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.