PC: Pre-Service Training Week Two

On Sunday afternoon, I finally caved in and got myself a zumattra cone (cappuccino ice cream with little bits of chocolate in it) when Catherine, Mario and I met up for ice cream and gossip (and oh, it's juicy). In the evening we celebrated our first Peace Corps birthday, complete with cake and dance lessons. Marcia's family "surprised" her with a cake (it reminded me of my 21st birthday cake) from Nuevo Cuscatlán (she saw it in the fridge before, but did a pro job at feigning surprise for her two little sisters and host parents) and we all sang a veeery slow Happy Birthday in Spanish. Evidently I was overthinking it - it's just "Feliz cumpleaños a ti" repeated over and over again to the tune of "Happy Birthday," unlike the Chilean version, which goes something like "cumpleaños feliz, lo deasamos a ti, feliz cumpleaños amigo, que lo cumples feliz." Not that it's terribly important since it's all just rabble until the end of the song anyway, but now you know (just in case you happen to be passing by a Chilean birthday party or something).

Post-cake and coca-cola, Marcia's host sisters treated us to a choreographed dance to Shakira's Waka Waka, then forced us all to join the dance party. Our music was clearly sub-par except for the two Shakira songs we played, so cousin Catherine came to the rescue with bachata and cumbia. They were pretty bossy about who could dance to each song, and even paired up the guys and girls for some partner dances. No free dancing for us - they were going to show us and that was that. Asiha and Emily got into quite the debate over the quality of Beiber songs, we had a blast, laughed a lot and danced a bit. Sometime around 7 pm the rain that had been threatening all day finally hit. Even as we promised just one more song, with a deafening crack the heavens opened. The party couldn't have broken up faster if the cops came with sirens blaring. We didn't even make it down the steps before the road started filling with water, and by the time we hit the paved road the curbs were funneling a veritable river of water towards Nuevo Cuscatlán. I rescued a dropped phone then took off running with Emily and Mario towards home, glasses in hand, feeling the water pounding down on my skin and splashing up with every soggy step. It being a Sunday, the pupuseria was open and full of people having dinner and taking shelter from the rain, so my grand entrance was witnessed by a full house. All conversation stopped as the door clanged shut behind me and I took my sopping self through rows of full tables and benches to the back patio, only to suffer the laughs of my host family. There's nothing like a good bath fully clothed to get the family laughing. I poured another few buckets of water from the shower over myself to assuage Ana's fears that it could be acid rain (apparently fairly common here), then finally toweled dry and changed clothes. I taught the boys, Josiel and Rodrigo, how to play Phase 10 and after a few rounds they were hooked. The storm was insane, blowing out the power not long after I arrived, so we played in candlelight with the puppy in my lap late into the night.

Since last Friday it has been a national holiday for the fiesta for the patron saint of San Salvador, so we had no class on Monday. Instead it was supposed to be "Un día en la vida" in which we follow a family member around for the day. I mostly did the assignment while playing games all day with Josiel and Rodrigo because Ana did some restaurant clean-up in the morning then spent lots of time chatting then did clean-up in the back in the afternoon. We started with Phase 10, then progressed to cards and Bananagrams and this impossible sixteen-piece puzzle I brought. After lunch I got a tour of the back "yard." I say yard loosely, because there is a huge swath of land behind the house that has a forest and tons of fruit trees and space for chickens and another house and a little paddock with a Christmas calf in it. I learned all about tons of fruits and plants I didn't even know existed, ate mandarin oranges from the tree, and felt sorry for the poor calf and his Christmas fate. In the afternoon we switched to soccer and basketball with a hoop near the street attached to a tree with no backboard. Needless to say my accuracy (questionable even on a good day) was pretty dang low.

