where each other are headed in life (even if they are not blabbering to each other about it). Anyway, a very stimulating environment to be in.

On the way home the bus driver took the time to offer a front seat to our box of bunnies, which he stowed away next to the front seat passenger before assuring us they'd be safe on the journey. Salvadoran buses operate on a pretty simple premise: the more people they can pick up and the faster they can go, the more money they can make. So even though drivers seem to be pretty safe most of the time, they tend to create a pseudo roller coaster environment in their day-to-day trade. I guess that's how most Salvadorans seem to drive though: quickly and vigilantly.

Well I think that's all for now. As I feel this blog thing out and try to find a comfortable medium between superficial event relation and profoundly confusing and potentially melodramatic sounding reflection, I hope you will stay tuned. Also, if I haven't made something clear or I am just assuming too much previous knowledge about El Salvador, the Casa, me, etc. just let me know please. Gracias por haber leido mi "Blog". Adios!

Love,

Alex

Oyea, tomorrow I will be getting a ride out to Suchitoto with Sister Peggy so I am pumped. Christy, Ariel, Corla, and a mysterious couple who is apparently living and volunteering in Suchitoto for their first year of marriage await, along with many Salvadorans and the beautiful Salvadoran campo (countryside). Thank you to all who are making this possible, especially Mom, Dad, Chris, Ogg, Rose, and Will. I love you all very much. Be well.

No pictures yet, but I did find this peaceful image called "Descanso".

Arrival

Today has been a very interesting and encouraging start to my journey in El Salvador. The main component of the day has been meeting Alicia's students and reconnecting with friends in the Casa program. My first encounter with a friendly Salvadoran took place on my flight from Houston to San Salvador. The woman I met, Claudia, had a most unusual way of beginning our conversation.
I had not even made it to my seat yet, in fact I think I was just finishing stowing my laptop case away in the overhead compartment, when the woman sitting in my row asked me quite innocently, "Why are you going to El Salvador?" I realized that in any other context I might be more inclined to take offense at such an apparently pointed question from a stranger, but for some reason the circumstances of the day (namely, me going to El Salvador on very little sleep and very much anticipation) indicated that this was an appropriate greeting.
I ended up having a very nice conversation with Claudia who as it turns out was returning to El Salvador to visit her parents after being away working in the states for the last 5 years.

After arriving on the ground in El Salvador I had another interesting interaction with the immigration officer. Now from past experience in El Salvador I know that immigration can be tough because it is not always pleasing to Salvadorans to know that Americans are coming to their country with pseudo-political ends and ideals. I was well aware as I approached the "Delegato" that I would not mention peace, or community centers, or anything like that, but I guess I had not quite chosen my story. I ended up saying, as he looked over my passport, "Usted puede regelarme lo normal- los noventa dias por favor?" I asked for a 90-day visa since that would give me the most time in El Salvador before having to renew my visa eventually by traveling out of the country. The officer asked me my reason for being in El Salvador and I told him turismo. He then asked "porque quieres noventa dias?" I think it was a combination of my winning smile and my honesty when I responded, "porque tengo muchos amigos a visitar y a mi me encanta El Salvador" (because I have many friends to visit and I love El Salvador) that convinced the officer, who then adopted an amiable smile, to just let me through.
Later on upon relating this funny exchange to my taxi-driving friend Salvador he informed me that there have indeed been some conflicts and controversies at immigration, espeically during times of political fervour, so it was lucky I happened upon a nice officer at the airport.

Well the first thing I did when I arrived to the Casa was eat lunch- mashed potatoes (pure de papas) and chicken lasagna to be exact (no not "mashed potatoes and chicken lasagna", two separate foods, but mashed potatoes n' chicken lasagna, one food, think about it...). That was delicious. I then hung out with Alicia and went over to see Trena (one half of the Yonkers-Talz couple that runs the program) and three of her four wonderful daughters (aged roughly 8 months to 10 years I think). Hannah, the rowdy 4 year old seemed to remember me quite well, and she spent the half hour visit hiding from me and running around being goofy. She is pretty adorable, especially now as her normally golden blonde hair has streaks of pink in it and she has the cutest "Rosemary circa '94" haircut featuring sharp bangs and everything.

Alicia's coworkers Guillermo and Betsy are really nice, and all of the students I have met today seem like great people. I also have reconnected with several Salvadoran students that I met during my time here last spring. That has been just awesome and every single one of them has said that they did not recognize me at first. It is not until inspecting my face more closely that they realize I am Alex, "pero con pelo corto".
Some of the Salvadoran students are just the most fun-loving people. I especially enjoyed seeing a woman named Deysi who lived in the same house as me while I was here in 2009. She gave me the nickname Tarzan last year for obvious reasons, though she will have to come up with a new nickname now I suppose, and a hug from her felt like a million bucks.

The final activity of the night was "pupusas". Every Thursday night all the Casa students and the Salvadoran students in the parallel "Programa Romero" gather at a local pupuseria to eat the Salvadoran national food, which is essentially a thick tortilla stuffed with queso, frijoles, ayote (squash), revueltas (pork), or a combination. De-licious.
Before dinner Alicia introduced me to the group of roughly 30 people, both Salvadoran and North American. We were all standing in a circle holding hands preparing to say grace, and you can just imagine how adorable Alicia was introducing me to the group in Spanish and beaming her brilliant smile out to everyone present.
After her presentation, we all sang "vamos todos", which is the Casa's traditional pre-meal prayer song that is a beautiful little ditty adapted from a prayer by Father Rutilio Grande (typically referenced as the first priest to be killed by right-wing militarists before the onset of the civil war; and also the great man whose tragic death helped Oscar Romero to see the injustice and corruption that permeated the military-political establishment in El Salvador. The drive-up, gun-down murder of Father Grande and two other Salvadorans, which took place as the three men were headed to mass on a quiet country road in Alguilares in 1977, is usually pinpointed as Romero's principal motivation for turning to the Light side and speaking up for El Salvador's poor and oppressed).
Alright, that is about all my tired mind can take for now. I figured if I shared a thorough version of my first day here that would at least provide a good context for the shorter posts to follow. Alicia is finishing up leading her community in a "life-story" community night (which means one of the students is sharing their testimony with their housemates- great bonding activity), and I am just hanging out in her and her coworkers' office missing my family and friends and looking foward to tomorrow. I love you all very much and hope the weekend is full of relaxation and peace.
-Alex