To warn you, my Tuesday write-up is really long because I wanted to remember our sessions and it turned into kind of a brainstorm of things I want to think about as I continue in the training process. Tuesday, despite the fact that no kids had school for the días feriados, we were back in class, this time with Jenny back from a trip home and Irma back from a medical conference in Florida. Silvia took us through a brief overview of community organization in El Salvador from the presidency of Manuel Enrique Araujo in 1911 who supported worker's organizations, got rid of debtor's prisons and created the national guard as a rural police force through the coffee crisis of 1929 to the government initiated matanza in 1932 to the 1950 constitution that was the most egalitarian El Salvador has had to the civil war, the peace accords and the present day. We touched on the role of the Catholic church in helping communities organize through CEBs (Base Ecclesial Communities) and liberation theology as well as women's organizations during the war as women found themselves as the head of the household as well as necessary hands in the guerrilla fighting. Sadly, the Civil War, fought for greater social and economic equality, brought about few changes on that front. The Peace Accords specifically excluded mention of economic factors and most Salvadorans will point out that rural communities are not a municipal priority, citizen participation is limited to voting in elections, there is still social and economic inequality, lack of access to education and healthcare, lack of employment opportunities and social mobility, and there is widespread impunity for almost any crime. El Salvador has seen some community organizing for over a hundred years, but it was often violently repressed by the government, so communities have a long road to tread to become self-sufficient and empowered. After the war, many international organizations dumped aid on the country which, although it didn't help on the self-sufficiency front, did bring about ADESCOs, grassroots organizations that channel money to meet expressed community needs. Ex-guerilla fighters also joined together to create NGOs, and organizations like Pro-Búsqueda (which was started by Jon Cortina, a priest serving in Guarjila - I visited his house and learned all about him and his organization last time I was in El Salvador) that works to reunite missing or stolen children from the war with their families came out of an attempt to heal and move on. Sorry for the lecture. I love all the history sessions, so those tend to be the ones I remember the best.

We ended the morning with an activity on the benefits of community organization - citizen participation, self reliance, promoting economic development using the resources available in the community, encouraging a focus on health, environment, literacy and recreation, and others I can't remember anymore. Silvia brought up an interesting point when we mentioned long-term planning as a benefit of community organization. She said that often we will find people in our communities not looking much farther than the next week, partly because they are just getting through the days post-war, partly because it's not something that's culturally a huge priority (things happen when they happen, and often because God wills it), and partly because so many disasters (natural and otherwise) happen that even if they made a long-term plan, then an earthquake would hit or a flood would tear through and who cares about a five-year plan when right now everything is falling apart around you??? I have to keep that in mind - perhaps look at emergency action plans over five-year plans. Our class is in some ways the guinea pigs for the Peace Corps' new COED model, since we are the only COED volunteers in the country (the other group is all Youth Development). One of the things they are thinking of doing is a MRE (Monitor, Record, Evaluate) system in our communities so that we keep track of what we are doing on a monthly basis and can present that to our communities in a report or a meeting. The benefit would be threefold - gain confianza (trust), provide an example to the community that promotes transparency in their organizations, and keep a record of our activities. If I can hold myself to it, I may do that even if it's not required because if nothing else I certainly would like a record of what I am working on each month so I can tell how I spend my time and what I need to work on.

Irma took over with policies and procedures, primarily relating to pregnancy during service (don't get pregnant and definitely don't get anyone else pregnant), then we were free for lunch. My house is a good spot for doing homework/stealing wifi, so I tend to have a few other volunteers over for lunch and after class, and today was no exception. My host mom gave everyone fresco de arrayán to drink with our lunches (I got chicken with a sauce of tomatoes, peppers and onions and rice and the ever-present beans, all delicious as per usual) before we headed back for another session.

Mary led the afternoon with a session on volunteer diversity (our diversity from Salvadoran culture, more than anything) and how to be an ally to others in our group, with help from Jenny and some of the Volunteers who were in town during their free weekend (of course they get the week off for the fiestas, but training doesn't stop for us). We discussed the influences on our identities, then transitioned into a session on resiliency and the EPIC model. The gist is that volunteers go through cycles of vulnerability and adjustment throughout their service, and we don't want to be left out on a LIMB (Lonely, Isolated, Miserable, Bored). Each issue is related to an EPIC (Empowerment, Protection, Integration, Connection) goal.
Lonely - lacking Connection (could be with anyone - friends, other volunteers, family)
Isolated - lacking Integration (with community, feeling like you can't get involved)
Miserable - lacking Protection (physical and emotional - anything from sickness to assault)
Bored - lacking Empowerment (feeling out of control, powerless, unstable, unsettled)

We wrapped up the session there, and a group of us headed back to my house for some more internet time (Mario came in with a vanilla licuado - milk, ice and whatever flavors you want mixed in a blender then sold as a drink in a plastic bag with a straw), puppy time (essential on a daily basis), a game of Fluxx, and some ice cream (or just chatting in my case). As everyone else returned to their respective homes, I joined my host family for Catholic mass. It is astoundingly similar to an Episcopal service, both in structure and unnecessary length of sermons. I prefer our hymns and the organ to the band (guitar, electric bass, drums, piano and about six singers) and songs at this misa, but talk about impossible expenses, an organ would be one ridiculously unnecessary expense. I thought a lot about religion during the service, but nothing of great importance other than that during the sermon the priest kept talking about how we should be unshakeable in our faith and never listen to those who say religion serves no purpose but I have always thought that flexibility is an asset and how do they know that their faith is the "one true way?" I never thought about religion serving no purpose - it seems to me that it serves as a compass. Have you ever noticed how similar most religions are at the core? Some people like rules and guidance and weekly reminders, and some know their own minds and choose what is right and wrong, good and bad, without the strict structure of religion. My host mom was really glad that I went, but I feel no great need to attend again unless asked. We finished up the night with dinner and a quick English session with Marcos, then a good night's sleep to prepare for market day in the morning.

Wednesday felt like it would never end. The morning was taken up by a trip to the Mercado de Merliot (which is way too expensive and not nearly as cool as the Santa Tecla market) to learn to buy fruit, then we came back to learn the names of all the fruits we bought and how to prepare them. I look forward to the lunch break each day because it's a chance to recharge, but the food prep and cooking meant that we had no break. We ended up preparing fruit and making fresco, salsa, curtido and yuca for lunch. It was all tasty (minus some of the fruit, which I just can't even describe), and Kai and Anne treated us to an impromptu salsa exhibition after eating before our closing activity.

Although the food session ended around 2 pm, we still had two community contacts to make with our Spanish group. We went straight from session to contacts, with only about a half hour while we waited for one of our contacts to show up in which Mario was awesome and made us lemonade at his house. Our first contact ended up being two women, one of whom is a local artisan who talked with us about the artisan group she is a part of, and the other of whom was a women who works for the unidad de mujeres as a representative, going all over the region to talk to women on a variety of topics from sexual health to domestic violence to leadership and empowerment. Her work sounds like exactly what we are trying to do, and it was awesome to talk to her about what the region is already doing to organize the community and empower women. She invited us to help out with some of her community activities and talks, and I can't wait to dig into the work. Our LCF left after the interview, so we were left on our own to execute the second interview (this is after class should already have been over for the day, mind you) with the casa de artesanía to find out how their community projects work. They provide artisan workshops, English classes and painting classes for free to the community funded by the town council. They run a tight ship, and we pretty much immediately ruled them out as a potential organization to work with on our community service project because they don't really want or need help and are well-organized, efficient, and widespread. After a brief chill session with the family and dinner, it was back to work on our presentations for Thursday and Friday. I did as much as I could before my brain shut off completely, then slept like a rock until my early wake-up call to meet with my presentation group before 8 am class.

The presentation went well and we learned a lot about economic development in El Salvador with Silvia and Clelia on Thursday. We played some frisbee between sessions before we learned more about dengue and malaria. Evidently I need to put up my mosquito net pronto, but I hate it because it makes me feel all claustrophobic and makes it impossible to sleep. So I choose - no sleep or possible malaria? What if I just spray on some bug spray every night? Also, Clelia brought tres leches to our afternoon session and we all sang happy birthday to all of our August birthday people, which for sure improved the afternoon. I may have spent my post-homework NON-SPANISH THINKING TIME watching the very first vlog brothers videos. And I enjoyed it thoroughly...until an enormous crack of thunder shook the entire house and I figured I should unplug my computer so as not to get an almighty power surge that fries everything. And I wanted to listen to the rain. So I did. Buenas noches (sans mosquito net, at least for now).

Friday was supposed to be intense presentation day in our Spanish class, but Salvadoran time never works out like American time. We made little pictures to explain our past, present and future, then watched "Romero," about the role of the Catholic church during the Salvadoran Civil War on Emily's computer accompanied by ten cent bags of chips.

The afternoon was taken over by interviews, first with my host brother/dad Roberto about the pupuseria. He went to California to work, but always with a mind to come back to El Salvador to start his own business. When he came back in the 90s, he started a small business selling chickens and eggs around town, which he left running when he went back to the United States to work for a stone company in Boston. He returned after six years, full of ideas for expansion and dedicated to bringing quality over quantity (a concept that is not common here). About two years ago, the park in front of the house was built by the town council, and Roberto noticed that people kept coming from church or from the park, asking where to get good food. A veterinarian friend, after looking over the chickens one day, suggested starting up a restaurant since they were in prime position next to the park and already had capital from the chicken business. Roberto had business experience from his years working in the US, and his wife knows a lot about pupuserias, so after weeks of throwing the idea around, Roberto went out one day and came back with tables and benches. The next day he went out to buy ingredients, and the guy selling cheese, upon hearing that he was starting up a business, offered the pupusa recipe from a successful pupuseria in Santa Tecla and suggested the super premium quesillo to make the best pupusas. Although it is more expensive, Roberto still uses the super premium cheese because it truly does make better pupusas. Pretty soon they were experimenting with other flavors, trying them out for dinner then putting them on the menu once they got them right. La Granjita is the only pupuseria in town that has such variety. It has the typical revueltos and frijol con queso and guia, but it also has camarrón (shrimp), loroco, jalapeño, pollo (chicken), and ajo (garlic).

A friend from Boston who has a house in Nuevo Cuscatlan and runs a Peruvian restaurant in the States visited town for a few days and suggested he add burritos and tacos to the menu. They bought the ingredients that morning, the friend spent the entire day teaching them how to make them, and the next day they were on the menu. The burritos are my favorite, especially because they come with a tasty spicy salsa that I pour inside as I eat. The pupuseria is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that the family has time to breathe during the week, but it fills up on Saturday and Sunday (and now Friday night may be pupusa night with all the trainees - our night out on the town, so to speak). Roberto recently started keeping a more formal accounting ledger, and has big plans for the pupuseria. He wants to start making his own bread and next season he will save some coffee from his plot of land to mill and sell with sweetbreads or dinner in the restaurant. They already use their own chickens for the restaurant, and I think they make their own hot chocolate from the cacao trees in the back yard (though I'm not positive on that one). Roberto also wants to build a second story open patio for people to eat looking out over the park and hopefully expand the menu as well. I think we can get the bread-making covered at least while I'm in town, and maybe a few sweetbreads as well.

I could happily have talked all afternoon with Roberto, but we had another appointment, this time with some of the women from the artisan group in town. They agreed to try to get as many women together as possible for a group meeting on Monday in which we hope to discuss their goals, get them to elect a group representative, help them organize their production, talk about publicity and targeting products, and discuss petitioning the town council for transportation to other towns and events. It sounds like they are excited to reboot their artisan group, so I hope that energy continues.

After all that talk with Roberto about pupusas, there was no way we weren't taking advantage of the pupuseria Friday night. Our entire training group slowly started trickling in, chilling on the couch to get some wifi, playing some card games, and discussing free weekend and our respective community projects. By 6:30 everyone was ready to eat, and we commandeered some tables for our pupusas, burritos, sodas and hot chocolate. I tried to help out by running food as Roberto and Yvonne made burritos in the back and Blanca made pupusas in the front, but only until my burrito was made at which point I joined the group for dinner. After dinner we split into groups, some to continue with wifi, some to play cards and some to talk in the park and listen to music. The music inspired a plan to do a trainee flash mob to Shakira during the corn festival next weekend. If we get our act together, it will be epic.

Roberto was awesome and offered to take all the 7 de marzo and San Antonio people home, so they all piled into the back of the pickup in the dark to beat the rain home.

Saturday was market day again, though this time I took a few pictures. We got jocotes and mamey to snack on, and Mario helped Marcos get some of the restaurant necessities (carrots, chicharrones, soda, iced tea, cilantro, crema, cheese) and took forever getting rice pupusas on the way to the sodas. I found out that Catherine was in third grade when I was in second at the same elementary school, and my friends lived next door to her. Strange world. Mario and I were terrible unmotivated trainees and decided not to go to the community meeting in favor of siesta time in the afternoon (and Mario wanted wifi, which is turned off usually in the afternoons). I can only hope we will be more motivated on weekends in our own communities, since that's about the only time normal people have free time (minus my family, who all work like crazy on weekends because of the restaurant) for meetings and activities. I stopped in to talk to the English class for a little while before getting a huge ice cream cone (mango swirl and frutos del bosque, which is raspberry-strawberry swirl). Tonight I am making some pupusas (which I will promptly eat) and helping out where I can in the pupuseria.